Episode 41 - NL Buy or Sell, Skubal Trade Possibilities, and Tarps Off vs Crotch Cellys

This week Mo does Buy or Sell with the NL, inducing the Cy Young Race, the Padres, the Reds, and more. The guys also go through some possible Tarik Skubal trade destinations. Also, Mo weighs in on "Tarps Off" in the crowd vs a new wave of crotch related celebrations. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

MVP the Mo Vaughn Podcast, powered by Perfect Game and Vaughn Sports Academy. Will Burge alongside the man himself, Mo Vaughn. As always. Mo, how we feeling? How we doing, baby?

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Man, good to see you. I know we uh have some time off. So I'm always good to connect with you again, get up on our current events and talk the game that we love. So it's gonna be a good show.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Yeah, I'm excited for it, man. I had uh I had a big day yesterday. My son graduated, and uh it was obviously it's monumental. I'm not one of those people who like fixates on things in the future. I kind of try to take things as they come and live in the moment a little bit more. But it was a it hit me last night sitting there and watching him go across the stage. And, you know, I'm thinking back to the first T-ball game and in the in before that, sitting in a living, he couldn't even barely stand up, hanging out of the couch, swinging a bat one-handed as I'm pitching to him. It's just crazy to see it all come together like this, you know?

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Well, what you gotta realize is you got a good young man. You know, I could tell that by when I met him, when I met him. And that just goes to show you as a dad what you've done. And, you know, you made that first barrier now, you know, high school, and then you'll you'll cross another one in college. But like I told you yesterday, there'll always be our little dudes no matter what they do and their ages. And that's just the way we love them, because you know, we're dads and our sons. So it's but that's gotta, that must have been a great day for you. But you got a lot of good things coming with him. He's he's he's solid.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yeah, no, I'm I'm excited. Um, a lot of good things coming in this podcast. We are gonna switch over to the NL side. We did the AL buyer sell already. We're gonna do an NL buyer sell. There is a massive tectonic plate shifting possible trade on the horizon or not. I guess we could see. We're gonna run through that as well. But I got to tell you something I'm so thankful for right out of the gate, Mo. So thankful because you know I'm a huge hoops guy, big Cavs fan. I gotta tell you, I'm so happy the Guardians are playing good baseball because I don't know where I'd be if I had what the Cavs just did to me mentally, and the Guardians weren't good. So thank you, thank you, Guardians, for being seven games over first play and seven games over 500, three and a half up in the central. Because no, I don't know what the hobby. I'd be I might be in the I might be live from the insane asylum during this episode.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Listen, it's it's it it's it's somewhat about how you lose. I mean, not calling a timeout in that first game. Crazy. Um just crazy. Uh and I know listen, I'm I'm I'm not a major league manager, nor am I at NBA head coach. But damn it, we got enough coaches on the sideline to be like, dude, we need to stop the momentum. And then that happens, and all of a sudden, you know, um, it's tough to get off the mat from that. You know, uh it's it's it's it's similar to, you know, Toronto when they they they went all the way down to that last out. You know, it's it's hard to cut to overcome those things. So yeah, you've had a uh a tough series. Um I'm not a New York fan. You know I'm a Boston fan, but I got a new lot of New York buddies, so I'm glad that they're gonna get an opportunity to play for a world championship. It's been a very long time, and New York City's on fire, so it's gonna be good for the basketball nation, you know, with that.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Yeah, you know, I'm a huge Knicks hater. I'm a hater of the Knicks fans, but sometimes you like it's like when the Guardians lost in game seven of the World Series. Did that crush me? Of course it did. It was terrible. Yep. But if there was a team that we were gonna lose to, the Cubs breaking that, you know what I mean? Like, it there's just certain things that are kind of bigger than sports, and I think this series, you're seeing that with how much it means the New York City. It's a basketball, I mean it really is a basketball town. The Yankees are huge, but the Knicks are religion. I mean, the Knicks are religion.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

