Before his annual summer vacation, Luke Jones took a deep dive on the state of both Birds of Charm City with Dennis Koulatsos. From Westburg and Cowser to OBJ and Flowers, our sports insider brings the usual perspective to the chances of a championship here in this season.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
play, dobbins, ravens, running, orioles, running backs, good, point, position, jk, aaron hicks, player, game, deal, pay, mullins, training camp, season, team, injury
SPEAKERS
Luke Jones, Dennis Koulatsos
Dennis Koulatsos 00:02
Welcome back cleaning off the show as always is our very special guest Luke Jones doing great things all over the airwaves covering the Orioles, the ravens and all things that are sports. Luke, welcome in
Luke Jones 00:14
Dennis How are you my friend?
Dennis Koulatsos 00:16
I’m doing fantastic my friend I’m about to take in my fifth Oriole game of the year which is a PR maybe a lifetime but they’re well one of the three games I’ve attended. So the law of averages says that they should win win win that when I arrive at the stadium
Luke Jones 00:32
they better or you need to stop going to games
Dennis Koulatsos 00:36
I’ve never viewed my stuff with a jinx I’m not superstitious by nature but there but this is such a fun squad to to watch and now they’ve they called up Jordan Westberg I love these the freshness of the team whether it’s Westberg or you talk about against the Grayson Rodriguez is doing better in the minors right now and Jackson holiday to the futures all star games, but it seemed like there’s something always going on with this club.
Luke Jones 01:02
No question about it. And as I wrote it, Baltimore positive.com it the landscape of players now coming up from the minor leagues, it’s changed a few years back was really the only thing fans had to look forward to was okay, when’s Adley rutschman Getting here. When’s Gunnar Henderson getting here? When Jordan Westbrook Grayson Rodriguez go down the list and because on a nightly basis, one you didn’t want to look at the standings because they look really ugly. And the play on the field most of the time was pretty forgettable save for a few guys here and there. So but but the difference now, and we saw this with Jordan Westberg, making his major league debut on Monday was, it’s now a case of yeah, there’s still that interest, there’s still that excitement. And there’s always something special about a player making his major league debut. But the focus remained much more on beating the Cincinnati Reds, and how’s Jordan westward going to fit in? And where’s he going to play and who’s going to play less with him arriving? So that’s fun, you know, and that’s what’s really exciting about this. You mentioned it, one, it keeps things fresh, too. I think what’s exciting about it is, it reminds you that this team can still continue to get better and still improve and still has so many internal options. With more upside, quite frankly, in the case of Westberg. We saw him play second base and his debut, Brandon hightest said he’ll play some third base, I assume when he plays Third, we’ll probably see Gunnar Henderson move over to shortstop because we know he’s capable of playing there as well. And it just gives you a little more upside. I mean, let’s face it. Jordan Westbrook has more upside than what a veteran player like Adam Frazier is at this point where you kind of know what you’re going to get. So that’s really what it’s all about, if you want to do this, and sustain this for the long haul, if you want to be a playoff caliber or championship caliber club for the long haul. It’s really, you know, it’s a different sport than football. But we talked about this all the time with the Ravens with the draft and the fact that you’re not going to pay everyone, you want to have a consistent pipeline and young talent. First of all, you just will always want to have more and more better players. But also, you want to be in a position where you aren’t forced to put yourself into a position where you’re giving out bad contracts. And you know, players get more expensive or a player you like but you don’t love and you don’t want to pay that specific individual, you’d rather pay someone else. Well, you say goodbye to that guy. And then you have someone else in your system ready to replace them. So in the case of Westboro, we’ll see how it plays out. Again, triple A success doesn’t never guarantee success in the major leagues. But my goodness, you’ll look at what he had done at triple A Norfolk over the last couple of years. I mean, what 35 extra base hits at Norfolk this year, put up big numbers with the tides last year when he was promoted. Back going back to last June, he had been in triple A for over a calendar year and put up huge numbers. So it really was a case. And Nestor and I talked about this quite a bit where you just say, What more does the guy have to do to get a chance. So clearly, he had to be patient, he had to be productive. And then on the flip side, and we’ve talked about it the struggles of Adam Frazier in June, the struggles of Jorge Mateo since the first month of the season. So this was an opportunity where the Orioles looked at a young prospect, you know, even the Westbrook’s 24. So he’s not that young as prospect skill. But they’re in a position