In that range.

Um, I think that you always bet on the player.

The start-- You know, we, we saw what he did last year.

Like, if this was a couple of years of decline, you know, let's say a second year of decline, um, then I would be more concerned.

I'm hopeful that this is just a, a one-off.

Um, I think what's surprising to me, though, is that we still, even this late a date, haven't seen the home run power, you know? Um, and when we've seen guys that go through this before, maybe it's a month, maybe it's a couple of months, even half a season, but you usually don't see it for the whole year.

Um, that tells me that there's something that's w- wrong in his, in his setup, um, in his swing, and maybe there's some health issues, too.

... as a whole, right, won't be easy.

So if they're looking themselves in the mirror, I just don't know how you don't vote for the guy that you didn't think could win the division for the third straight year.

I agree with you.

The voting sometimes can be really confusing because they don't really tell you a lot of times their thought process.

More so over the last couple of years, the writers, I think, have gotten it right.

And almost always, I would say in the last, I don't know, maybe five, 10 years, it's been how did they do based off of the expectations, right? And so that's a lot of times where Milwaukee and where Pat Murphy in particular has been compared to that now.

There were some people, in fairness, did pick them, and they should have picked them to win the division or be in the mix because they have been the last few years.

But I do think that there's a little bit of that, and because Atlanta was so bad last year, now they changed managers, and now he's brought them to the top.

Is that kind of is what it is for the Brewers right now with Jacob Mizorowski? Is they've got that window to potentially win this thing as long as he's healthy and at the front of the rotation?

Is it possible? What do they have to do?

Boy, they, it does feel like [laughs] they have a lot of work to do still.

Um, uh, first off, I, I did like their deadline.

I know some people didn't.

I, I did.

Now, that, that's kinda the minimum standard when you're in that position, that when you have good players, um, that you end up trading, you better get good prospects back.

Like that, if [laughs] you can't do that well, then you shouldn't even be in the job.

Do they just have to sign guys from the Yankees? [laughs] I don't know what they have to do.

I know you've made that point about the Baltimore Orioles.

Orioles.Yeah. Well, and, and, you know, that team, you know, I get a chance to see them a lot.

Obviously, um, I was living there.

I used to be the co-GM there and s- and my cousin was obviously GM there, and so I follow them pretty closely.

And, you know, there are times when they've done a tremendous job over the years of drafting and getting their guys to the Major League level.

But when, where, where they've kind of been tripped up is, uh, they haven't really put an emphasis on pitching as much as they should have in their drafts.

They weren't spending money on the market, in the market for starting pitching either, so they came up short there.

I- they're the little engine that could, but how do you feel about they, they n- they never go for it?

I know you've made that point about the Baltimore Orioles.

Yeah.

Well, and, and, you know, that team, you know, I get a chance to see them a lot.

Obviously, um, I was living there.

I used to be the co-GM there.

And s- and my cousin was obviously GM there.

And so I follow them pretty closely.

They, they n- they never go for it.

Like, where do you feel the most opinionated about what you've seen so far in terms of one trade, and then we'll play off of that?

All right.

Well, I was gonna just play off of what Kratz was just saying.

You guys were talking about teams that hadn't done anything yet, and it's surprising.

You know, see Arizona in particular had been where they were on Clay Holmes, they were on some other guys.

They were, they're looking for starting pitching.

They were looking for bullpen.

Now you're gonna have a pretty pissed-off fan base that's not gonna go to games if they stumble out of the gates after the trade deadline here.

How would you have handled it? And what do you say to Tarik Skubal? If you're Scott Harris and you're AJ Hinch and you're the Tigers' front office, what's your, what's your communication level like with the star player at that level?

Well, I, I feel bad for, uh, Hinch because he's had to answer these questions all year, and more so over the last couple of, of, uh, weeks.

And he came on my show the other day and he said basically, "I'm trying to insulate my entire team from all these rumors and let, just have them focus on trying to win ballgames and, and try not to worry about the other stuff that's going on around you." I think that's, you know, if you can have that approach that's the best one.