I mean, listen, they're already talking about, you know, you know, um our guard, you know, the guard um being the king of the city. You know, uh what's his name? What's his name? I can't remember. Jalen Brunson. Yeah. Jalen Brunson, like big body. He's already being talked at as the king of the city just from this championship run. And there's been a lot of great guys that played put on New York uniforms. Jeter, you know, the world champions, and Eli's got too, Joe Namath, you know, you know, the Rangers, uh, the Islanders, you know, all that crew. But they but I think it's like the the Knicks embody all five boroughs of New York. You know what I mean? Like they they just do, and then and it's it's uh it's just great to see. Like I told you, I got I like I I lived in Manhattan for for 10 years, 12 years, and um got a lot of friends. I'm um I'm pulling because you know it would it would be great for basketball, you know. So let's see what happens, man. It's gonna be a tough haul, but let's see what happens.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

And I think that my favorite part about this is we get towards the end of NBA. The second that ends, the entire world's focus shifts over to baseball. Straight off baseballs. Oh, and then we're right into the all-star game, and we're we're in that playoff push, and that's kind of some of the buy or sell stuff I want to throw at you today, most. So I know we did the AL last episode, so you ready? I got a couple things I want to throw at you.

SPEAKER_02 5:37

All right, let's go.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

We're gonna start out on the on the mound because good luck to whoever is voting on the Cy Young Award in the NL right now. The the numbers that are being put up by guys over there are absolutely astronomical. You have Shohei, who's lowered his ERA, and now he's technically, I think, one uh one inning off of uh maybe he's not enough for the last start, but he was like just outside of being qualified for some of the awards and leaderboards, but he's you know, subway sub one ERA. You got Skeens, who had a stretch for over a month where he didn't even walk a guy, and his ERA is sitting around one. You got Mizarowski who's sitting 103 and is absolutely unhittable. Mo, you got Mason Miller, who is from the back end of a bullpen carrying a baseball team right now because they are not very good offensively. We're gonna get to them. That's another buyer sell. Um, you got Sanchez over there. You there is so many guys in the NL that you could make a case for for the MVP. So this is my buyer sell to you. Buyer sell that if there was an MVP award that was both AL and L combined, that the NL would have at least two of the top three vote getters.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

Oh, yeah, I I agree with that. 1,000%. I mean, you just named them uh Ms. Roski, you named Shohei, you named you know Mason Miller. Uh these guys are like, Paul Speaker, these guys are like throwing uh elite stuff consistently on a on a on a every night basis, giving their teams a chance to win. Um I don't know who it's gonna come down to. I mean, Mason Miller coming out the back end for the Padres when they can't uh hit water right now if they fell out of a boat. But they're still, you know, one, two, three games into the race in the you know, second in the division. Um you know, it's just unbelievable. But it's guys are good, guys are bigger, guys are are mastering their craft of pitching. Um they're they're they're just doing great things, and it's I mean, we we there's no there's no crystal ball the crystal ball that could tell us what's gonna happen at the time of the Cy Young. But right now, what a what a what a damn good race you have with these guys. And all these all these teams are, you know, they're they're in contention. Um you know, um, they're all gonna be there. They're all, you know, gonna have that that that thing when you walk to the ballpark, like I just gotta keep my team in it. I gotta keep my keep my you know keep my guys going. And that's gonna create for a tremendous race, uh, especially in the National League.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

They're throwing wiffle balls. That's the only way you can describe it. When they're when they're throwing, it looks like wiffle ball out there. That's how these pitches are moving, different directions, the exact same arm slot. I wanna like when you look at these different guys, whether it's Ms. Lorowski with that crazy VLO, it's Shohei with six and the height of him. And the height of him. And the height of him. Yep. Yes and the height of him. Shohei with six different pitches that somehow he's got touch on every single one of them. It's Skeens who seems to be able to move the ball up, down, left, right, change speeds better than almost anybody, almost a throwback, but still has that high-end level velocity. If you were in the box, who's the guy that you'd be most concerned of?

SPEAKER_00 9:05

Be like, man, I gotta face this guy, it's gonna be a long day. Man, I uh I I don't want to give one.