now where a couple years ago, it was all about is the guy ready. If he’s ready, we’ll put we’ll bring them up to the majors. We have plenty of placeholders on the roster. We’re a bad team, it doesn’t matter anyway. And we’ll give the guy a chance. Now it’s much more a different conversation where you say, is Jordan Westberg better than the options the incumbents that they have in Baltimore right now and clearly, Mike Elias and the Orioles deem that he was and frankly, I would have argued that he probably was back in the offseason even and that’s why I personally wouldn’t have signed Adam Frazier. But that’s neither here or there and I don’t make the decision. Asians but I think it is exciting though, because you just look at this thing and you continue to add young talent. We’ll see Grayson Rodriguez back at some point, as you mentioned him a couple minutes ago. But it’s exciting because you have a team that, you know, they they hit 19 games over 500 With that win on Monday. And, you know, that’s the the best David in terms of games above 500 Since 2014, which is last time they made it to the ALCS. So, you know, it speaks what kind of territory they’re they’re approaching, and they’ve already been in for a while now. And just adding some more young guys, to that mix. It just makes things even more exciting than they’ve already been, which is saying something?
Dennis Koulatsos 05:41
Well, it makes them exciting. It’s also very competitive within the ballclub whether it’s inserting a veteran such as Sir Cedric Mullins back into the lineup coming off of injury or calling up Jordan Westberg. I do think now that playing time becomes a premium and against iron sharpens iron, and it’ll force everyone on our roster to get better.
Luke Jones 06:01
It does, it really does. And keep in mind, Dennis, and this is where we have to remember, you being a football guy. And anyone thinking about it from that mindset, you know, you play every day, it’s a 162 game schedule. So you start to get into the dog days of summer, you want to give guys a little bit of a rest here and there. Because it’s going to keep everyone fresh down the stretch. I mean, that’s what you want. So it creates more competition. It puts yourself in a position where you’re not having to trot out Adam Frazier and Jorge Mateo every night when really their play was not justifying both of them being in the lineup every day. And what that also does, it’s not just the competition in the iron sharpens iron, but it makes your bench better then you’re one of those guys that was in the starting lineup is now coming off the bench. And in the case of someone like Matteo, I mean my goodness, the speed as a late inning pinch runner, if you you need to score a run, you need to steal a base. I mean, that’s, that’s a heck of a weapon to have off the bench. In the case of Fraser, he hasn’t been as consistent at the plate as you’d like. But he is a high contact hitter. So if you’re in a position where you want to put a ball in play, move a runner over a sacrifice fly anything like that, you know, there’s an option off the bench there. So it just makes you that much better. It really does. And you can rotate guys out. It’s not as though Westberg is going to play every single game, although I think he’s going to be out there most days. But it allows you to kind of rotate through your guys a little bit and allows Brandon Hyde to get someone a breather every now and then because I think that’s just going to make everyone better. It’s going to keep everyone healthy or over the course of the season. And it just gives you more options. And in the case of Westberg we saw him play second base hightest said he’ll play some third base he played shortstop more than anywhere in the minors so he’s capable of playing there even if he’s not going to be your top defensive shortstop when if you put them there and and this year, he even has dabbled a little bit as a corner outfielder in the minors play up started a handful of games and right field and a couple in left field. So you have guys that can play multiple positions and the Orioles that’s something that they’ve taken some pride in as far as with their player development. It just makes it even more flexible to rotate guys move guys around a little bit and it’s just going to, you know, it’s something I think you have to have a fine balance with, you don’t want to put someone in a position that they’re not comfortable playing of course, but if it’s someone that can be solid at a spot, and you can move some guys around just gives you so much more lineup flexibility for resting guys. And also and we’ve seen this and you mentioned Cedric Mullins who just recently returned, guys are gonna get hurt so someone gets hurt, you can slide someone else into that spot. You don’t have to necessarily call up a minor leaguer who’s not ready to handle that position. So that positional versatility, that flexibility you really like having that again, you know, it’s a long season, guys need rest guys are gonna be hurt, or at least banged up from time to time and need a day here or there. So a Westberg is certainly a piece if he can hit and hit for power, even close to how he showed it at triple A Norfolk he’ll be a really nice asset for this ballclub not just right now but moving forward.