But, you know, if I were in the Tigers' shoes, first off I would've seriously considered trading him last year if you didn't think you could sign him up.

I didn't, I would not want to be in this position.

I would've tried to m- you know, make the team better in the wintertime and then add around it and, and be, you know, hopefully talking about, you know, w- trying to win the division.

But since they made th- this decision already For me, I look at what Baltimore did, whether you agree or disagree, what the twins have done, agreeing or disagreeing.

What's it like when you trade for a guy like Freddie Peralta and then he doesn't have the year you expect and now you're thinking about moving him? What does that do to an organization, a team, a GM? Does that just eat at you all the year?

When we come back, we'll get back into the trade deadline.

A big thank you to our friends at Amazon for this limited break.

This back to school season, spend less time on your kids with Amazon.

We all know how crazy the back to school season shopping experience can be, and it starts with a few items on the list.

And suddenly, you're shopping for supplies, for clothes, lunch gear, and tech, and then about 10 other things you didn't see coming, and it adds up fast.

When you buy clothes for back to school, then your kid grows two weeks later, well, you're right back where you started, and sometimes it genuinely feels like they're growing faster than your budget can keep up.

And when the teacher supply list arrives and somehow every item feels completely reasonable on its own, then you add everything together and realize just how much stuff one kid needs for one school year.

Right.

How does Brian Cashman pivot? And in your estimation, is it multiple shopping items now on the offensive side that they're gonna try and go get?

Uh, you know, I'm hearing that they're being very aggressive on all fronts, right? And we've talked about this over the last couple of days on my show, but it's...

it, you know, they need a, an offensive piece clearly with the...

Part of the problem is, okay, Bellinger's gonna be out four to six weeks.

We're still not sure when Judge is coming back.

There hasn't been a lot of news on Stanton either.

Like, their offense, you know, is, is mediocre at best without those three guys.

Are the Tigers looking at that as an example and saying, "We can't be caught like the Angels were not that long ago"?

How encouraged have you been by this beginning of the season for the Washington Nationals?

I've been pleasantly surprised as well.

I think it's encouraging just because You know, whenever you make a change like they did last year, you know, with the front office and you kind of look at, you know, where things were tending to trend, you're like, man, how much longer you have to deal with, you know, the struggles of this organization.

But they were accumulating talent along the way.

And I thought they made some really good moves.

You know, obviously.

You know, this winter that we're under the radar, have been unexpectedly good.

Is that somebody that Washington could consider selling? And what do you think the return could be for a player like that?

How do you ... [laughs] What's g- what's it gonna take?

[laughs] Yeah.

I, well, I, I mean, I think I'm there, Bernie.

I ...

You know, the thing that I always look at, you know, when ...

If you ...

Eh, there's a ton of teams that we see the first month or two, you know, exceed expectations over the years, right? And, and then you see them fade.

And how would you then approach Jordan Walker, who is having a breakout season after struggling for a couple of years?

"Well, we're, we're not gonna deal one of those guys to another team because w- we're, we're building for this." Are they actually gonna do it, or does there need to be a quick change in somebody else making the decisions, not firing Mike Elias, who knows how to make those changes and decisions?

But, you know, it's the, it's the age-old question, right? So on, on this particular situation, and this happened to me when I was ear- early in my front office days.

I fell in love with our prospects, um, and our guys that we drafted and we developed, and a lot of times, you know, held on to them too long.

Like, it's, it's fairly common if you look around the sport.

Like, it's hard to...

Especially if you are, uh, you know, if you're hampered by an extended payroll like some of the o- you know, the large revenue teams, you don't have to, they don't have to worry about that, right? They, they make a mistake, they cover it up, they, they use a guy, they can trade him.

And, you know, if, if it haunts them in terms of a trade, um, then, you know, they can, you know, fix it with a, a signing of some sort, and you kind of forget about it.

Do either of those guys get moved?

this roster now has major holes and age to it as well, how do you go about turning this thing around and get it pointed in the right direction again? It seems like it's more than you can do in just one offseason.