SPEAKER_02 9:14

Um when you talk about Shohei and you talk about schemes, you talk about the different pitches and the ability guys that are winning like this in the major league level, the reason why they're doing this is because they can pitch on both sides of the plate and they have command, command in, command out. Those are your 20 plus game winners. Not everybody can do that. So I kind of put like Shohei and I put Paul in the same slot because velocity, command, variety. Then you take Mizarowski and he's got fastball slider change, but just the height of him coming down like you know, six what is he, six, six, six, six, seven? Standing on the mountain? Yeah, like so, and and he's just got a blazing, uh, uh blazing fastball. And I try to tell people when you have a guy that's throwing 10 miles per hour in the difference of velocity from fastball to breaking ball, you can't hit off one or the other. You have to pick one. And when you pick one, you can't miss it. If you're looking fastball, don't swing at the curveball. If you're looking curveball, you can't swing at the fastball. No, guys within that that five mile per hour range, you could look for something and react, not those guys. Those guys are throwing too hard. The skeins also, and and and Otani, these guys are throwing their breaking balls 10 miles an hour off the fastball. That's a pick one. And if you pick the wrong one, you're done. And that's how these, you know, swing and miss, swing and miss, swing and miss. Um those guys are extremely tough to hit. And then Mason Miller, it's just coming in and just completely dominating um and the pinpoint control. It's just there's just a lot of elite stuff going on. And these guys that are winning, they're gonna win 20 games. The the biggest thing is that they can use both sides of the plate.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

If Shohei gets anywhere near 150 innings and he's sitting there with that sub-1 ERA or floating right around one, I mean, how do you not you I mean, I know he's gonna have way less innings than the other guys, but he's gotta be, he's gotta be right there, or if not the leader in the clubhouse with the Cy Young, right? Like, how do you balance how many innings he's gonna pitch, even though because he's gonna be hitting two versus these other guys who are popping out every other day, you know, every five days, but Otani still has the touch on those six pitches. It's crazy to me.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

The fact that he's taking, and I don't think I've heard him say it. I don't know if I don't think I've heard the Dodgers say it. I don't think I've heard Dave Roberts say it. And I don't think Shohei has say it said it. But the fact that you see him like, all right, I'm gonna concentrate a little bit more on pitching this season. I want to get me a side. Yo. And go out and do it. Like, what the hell? Um and if he if you have to pick him. If he sub, you know, his RA is that low and in command, and uh he's also hitting in between. Forget if he's even hitting on the same day. But he's if you're hitting on the off day, you gotta pick him for what uh what he's doing. But the but the I think the gist of it is that everybody's gotta understand that I think Shohei walked into the season and said, This year, I'm winning to Cy Young. And he's actually going out there and trying to execute it. And that's the that that's the unbelievable thing. He's he's the superhero of baseball. I think we all should be very, very proud that we can watch him on a on a consistent basis. This guy is just on another level.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

Yeah, whether he said it out loud or not, his actions are saying that's what he came into the season ready to do. And the Dodgers are gonna let him do what they like. They're like, hey, you want to go for that? We're gonna let you go for it. Yep, exactly. Exactly. Now guy we just talked about in Mason Miller, San Diego Padres, still three and a half up on the wild card, um, only a couple games back in their division. But the here's the thing, Mo. As good as Mason Miller is, the offense has been doo-doo. I mean, I don't know really how else you put it. They are dead last in average in the NL. They're second to last in on-base percentage, OPS, slugging, you name it. They're right towards the bottom. And it starts off with the guys like Tatis Jr. And while he has been, I think, I think it's since May 19th, he's hitting 434, but he's still only got one double in that time frame, and he has zero home runs. It's like they're not. So here's the buyer sell. You ready? Are you buying or are you selling that the Padres can survive with this formula of baseball for the rest of the season and still make the postseason?