Dennis Koulatsos 09:12
The other piece of this, this depth that they’re they’re building to continue to build Luke as a guy like Ali rutschman I’d rather see him play first base later and earlier, so when he arrest him, I really don’t need to see him. You know, batting th I like to give them a true rest day. That way he can relax his body completely and get ready for the next game.
Luke Jones 09:34
Yeah, I think that’s kind of that’s been a sticking point for them. And I completely understand because and Brandon has been asked about this and the reality is there are very few catchers in baseball Dennis where you’re looking at them and they’re hitting second in the order third in the order. Most catchers are a little more defensive minded and whatever offense you get is great. In the case of rutschman We know what he’s capable of doing with the bat but I think when you look at how his June has gone and He had a nice night against the Red Sox in the series opener. So it’s not as though he hasn’t been productive at all. But the numbers have been down a little bit in June. So I think your points well taken, especially a catcher, it’s one thing to talk about an outfielder, or thing to talk about a first baseman or third baseman, whatever. But a catcher, that is such a physically demanding position, day in and day out, especially at this point in the year where it’s getting hot. You know, you might have some off days here and there. But you’ll have those stretches where you don’t have very many at all. And I think while I’m fine with him deviating sometimes when he’s not catching, I think you’re absolutely right. And I think we’ve, that’s been reflected in how they’ve used him here, of late, a little bit more, where they’re, they’re trying to get him a few more full days off here. And there. Yeah, the final game, the weekend series against Seattle, he didn’t play you know, they and they still won, mind you. So it’s not as though you’re, you’re doomed if you don’t have them. But as a catcher, especially as the year goes on, you’ve got to give him some four days off here and there. So it’s fine with him, I’m fine with him DH, some of those games where he doesn’t catch, but I think you definitely need to give him some time off. But that goes back to what we were just saying, you want to lengthen your lineup, so to speak, then Jordan Westberg, who was probably going to bat towards the bottom of the order, at least here early on, you know, bad at seventh and his debut. If he can give you some more run production for that bottom third of the order, then you can stand to not have rutschman in there every single time that he’s not going to catch. So I don’t think you’re gonna see him stop being a DH when he’s not catching entirely, but you definitely need to give him some days off here and there. And again, that goes back to having quality reserves, having a quality lineup one through nine, and not being afraid to say, hey, we’ll sit you down for a day and we’re still gonna get enough production out of the rest of these guys
Dennis Koulatsos 11:55
will also like how Brandon Hyde moves guys up and down the lineup. You know, you look at a guy like setting in a six spot and you’re like, Okay, why? Why is he there? But you know what, I like that versatility. I like having some strength at the bottom of the of the order, some speed, etc. So I do like all the things he’s doing. And then you have a guy like Colton Couser I mean, at what point we’re gonna see him, I’m guessing at some point to see them barring injury to a player or he just forces his way onto that major league roster.