Well, I mean, y- you know, I think we've seen plenty of teams go from last to first.

Even, uh, more recently, the J- Blue Jays did it.

Two years ago they were last place.

Last year they were in the World Series.

You know, the other teams can do it.

And, and so, you know, I think that's the, gonna be the task for the Mets.

But do you put a high level of alert on the way this team has kind of stumbled of late, or do you just chalk this up to, you know, the, you know, the ebbs and flows of 162-game season? What is your level of concern right now?

Have you heard anything? I know it's still early, we're six weeks out, but y- have you heard anything kind of along those lines?

So I've...

Yes.

Uh, to...

The short answer on that is yes, but I wondered this very early back in the early part of June, um, especially when it, they were talking about controllable players, so players that you have another year at least of control.

And it came up in the context of Adley Rutschman with the Orioles, if they were gonna trade him, or Joe Ryan in Minnesota is one of the starters who's, both are under control through 2027.

But the question was, well what, what system are we gonna be playing in next year, right? If there's a salary cap, um, to control your, your payroll and your roster, and there'll be a, a grand, a grandfather, uh, you grandfather in certain contracts certainly, but do you wanna give up, you know, those guys that are gonna be inexpensive, um, for expiring contracts or another year, especially if you don't even know if you're gonna play a full season next year, right? So that's a whole other factor that, you know, it c- comes into it.

But barring a real run, a real winning streak, as we mentioned earlier in the show, at this point, on June 23rd, what is a GM doing in preparation of the trade deadline?

... a team like Milwaukee or Pittsburgh or Cleveland, somebody who doesn't have a bajillion dollars to spend, what would you say to those fan bases, those GMs, about going for it?

Well, I, you know, I think it, uh, is, it is, um, understated to some, some degree when you're in it to not try to, you know, go for it to some degree.

Um, I'll, I'll go back to the Orioles.

Maybe it was now three years ago when...

Or f- maybe...

Oh, no, it's four years ago, where they were in the postseason.

They were, you know, a little ahead of schedule, and he, and the GM there, Mike Elias, thought that they weren't good enough, so he ended up selling.

... a team like Milwaukee or Pittsburgh or Cleveland, somebody who doesn't have a bajillion dollars to spend, what would you say to those fan bases, those GMs, about going for it?

So just your thoughts on what Buster Posey has done and his kind of philosophy and how aggressive he is in only his second year as president of baseball operations.

Well, I think from that perspective, you know, you have to give him credit for that in the sense, you know, he's hit the ground running.

He knows, you know, what he's looking for.

You know, he's got a... an experienced front office group that's helping him kind of guide, you know, in the areas that maybe he wasn't, you know, up to speed and familiar with just because he hadn't been in the front office at all.

And I think that, you know, being part of the job is being decisive, knowing what you want, but also evaluating your own players, right.

And knowing what you, what you feel like you, you can give up.

So, you know, I think, you know, and it wasn't like when he took over in fairness that he had a, you know, a championship caliber roster, right? I mean, that usually is the way, way things go.

And I wonder from your perspective at what level of prospect are you looking at? If you're trading a rental, you know, for Robbie Ray, are you able to potentially get a starting pitching prospect back in return? If you're trading Louisa rise, who obviously has hit over 300, three batting titles, are you able to get a solid player in return? Or at the most part, For pending free agents, are you looking at fringy players who, you know, might be lining the bullpen or the back portion of your roster but aren't necessarily, you know, starting caliber players?

So just your thoughts on what Buster Posey has done, and his kind of philosophy and how aggressive he is in only his second year as president of baseball operations.

Well, I think from that perspective, you know, you have to, you have to give him credit for that in the sense, you know, he's hit the ground running.

He knows, you know, what he's looking for.

You know, he's got a, um, a, an experienced front office group that's helping him kind of guide, you know, in the areas that maybe he wasn't, uh, you know, up to speed and familiar with just because he hadn't been in the front office at all.

Um, and I think that, you know, being...