SPEAKER_00 14:23

I'm selling that.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

You cannot hit you cannot hit with this type of production and win. Eventually it's gonna, it's gonna it's gonna break. Or or your ballpen's gonna break. I mean, a lot of times you need those games where they break it open and get rest. Just like sometimes you need a game where somebody comes in and sucks up seven or eight innings. It doesn't happen much, but you need that sometimes. But you cannot sustain you can't sustain anything when you're not even giving your starters an opportunity to be successful. Now, I I I just I just think I I don't really know why. A lot of it looks to me like you know, people look like they're thinking too much, they're relying too much on numbers. It's all about feel. I know I'm I'm I'm I'm open to all new school baseball things, but I always get back to the old school. Look at what Madeleine has done for the Philadelphia Phillies since he has come aboard. He simplified it in 2-0 counts, you look for fastballs, 3-1 counts, you look for fastballs, you get down in the count, you try to stay on the side of the ball, hit the ball the other way. And I think sometimes, because to me, they're too talented. Machado, you know, you know, Tatis Jr. Um there's a bunch of names that have played in key situations. Xander Bogart says has won a world championship. There's too many guys that as professionals that know what they're doing have a track record. So I just think that maybe the thinking may be off and they can correct it if they get back to doing normal things. But what they're doing now, I'm definitely selling, is not sustainable to get themselves in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

Yeah, it feels a little smoke and mirrors, and they definitely have been sp look, they're not playing bad baseball, right? But they are not playing as hot as they were at the start of the year. And you're starting to see some other teams heat up a little bit, like the Phillies, who you just mentioned. Um they're now only two games out of the wild card in the NL. They're definitely playing a different brand of baseball than they were before. It feels more simplified. So here's your buy or sell there. I know he's only got one home run in the last seven games, but Kyle Schwarber's still on pace for 61 home runs. Last year he hit 56. Are you buying or selling that he puts up more home runs this season than last? Because if he does, it feels to me like the Phillies are gonna be in contention the entire year. I'm buying. I'm buying it.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

I think that's for our guy, Kyle. Love that.

SPEAKER_02 17:13

Uh-uh, I'm I'm buying it. I think that, all right, he's going through a streak right now, but if he may, if he maintains the Kevin Long Don Batley Mantra, he's gonna hit them home runs because he's gonna be ready to hit. And you could tell it looks, it just it just looks and feels different. I don't care what anybody says. I'm a hitter. I I I see with my own eyes. All of them look look and feel different. Um and I I think Swarber is one of the best leader of men in the game. I think he has the mindset to be consistent. I think he takes on the leadership role in that clubhouse to a to a T. And if anybody can do that, if they just stay on pace and stay with with Long and Matley, I think he can break it.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

The Reds, half game out of the National League wildcard. The Tito Francona factor, right? This is just the T, his team just hang around no matter what happens. Mo, if I were to tell you before the year they were gonna go through a five-ish week stretch with their bullpen had over an eight ERA, you would tell me this team was out of contention. And look at them, they're still only a half game back in the wild card, they're scrappy. So here's what I'm saying the buyer sell is not if this is true or not, they're gonna get to contend, but buyers sell that they need to make a move in the bullpen to get across the finish line and get into the playoffs this year.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

I'm buying it. I think they do. You know, you look at Tito in Boston, always in it.

SPEAKER_02 18:48

You look at Tito in Cleveland, always in it, went to the World Series. He knows how to run a team and how to run a bullpen. You're there now. And I'm not saying that you've you've you've have have taken the storm, the biggest storm, because you never know what's going to happen in the second half. But you weathered a big one with this eight earn run average, and you're still there. Why? Because he's push pushing the right buttons. Get him one or two guys, one, one, and I think it'll really make a difference. But I I don't think that knowing what you're knowing, I think that I think that management and ownership always look at where we are, how we're trending. Are we trending upward? Are we stabilizing ourselves? Does the manager understand and control his team? And if we if we go to get this one piece, will he know how to deploy it? And he sure does know how to deploy it. So I see him, them, them making a move to help themselves and and him showing him the way how to get there, showing him the way how to get there.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

And you know what's good for that front office is the fact that Tito has already proven, while he's an old school manager, he's proven he can have a new school, flexible approach to how he uses a bullpen. Go back to Andrew Miller, where he was like, we're gonna use him when we need him. We're not just gonna put him in the back of the bullpen in Cleveland. We're gonna use him wherever the hell we need him, and that really was the catalyst that pushed him into those runs. So if you're you got to feel good about that as a front office, right? Mo, you're like, hey, if I just get him a weapon, Tito will figure out how to use him. It doesn't need to necessarily fit our formula at this moment.