Luke Jones 12:25
Yeah, I mean, to answer your first question, when you see Mullins lower in the order, typically, that means they’re going up against the left handed starter, and they’re just trying to optimize their right right handed hitting lineup. So that’s where you’ll see someone like Austin Hays leading off in those cases, otherwise Mullins gonna be in the leadoff spot, because he gets on base, you know, he’s, it was probably their most valuable player at the time of his groin injury, which was what Memorial Day. So it was great to see him back so soon. You know, first of all, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention, everything I had heard about his rehab, kind of led me to think that he was probably not going to be back until closer to the All Star game and then before you know it, he’s starting to rehab assignment so that that ended up being about the best case scenario, what three and a half weeks he missed, when you looked at what that injury was, knowing a groin injury, how debilitating that can be for anyone, let alone a high speed guy like Mullins, that was probably about as good as you could expect it to go for the Orioles or hope for it to go in terms of a return but you just look at where they are right now. As you mentioned Colton Couser outfield when Cedric Mullins comes back, well, who was his replacement these last three and a half weeks it was Aaron Hicks, Aaron Hicks has done such a good job for the Orioles and looking like 2018 New York Yankees, Aaron Hicks that you’re not just going to sit them down, you’re certainly not going to jettison them from the roster. So as far as I’m concerned, Aaron Hicks right now and again. He goes three for his next 30 Then we’re having a different conversation. But right now, I’m guessing Aaron Hicks His presence and His production and how pleasantly surprising he has been with his Renaissance since being released by the Yankees and coming to Baltimore. That’s probably thrown up a little hiccup into the Colton Couser plans. I still fully liked que I expect to see Couser later this summer, and it could it could be as simple as one injury away and suddenly he’s here. But in the case of Hicks, I think because he plays such good defense in addition to what he’s done with the bat. I think you’re gonna see what the Orioles have done a little bit more here recently with Kay Mullins is back and Senator, there’s no question there. Right. No controversy there. But I think Hicks moves to right field then. And I think you see Anthony Santander DH a little more or play a little bit of first base like we saw him against a left handed starter this week. So I think again, everything we’re talking about here, let’s be very clear. These are good problems to have when you have too many good players so to speak, and not enough spot That’s, that’s that’s a great problem to have. I mean, Sign me up. Yeah, well, yeah, exactly. But but in the case of Couser, who has, again, like Westberg, although he hasn’t been at AAA as long, he’s done everything you could possibly expect to warrant getting a call up getting a promotion to the majors. But right now, I mean, Austin Hayes has been the Orioles best player, probably. He’s leading the American League in hitting, so you’re not gonna sit him down. You have Cedric Mullins, who, as I said, at the time of his injury, and late May, was probably the most valuable player on the team. And now, I mean, not just Santander, potentially playing right field, although he can DH and play first base as well. But you have Aaron Hicks in the mix, who has been really, really good. So in the case of Couser, you’re kind of seeing how this is gonna play out. Now, to be clear, do I think Aaron Hicks is going to keep this up for the rest of the year? You know, I’m guessing probably not given the fact that he’s 33 years old. But for now, I’m letting it ride. For now, I’m saying to Aaron Hicks, play yourself out of the out of the lineup, you’re going to start every day until you show you shouldn’t be starting every day. And if it gets to that point, then Colton Couser is a phone call away. So again, this kind of organizational depth, these types of players are in your minor league system. Keep in mind, we’re a little over a month away from the trade deadline. That’s something to consider here. If you want to go get a starting pitcher, if you want to go get another stud reliever to put into your bullpen to go with Batista and Cano. If you want to get another bad at another position, per se, you’ve got to give something up to get something so whether that’s a major player on the major league roster and you promote from within, or if that’s someone that’s in your farm system that you’re going to trade away. That’s, that’s another factor that we’re going to consider here. But long story short, I fully expect unless he’s being traded, which I’m not. It has to be a really special kind of deal for me to do that for a player like Couser. Unless barring a deal like that, barring a trade something unforeseen. We’ll see him at some point here later this summer, because I think he’s the kind of player that can absolutely help them down the stretch and potentially be a difference maker for Luke
Dennis Koulatsos 17:14
speaking of pitching. It’s held up relatively well. Guys like Kramer and radish and wells. I mean, they’re, they’re okay. They’re not. They’re holding it together. I guess the best way that I can put it?