Pa- part of the job is being decisive, knowing what you want, but also evaluating your own, uh, players, right? And knowing what you, what you feel like you, you can give up.

So, you know, I think...

... a- at what level of prospect are you looking at if you're trading a rental? You know, for Robbie Ray, are you able to potentially get a starting pitching prospect back in return? If you're trading Luis Arias, who obviously has hit over 300, three batting titles, are, are you able to get a solid player in return? Or the most part, uh, for pending free agents, are you looking at fringy players who, you know, might be lining the bullpen or the back portion of your roster, but aren't necessarily, uh, you know, uh, starting caliber p- players?

But are the Mets, do they have a chance to get back in this with as good as Atlanta, and especially Philly has been playing?

You know, I, I don't know, AJ.

I don't think they can catch Atlanta.

I, and I...

You know, and we, we all get a chance to watch a lot of baseball.

I don't think...

There aren't many teams as good as Atlanta, um, right now.

What do you think of all this?

... uh, uh, you know? Uh, is there, is there a, is, is there a world where both of these guys, where, where the Orioles keep both of these guys for the next two years and just kind of run it, run it out?

I think, um, I, I do think there's a chance that that happens, you know? Basallo can play a little bit of first base, so can Rutschman.

Obviously, Alonzo, they just signed to a five-year deal, and he's been playing mostly first base.

But I know when he was negotiating his deal with the Mets, a lot of their conversation was about playing, you know, being the DH.

Um, so I think there is a rotation there where you could, um, you know, DH Rutschman and catch Basallo and play Alonzo at first, or DH Alonzo, catch Rutschman.

Basallo is the DH, and, you know, of course, when you're catching, you always can use a day off there.

So, you know, I, I've talked to their manager, Craig Albanez.

Uh, do you think there will be this separation, Rays and Yankees, for the rest of the, uh, for, for, for the rest of the season, or is, is there somebody that might be able to close in a little bit?

But do you feel like it came out the way they wanted, or does it feel like it just came out the way that the chips crumbled because they were put in spots where they didn't get the guy that they actually wanted?

Uh, I don't know if this was their plan A.

You know, I think if, if you go back, they absolutely wanted Diaz and, you know, I didn't think they handled that negotiation very well, um, and lost out, uh, you know, in the end obviously.

Uh, they, they were in on Tucker.

Once they had, uh, the conversations about whether he could handle New York or they felt comfortable in that sense, they, they pursued him hard and, and heavy and then lost out to him.

So I think those were the, the cards that they were showing early on that they, they wanted those two guys.

Now, I don't, I don't know if it really changes, you know, the way that they start out of the gate.

... to three-year deals where the money's still high versus, you know, if you like Freddy Peralta and, and one party, you know, is offering one number and one's at another and it's not that far away, give him the extra damn year and, and sign the guy.

Should the Mets be a team that are hoping guys have years, hoping they make transitions? Should the Mets, with the money that Stevie Cohen has given or has, would put into this team, and the money that they've put out, should they be hoping? It just seems like there's a lot of, like, they're throwing a lot of darts at the dartboard, but it's a, should be a team that has a lot of darts at the dartboard with, like, lesser na- or lesser-known guys and more, like, solidified positions, or am I wrong on that?

Right.

No, I, I think when you're spending almost 400 mil, I don't think they're gonna get quite to 400, but they're gonna be close.

I think it's fair to, to say, uh, you shouldn't have as many question marks there.

No, no question.

You know, I, I also, you know, with, with what, you know, David Stearns is trying to do, like, trying to flip the team from, you know, one that he took over, you know? And last year it was more his team than it was the previous year.

That kind of evolves over time.

So if I'm the Mets, I try and throw whatever, 5 150 or something his way and see if he'll bite.

... to really go?"

Well, it looks like it.

I, you know, I was skeptical.

I think a lot of the fans were that they were willing to do this.

They got shut out.

They were Schwarber, they were in on Schwarber and could've extended.

Um, but they got their, one of their guys.

It doesn't hamstring you yet at DH.