SPEAKER_02 20:27

That's what I mean. He he he knows how to deploy his aces and put them in positions to be successful. So one thing you know with him is that if you make a trade and you do something that he's gonna put us put himself and the team and the organization in the best position strategically to help the squad get to where they want to go. So I I would definitely believe in him and what what his tactics will be if you give him an arsenal.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

All right, here's the last one. This is the curveball one. It comes a little early in the show today. My curveball for you. You ready? Yeah. I'm tipping my pitch right now. So you so you're sitting on it. I like it. You gotta buy one and you have to sell one. I'm gonna give you three. And these are off the wall. I know you've seen them all. Are we gonna go with these are the three, I don't want to say they're trends, but three things that have happened that are definitely outside of baseball, at least in the way traditional sense. The tarps off in the crowd, where all the crowd goes to one section, all the guys take the shirts off and they spin them, which has become a huge Phillies thing lately. I know in Cleveland last night, slider, the mascot went up and joined him and took his jersey off. So that's your that's your first trend, ready? Your second one is gonna be the San Francisco Giants three man hip thrust celebration. I know you've seen that one too, right? Yes. So that's your second one. And your third one is your ebay hitting the triple crotch two. Chop WWE at the Black Bull Ven last night. So, and getting the talking to from Murphy as he came back into the dugout. So you gotta tell me. You gotta buy one, you gotta sell one.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

Tell me what you're buying and selling out of these three.

SPEAKER_02 22:14

Um I'm I'm selling the hip thrust from San Fran and from Milwaukee. One, because I just think the hip thrust was crazy. Two, you know, a rebay, he's gonna start a brawl. Like like you're gonna start a brawl. I I like I said, I have a I have a 14-year-old. You know, the the game is different than what I played, but some things you gotta keep under your control. And and and if you're gonna do something, just keep it towards your dugout. Because you don't got a hit, but somebody else does. And I'm I'm selling that also. I'll take, you know, the the tarp and the jerseys off and and the and the twirling. I'll I'll I'll I'll I'll I'll buy that. That's where I'm at. At least that's fun crowd stuff, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:10

At least the crowd's getting into a game there. Exactly. The eurebe thing, man, when I saw it, I it's like it's one thing to do it once, it's another thing to do it twice. Four feels extremely excessive.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

It's like, guys, I I I I get it. I listen, we're all emotional. We're this or that, but some things just are are they can cause a lot of stress brought to your team and your squad, and people can get hurt. And the thing about it is, is you're not gonna walk in up to home plate with a helmet with a with a bat and a helmet. And all this is gonna happen to other guys by your antics. I I have lightened up. We gotta have a we gotta bring fun to the game. I I I love that now. Um you you know me, you know, you know, we we you know WBC, we were like, yo, this is this is this is where it's at. But let's not let's not like you know agitate the guy, the others. There's there's some there's some adages to you know, let sleeping dogs lie. You know what I mean? Like, this just do your job, have a little fun, and get off the field. That's that's kind of how I feel about it.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

And you got the backwards K in that big moment, too. You didn't really need to do all that. It was already a there was an exclamation point on it.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

Listen, I I you know I like I like, you know, I like Murph, the way he handled it. It was embarrassing. And it's not what Milwaukee does. Milwaukee seems to me like a lunch pail type of team. And I'm sure some guys in that clubhouse are gonna go speak to him in a mirror to make them understand that's not what we do. But I I get it. I I get the fun. It's 2026, it it there's new things happening. It's not the old same old baseball, even though it needs to be played that way. I get it. But let's not get our get our position players in trouble with these type of actions, because you know in our day there there would be there would be some some helmets flying.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

Would you have pulled him to the side after that game in a situation like that?