Luke Jones 17:29
Yeah, I think especially, I mean, you look at what Dean Cramer did on Saturday, against Seattle Bradish was really good. On Sunday, he gave up the homerun didn’t give up another hit after the second inning. And for me, there was a moment in that game and I touched on this a little bit in talking with Nestor about the Orioles. You know, recapping the series went over the mariners but two outs in the seventh Bradish issues a walk, it was the three two game at that point. So he puts the tying run on base puts the Go ahead, run at the plate. So many different times, almost like clockwork, you expect Brandon Hyde to come out of the dugout and take him out. They had, I believe Danny coulomb and I think in your condo was warming up at that point in time. So that double barrel action in the rails bullpen. Bradish had just thrown his 100 100th pitch. So he was nearing the end of the line there. But they locked him in. And he got the final out of the inning. And that allowed them to one he gets through seven innings. And I think that’s a nice growing experience learning experience for a young pitcher who’s still trying to find his way at the major league level. Although certainly, you know, Kyle Bradish had success late last year. And we’ve seen him get on a roll here recently. But that was just that was a heartening moment to me for Brandon Hyde to show a little more trust in one of his starting pitchers and say, Hey, you walked a guy. Yeah, that’s that’s not ideal. We do want to put the time run on base, but they haven’t done anything against you since the second inning finishes sinning. And that was gonna be his last batter. And, you know, he would have gone to probably connote if if the next batter had reached, but I think for me, that was just an encouraging moment, because as much as you talk about the pitching, holding up overall, though, you know, certainly we can debate middle relief. And, you know, I think ideally, you’d like to add another Another standout reliever to the mix if the right deal is out there for them to make a move like that. But we’ve set it for a while now, if the Orioles want to continue this all season, and that’s the ideal, right? I mean, they’ve they’ve been so fun. They’ve been so good. You’re probably going to need one of two things to happen. Ideally, both. One probably need your starters to get a little bit deeper in the games. And two, you need a couple guys to emerge from middle relief. So you’re not putting quite as much pressure on Cano and Batista at the end of games. And Sunday. We got both both of those things. Bradish finishes the seventh inning Hi gives him an opportunity to fit finished the seventh inning, and then in the eighth inning and granted, it was the bottom of the Seattle order and a couple left handed bats were due up. That would have been a spot where you would have expected them to just go to Cano and he was available even in fact, he was even warming up in the bullpen. But instead, Hyde went with Danny coulomb, who has pitched really well and you kind of look at him as a lefty and left handed relievers. You’re always the big question you’re always asking is how do they do against right handed hitting? They’ll get the lefty batters, but how did they do against right handed bats and cool arms held his own and done a really nice job against right handed bats as well. So not only did you get Bradish going, being extended a little more, you know, a little deeper into the game, and it works out. But then in the eighth inning, you use Danny coulomb, instead of you and your connote to get to Batista, then for the ninth and guess what that did for Monday night, Batista was unavailable. Now the Orioles ended up winning 10 to three, so it wasn’t a safe situation. But because they use coulomb, instead of canola on Sunday, Cano would have been there closer on Monday nights. So again, it’s a long season, you play every single day, most of the time, you can’t use your best relievers every single game. So Sunday was a great example of hide trusting coulomb, instead of quinoa and the eighth inning, he gets the job done. And then you’ve saved Cano for Monday night, when you wouldn’t have had Batista again. And they won 10 to three, so they didn’t have to use either those guys against the reds in the series opener. But there is an example of over the long haul of a season, those little moves an extra out here or there, you know, a pitcher who comes in and, and handles a job that he isn’t necessarily asked to do all the time. But that just that can really pay some dividends for you one, it builds confidence in these guys. But two, it allows you to spread things out a little bit there, you know, they weren’t gonna have Batista pitch a third day in a row in that spot. And they didn’t need them anyway. But if it had been four to three instead of 10 to three Janja Cano would have been available to pitch on Monday night and that was because they were able to use coulomb in the eight the previous day. And again, those are little things I’m not saying that that’s gonna make or break your your championship hopes but those were things that certainly can help you out over the course of a season. If you can trust some guys in some spots that maybe earlier in the year you wouldn’t have
Dennis Koulatsos 22:17
all great stuff. Look regarding the Orioles. We’ll shift gears real quick to the Ravens. Again, everywhere I go. All my friends asked me about JK Dobbins and its story that’s not going away. But the 2024 free agent running back class I looked this up the other day. Say Quan Barkley, Austin Eckler Jonathan Taylor, Derrick Henry Joe Mixon, Josh Jacobs DeAndre Swift. Are you kidding me? And you, you have to interject JK Dobbins in that group. So no wonder I mean that I don’t know if he realizes that all these guys are going to be free agents, just as He will in 2024. I mean, he really, he’s up against a rock and a hard place is the best way that I can explain it.
