Toyota Tacoma

In the pickup truck space, and I'm switching gears a little bit, those manufacturers never broke through.

I mean, Toyota, of course, is doing really well with the Tacoma.

It took them, what, 40 years, maybe 45 years to get to this point where they are now with the Tacoma.

The Tundra is still... number four on the list of bestsellers, right? It never broke through Ram and GM and Ford.

So I think brand matters in certain segments, right? Brand value and heritage.

We're going to take a quick break, and when we get back, a whole lot more.

I'm going to give you a nice rundown on a 2026 Toyota Tacoma TRD Hybrid, and you should see the color.

Man, you'll have to watch my YouTube next week.

Stay tuned.

You know, I'm kind of growing on me.

It's definitely in your face.

And the Tundra, you know, you've got Tacoma, you've got Tundra.

You've got quite a few truck lineups that are TRD-specific, and I guess it's something that you would have to pick.

And again, you don't need to do anything.

You just drive off-road and you would trounce that Tacoma, I think.

Off-road capability, I would think so.

Yeah, off-road capability, yeah.

doesn't happen on certain brands.

No, no, no.

Like there's no point to go buy a newer used Tacoma.

No. You're not, you're just losing the warranty.

It just clicked really well.

I saw what Axel swapped in 06 Tacoma and put a 4-link in it and got the EVAP system to work with a fuel cell, like one of the first people to do that.

Yeah, that's real impressive.

Toyota's a little picky.

Let's shift it toward what is your cup of tea, which is your baby American Iron.

How did that come to fruition?

That solid axle swap Tacoma that I did, I was driving anywhere from three to nine or ten hours to wheel.

I would replace ball joints a bit every year, which didn't bother me, but my fear was...

Now you're factoring Michael Arroyo into that, into that aspect.

Like if Brock Rodden still is, is, is within the organization, like not to say Felton and Celestin will be ready by the end of next year or whatever, but like there are players that are coming up through the organization that should, in theory, be able to be part of that plan going forward and so last year they didn't have a michael arroyo that was ready they didn't have like any minor league position players that were ready to make an impact whereas the answer was colt emerson but like he doesn't really factor into the i mean he ended up factoring into that conversation with you know donovan and jp crawford and stuff like that but a royal feel yeah it shouldn't have been you know it shouldn't have been required of him but a royal feels like a very natural fit into that echelon of like where at bats will be given should things kind of fall through in certain aspects so like it begs the question of like what is lazaro montes's role look like in that following season like how does again players that we saw make their debuts like brock rodden like how will he factor is ryan bliss still part of that equation like How deep down in the minor leagues are you getting? Is Charlie Pagliarini making his debut next year? Is Hunter Fitzgerald factoring into that conversation? Sure, those are guys that in AA put up good seasons, but if we see Pagliarini or Fitzgerald take at-bats next year, I think it's because we were watching Tacoma Rainiers baseball and not Mariners baseball.

At least I hope.

Yeah, if we see them take at-bats for the Seattle Mariners in 2027...