SPEAKER_02 25:25

Would that be a see I would have pulled him aside as a player and be like, yo, bro, what are you doing? You're not the one that's got to go out there and swing the bat. We do. So now, if the retaliation where guys are throwing really, really hard, now you gotta you gotta brawl. You want to have fun, I get it. Just keep it to where, you know, it's it's it's towards us. We can celebrate, get off the field, and get on to the next game. That's that's what you say to him. I understand you're you're excited. We are too. We're excited for you. But let's not put ourselves in jeopardy for antics that were unnecessary.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Yeah, I think uh I'm sure he had that same conversation with at least one person in that club. Absolutely. And it was definitely a position player. Yeah, it's crazy. All right, we got to get to the biggest news of the week, and it's something that you and I kind of went into the crystal ball and predicted, right? When we talked about the scoobo scope and and Scott Boris going out and doing his media tour after this whole thing, we both sniffed the air and said, All right, there's more to this than just him talking about him coming back. This is also setting the table for possible uh trade scenarios if Detroit stays out of it. And lo and behold, Detroit says six games out of the wild card. Mo, they have no offense. They're injured. High hell, the bullpen shaky. And I think they do need to look at this thing holistically and say, is now the time to trade Tarek Scuble, who's gonna would bring back an absolute haul? There'd be 15 to 20 different suitors trying to go after him, different levels of reality to that. First, Mo, do you think that they should go down this rabbit hole of trading him? And then two, um, I guess how crazy is that he's just he's coming back this quick, too, because we just talked about this. That was like, what, a week two weeks ago we talked about this? And they're saying he might be back in another week or so now.

SPEAKER_02 27:18

First question is should we do the trade? I think you got to go get with the owner general manager and manager and decide what do we want to do here? What do we have on our squad? Do we have the ability within our framework that we have currently to get back in this thing? Our injuries, the age, you know, what our history has been, who's doing things well, who's not. If we keep Tarek here right now, do we have the the ability? And if we don't, what he's gonna bring back through the age and different position players and whatever it's gonna be, is that gonna make us better in the future? That's kind of how you got to look at it. That that whole where are we? If we keep them, can we get ourselves back in back into it with what we have? Because they're not gonna go out and make a trade. They're gonna keep what they have and and and try to reshape it to get back in the playoffs. If not, this is what we need them for the haul, um, and we're gonna make a make a splash and get some players back and revamp. You know what stinks about it is, like I told you, you have these runs. They had a great run, and they were they were this close. And then, you know, the injury bugs, certain things, boom, boom, boom, all of a sudden, you're on the bottom end of things now. Now you're the question, you know, what we have to do, what what direction do we need to go? And on the other side, do we have enough to give up? And are we going to be able to sign him? All of these things, questions have to be asked. Who those teams are. Um New York Yankees may be one of those teams. Um trying to stop the left-handed hitters in the other league, you know, that are that are always looking, you know. You got Shohei, you got, you know, you're thinking about um uh who's left-handed first baseman? Freddie Freeman, you know, if you're trying to get to a world championship, you think you can win the American League. I got to get somebody to stop that juggernaut in LA, left-handed pitching-wise. Can he do it? Absolutely. So the Yankees are a suitor. You know, the Cubs have lost seven out of eight. Where are they? That's the team I was gonna say, man. Man, their rotation is in shambles. Exactly. But they have they they they need a guy. They need a guy if he's healthy. They need a guy to stop that three, four, five, five-game lead. I think they got the leadership in Bredman, you know, to keep the position players going. They need a guy that can can can stabilize that rotation. But do the Cubs want to give up? What they have to give up to get him in the building? So there's a couple scenarios, but for me, I'm thinking Yankees. If I think I'm the team to beat in the American League and I can get through that, who do I gotta beat to win the World Series? I'm thinking I gotta beat the Dodgers. Who's the guys I gotta stop? I gotta stop Shohei, and I gotta stop Freddie Freeman, and I gotta stop Max Muncy. Munsey. He can probably do that.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

So there's a couple scenarios. To your Cubs' point, I heard the other day that they have the lowest average fastball velocity in the majors. They have the second worst uh war for their rotation, or I think it was our war or whatever, um, right behind the San Francisco Giants. They need all the rotation help they can get. It's a big market. They have a pretty good farm system. Do they want to give up all these prospects? That's the question, right? The Yankees obviously, look, every average fan doesn't want to hear this, but the Yankees and probably the Dodgers will both be in the bidding on this, right? Because if you're the Dodgers, you also got to be thinking if the Yankees go get him, that just shuts down part of our lineup for one game out of a World Series. We might need to just block this. You know what I mean? So those are they're gonna be in the mix, unfortunately. It's strategic.