Luke Jones 23:02
Yeah. And the reality is of all the names you just mentioned, Dennis, I venture to guess that you’ll see maybe two of those guys get a really good contract, like a good really good to great contract. And the rest will kind of be I don’t want to say fighting for scraps because that that would be a little extreme with some of the names that you just mentioned. But they’re going to be really probably
Dennis Koulatsos 23:25
unhappy that the market is for the money’s coming down. It’s not going up. It’s descending for the running backs, right. We’re other positions. It’s ascending. It’s the only position in the NFL. That’s the Senate even even place kickers are getting more money. commercially speaking, they’re getting raises, whereas running backs. Now they’re getting less money, which I don’t know if that’s ever happened in the National Football League.
Luke Jones 23:51
Yeah, and it’s one of those cases where you still look at the top of the runningback market and say, okay, yeah, I mean, there’s, there’s still some good contracts to be had. But for me, it’s what’s the second tier look like? What’s the third tier like what’s, what’s the so called middle class look like for running backs. And that’s where I think it’s really cratered big time, to the point where sometimes there are really competent, capable running backs, getting two year deals for $4 million, or something like that. So yeah, I mean, it’s just, and we’ll continue to talk about it. And look where we sit. We have a month until training camp or a little less than a month till training camp. So we’re, we’re gonna be talking about and there’s not a whole lot going on. So it’s just one of the questions you’re gonna ponder and we’ll see what Dobbins does at the beginning a camp does he does he take a similar approach at the beginning of training camp that he did with mini camp? Look, I wouldn’t have advised him to do what he did in mini camp in the big picture. Do I think it’s a big deal? Not really. The big picture is the issue at hand here, which is are you going to get paid? I mean, you need to have a monster season. That involves not just big time production, but yes, down the field. If JK Dobbins I’m not saying he has to play all 17 games, but you better be at 15 or 16. At the very least, you better be available for the postseason. If he does that, and he has a great season where he averages well over five yards per carry. And there’s no reason to think he can’t do that, because he’s done that whenever he’s been healthy, you know, been what, closer to six yards per carry, actually, as far as what he’s done in a smaller sample size, but he’s got to go out and do it, you know, he wants to be paid on potential at a position where very few guys get paid for potential. In fact, what you actually find Dennis is, and this is where teams run into problems, teams actually end up paying foolishly for surplus value that they got on a rookie contract with a running back, you know, think about it. I mean, how many guys get paid like Zeke Elliott as a perfect example, where he was phenomenal. In his first few years of the Cowboys, Dallas gives him all this money, and then all that surplus value the Cowboys got out of Zeke during his rookie contract, they just handed right back to him. So Dobbins is kind of the opposite here where he hasn’t been as productive in terms of cumulative production, because he hasn’t been on the field as much. So if you’re another team looking at that, and you say, look, Jake, hey, we think you have some potential. But you know, if you’re the ravens, if you’re Eric to cost, if you’re being very blunt, if we’re talking about some truth serum here, you’re saying, JK, you’ve got to play 17 games, you’ve got to be on the field. Look, we empathize that you had a really bad knee injury two years ago, that cost you the all of 21. And we understand you had to get your knee cleaned up halfway through 22. And yeah, that did make you look more effective when you returned. But that was a really bad knee injury you had, and oh, yeah, you also