SPEAKER_02 31:30

It's strategic. Like if I'm if I'm Cashman, I'm going, who the hell's been beating on me? You know, who's been stopping me to get my world championships? The Dodgers. Why? That left-handed lead hard of bitter, better hitter, that that that third hitter that plays first base, Max Muncie, I don't care what his average does, he knows how to do it in the playoffs. I gotta stop those guys.

SPEAKER_00 31:59

Period.

SPEAKER_02 32:00

Now the Dodgers are saying I gotta stop the left-handed bats of the Yankees. So Dodgers, Cubs, Yankees are gonna be buying for the you know, vying for for school ball if he if he's healthy, and it's all strategic to try to win and get there.

SPEAKER_00 32:22

I got a couple more teams for you. I want to throw at you real quick. You ready?

SPEAKER_01 32:25

So this is um, I'm gonna pull up a couple different articles in different places and just kind of piecemeal them together. But these are the ones I thought were really interesting. How about the Atlanta Braves uh with the best record in Major League Baseball? They have a 6.4R war out of their rotation, which is amazing. But if you really dig into it, who is there in the rotation that anybody's afraid of is going to shut them down the playoffs? Chris Seale, right? That's about it. He's 37. And Atlanta is not afraid to take big swings. How do you feel about if Atlanta gets in the in the running here? They got the they got the type of prospects. You know, they got Cam Caminetti there, who I'm sure would be very interesting to Detroit. They got some pieces to move. And if the Braves got Scooba, all of a sudden we're talking about maybe a different landscape out in the NL. They're already playing great baseball.

SPEAKER_02 33:14

That's the only reason why I didn't name them. Because they seem like they the all the buttons that they're pushing are working. But that's a very, very good point right there with the Braves. I mean, if they get them, you got Sale, School. I mean, you you matching up with LA now, right away. I mean, you matched up with him anyway, but you're really matching up with him. Uh and and there, and there they and there you are again. It's strategic. If you let LA get him, then they gotta stop. They're gonna stop the lefties that are with the Braves that are that are that are killing it. Austin and, you know, um the center fielder, I forgot the center fielder for the Braves, uh, playing really, really well now. Lefty lefty. Um he's swinging the bat, swinging the bat great. It's all strategic. That guy is not like a you know, like a right-handed starter that, you know, you know, listen, there's great right-handed pitching, but this is a lefty, lefty guy. And those lineups that we're talking about are lefty power guys that need to be neutralized to win. But Atlanta is a is a really is a really good, really good choice. I just wasn't thinking about them because they've just been so consistent. And sometimes you just, you know, you know, you don't want to make that move. You know, you you're your clubhouse, everything's going good. You know what I'm saying? So you never know.

SPEAKER_01 34:43

Yeah. All right, I got another one for you. This is going back to a team you talked about in the very beginning of the podcast, completely different scenario than um than Atlanta, but a team that was connected to already making inquiries about Scuba at one point. And now look, it's gonna sound crazy because they are absolutely loading their starting rotation, but they have had injuries. They have guys with arm soreness, and this is a team that is all in. How about the Toronto Blue Jays? If they are saying to themselves, we need to stay right there or past the Yankees and we want to get back to where we were. How about adding a top end arm at the top of and all of a sudden becoming probably the deepest rotation in all of baseball if you had School?

SPEAKER_02 35:24

Listen, I think that what do you have to give up? Okay. Is that gonna decimate your team when you do it? But then again, there's one of those guys that you went that you infused into your starting rate type rotation, and now you got the juice back. You're feeling strong again. Like, all right, we, you know, we did that thing that we needed to get us back over the hump. And that they've been there already. They they already tasted it. They don't want to get away from that taste, they want to taste it again. So that's another guy that, you know, he's a guy that can on the rotation side put you right back where you need to be. You're already feeling good. You beat the Yankees, you already know how to do that. You know what I'm saying? You're not afraid of that. Um but yeah, you know, Toronto, that would give that would infuse them with some with some with some juice to get them going and put them put their mindsets where they need to be to try to get back on top.