carry the ball quite a bit at Ohio State that we have to consider that as well. So that’s not to say that we’re not interested in extending you. But our our price right now compared to what you’re asking. It’s, and I’m speculating on that. I don’t know what his asking price is. And I don’t know what the Ravens have offered. But we’re just reading the tea leaves here. They’re not even in the same ballpark. Right? I mean, how could they be, quite frankly, so that it comes back to what Dobbins has to go out there and have a great season. And if he does, that, someone will pay him now, it may not be top of market, it may not be what he’s wanting right now. But someone will pay him and I guarantee it would be more than what the ravens are offering at this point in time. So if you’re him, go out there and have a great season on a team that on an offense that should cater to, to his skill set very nicely. I don’t know if he’s necessarily going to be a bell cow in the way that they still have Gus Edwards, and oh, you still have Lamar Jackson, who still gonna run the ball, at least some maybe not as much as in the past, but he’s still gonna run the ball and they’re gonna throw the ball more. So it doesn’t mean he’s gonna get 25 carries a game, but he should be very involved as a runner. I think a big key and I know you’ve talked about this is he I think if you can untap some potential for him as a receiver out of the backfield that will improve how he looks to potential suitors as well. So it’s, it’s a simple the deal that you want right now. And the ravens are the only team that can give it to you at this point, barring a trade is not there for you. So you have, you know, you can continue to potentially PAL or hold in, make business decisions. And look, there’s there’s a line of thinking for some of that I don’t blame him per se for skipping OTAs they’re voluntary, and he’s a guy in a contract here, he’s hardly be the first but at some point in time, you got to go out there and have a great season and go produce and stay on the field and be the kind of high tier upper tier back that you have flashed the potential to be. But injuries have derailed your you from getting there. So, Dobbins goes out there and has a great year, someone is going to pay him, it may not be top of the market, but he’ll get a nice contract because he is still a young player, you know, a guy that was young coming out of Ohio State. So he’s just got to do that. It’s that simple. And we’ll continue to talk about it because this is the time of year that you’re going to focus on stories like that, because there are no training camp practices, let alone games. So but I think that the proof will be at the start of training camp. Is he on the field for the first day of training camp? If he’s not, then this becomes this story becomes even more interesting, but I think again, it’s very simple. Go out there have a great year and you’ll get paid whether it’s the ravens, or one of the 31 other teams.
Dennis Koulatsos 29:55
I think he’s a very good back as as Gus Edwards, Luke, but I big teams have to be cautious when they analyze ravens running back running backs because they look better and this offense because of the threat of Lamar Jackson, keeping the ball on those RP O’s, right. So they may gain a half a step advantage over the defense because on those RPO is the defense have to make sure that Lamar Jackson isn’t keeping the ball. So I think that’s the other thing that the teams factor when, when to analyze, whether it’s JK Dobbins or Gus Edwards, or any buddy else playing running back for the Baltimore Ravens,
Luke Jones 30:30
no question about it. I think that’s absolutely a colossal point to make. I will say in response to that, and I’ll say I’ll actually stick up for JK Dobbins a little bit here. Look at how he produced However, at the end of the season, where Lamar Jackson was sidelined. And look at the numbers he put up. So if you’re Dobbins if you’re his agent, that’s what you would say in reply to that what you said and I completely agree with you, Dennis. I.