SPEAKER_01 36:22

I'll tell you one team that I'm hearing a ton, Mo, and I'm just not buying it. They like none of the pieces make sense to for how this would even work for them is the San Diego Padres. They have the 29th ranked farm system, they don't have the pieces. So that means you're trading major league ready guys, your offense already isn't good enough. I just, do you agree? I don't see it.

SPEAKER_02 36:40

Listen, that might be just said to to keep their fan base, you know, reacting in a positive way. I don't think there's much there to get from the Padres to make that trade. And, you know, I think School Well wants to go to a place where they know they're gonna be be in the running for for that championship. If he has the ability to choose. I think he wants to be, and I'm sure Boris wants to maximize his value, putting him in that championship realm also.

SPEAKER_01 37:15

Yeah, the one thing they're not afraid to do to spend money down there in San Diego, I just don't know how they get them. I don't know how they even get them. Right, yeah. You just don't have them, you don't have the bullets. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:23

Yeah. Who what are you gonna take from your farm system? Who are you gonna give up, you know, position player-wise currently to make it happen? You're gonna have to chase some major league guys that can play. You're you're already decimated as is right now.

unknown 37:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:39

Yep. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. You know, I hate, look, I don't like the Tigers. I'm a Guardians fan, right? But I do hate to see this type of high-end talent moving out of those type of places. Because before the season started, we were talking about this Tigers, the this Tigers team, and yes, were they old? Sure. They had a lot of old players, but they pushed the chips in the middle of the table and said, hey, we're gonna make a run at it this year. It kind of sucks to see, because I know how much my friends up in Detroit absolutely adore Scooba. Kind of sucks to see that it might come to an end like this, but this is kind of the reality of the business, you know?

SPEAKER_02 38:11

Yeah, um that's why I always tell you, man, when you when you have a chance to win a championship, you gotta win it. Because nothing is guaranteed that you're gonna get back there. Nothing. Everything when you're winning goes right. There's no injuries, you know, the ball bounces in your favor, um, everything seems to go right. And it's hard to replicate that consistently. Um so when you're there and you have a chance to win, you gotta do it because you never know what's gonna happen in the future.

SPEAKER_01 38:48

Solid episode, Mo. Look at that. Look at that.

SPEAKER_02 38:51

Oh, yeah. That was good. That was good. Well, you got anything else you want to say before we go? I'm I'm very intrigued by that whole now Dodgers, Braves, Yankees, uh, who was your other team? Who was your other team? Dodgers, Braves, I threw Blue Jays out there as well.

SPEAKER_01 39:13

Blue Jays.

SPEAKER_02 39:14

Who's gonna be the guy for the school for the who's gonna be that team for school ball? Because those three organizations have great left-handed hitting that needs to be stopped to be successful. We're gonna, we're gonna see where this goes. It's gonna be, we're gonna, when it, when the trade, when something happens, we're gonna be like, man, hey, that that team's gonna that's gonna jump up a lot. So I'm we'll be looking forward to that.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

Oh, it's gonna time up perfectly. Like I said, NBA's about to end. All the eyes will be on Major League Baseball, right as all this stuff's taking place, and we'll be off and running the rest of the year, Mo. It's just heating up. It's heating up, it's getting fun, man.

SPEAKER_02 39:54

It's getting fun. I think, you know, the whole NL Central, like, on its the way that they're playing, all that young talent is like coming up, and you got, you know, you got Tito over there, like always pushing the right button. He's like, it's like the shell game with him. He just knows how to figure it out, and he does it. And it's it's it's it's awesome to see. But, you know, he he he seems to flip that switch that last month, and everybody's in positions. He's had all of his conversations, and everybody's on the same page, and bam, he's right there. So we'll be looking forward to that.