Dennis Koulatsos 30:54
I’m a huge fan. I think he’s
Luke Jones 30:56
great. So yeah, it’s 11 on 11 football, we talked about that, right. Typically football, you know, when you talk about a more conventional, you know, if it’s Joe burrow, you know, even Patrick mahomes isn’t much of a run threat, you know, you’ll see him take off, but it’s not as though you’re ever going to do design quarterback runs with quarterbacks like that. So, you know, the ravens, we’ve talked about it from the moment that Lamar Jackson took over, it forces the defense to play 11 on 11. So it just, you know, it makes things that much more difficult and that much easier for anyone else carrying the football and that also makes it makes things easier for the offensive line to it’s not just the running back. So, yeah, that’s part of it. And I think that’s where things will be really interesting to see how Dobbins does how Edwards does any of the running backs to in Todd Monken. ‘s offense, because I’d else I’d also throw out there for as much as we just you know, people want to beat up on Greg Roman everything was Greg Romans fault. Say what you want about his passing game passing schemes and the lack of success. They are the lack of long term consistency there. The guy is one of the all time you know, over the last 2025 years, great run game coordinators, and yeah, Lamar Jackson made him look better. And the same way that you could say that about Tyrod Taylor or Colin Kaepernick and his previous stops in Buffalo and San Francisco. But at the same time, I can also remember vividly and I’m not this is not a prediction, I’m just throwing out a some food for thought here. The Ravens had a really good running game under Gary Kubiak in 2014. And he leaves to become Denver’s head coach, you know, his dream job. He would have stayed otherwise he enjoyed his time in Baltimore. But, you know, that’s the way it worked out. They brought in Mark Trestman. And they even said we’re going to continue to use the same zone blocking schemes the same Kubiak Shanahan kind of tree running game. And it was not the same and they had issues running the football now, do I think that’s going to happen under Todd? Monken? No, I don’t. But Greg, Romans run game principles and schemes. Say what you want about the past again, I get it, you know, it’s the cool thing to do is to blame everything on Greg Roman, but
Dennis Koulatsos 33:10
they made the Latavius Murray and Devonta Freeman look good. Again. Good back. But none of the caliber that JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards are those two that are level up Ford, Marie and Freeman had at that stage of their career anyway.
Luke Jones 33:23
Yeah, yeah. So my point is not not that I don’t think Todd Monken will have that they’ll have a really continue to have a really good or great running game under Todd Monken. I think they will. And again, Monken showed that at Georgia, you know, at the collegiate level, you know, and he had been a guy that had been known for pass happy offense, his pass heavy offense is in Tampa Bay. So but I think what what I mean, there is probably going to see a little more zone, you know, a little more of those zone concepts. And I think that’s something that caters really well to Dobbins vision, and we’ll see how it plays out. And if he thrives, and he has a big year, and we’re talking about him being a 1200 yard back, and also, I don’t know, having 450 yards as a receiver out of the backfield, some like that, and I’m just throwing those numbers out there off the top of my head, he has that kind of year, JK Dobbins will be will be doing just fine. You know, we can talk about whether, you know, if he’s gonna get 13 million a year, you know, you know, there aren’t many running backs that get that period. But he’ll get himself a nice contract if that scenario plays out. So come to training camp, have a great summer, get yourself ready for the regular season and everything is sitting there now for this off and this is every This goes for everyone with their offense. There are no more excuses. The boogeyman, so to speak that Greg Roman, you know, so many fans had made him out to be at this point. You know, you can’t blame him anymore. So any other shortcomings that you’re going to see it’s going to be something else so we’ll see how it plays out. But all that being said about Dobbins with his contract situation, I do expect him to have a really good 2023 season. And I think he’s gonna put himself in good position for his upcoming free agency. Yep,
Dennis Koulatsos 35:03
that’s all. That’s all he can do. And then look, the tea leaves will fall the way they’re supposed to write either way for for him for the ravens, depending on his market value, the NFL draft, you name it, things happen. It’s a long season and one never knows. But all these other players I mentioned, I mean, they would all look good in the Ravens uniform, you know, whether tackler or Jacobs, or I mean, you name it. There’s some good running backs out there that are going to be available. And that was that was my only point that yeah, it’s going to be a loaded free agent class at running back. And, again, supply and demand. It’s not going to be scarce.
Luke Jones 35:36
Yeah, well, and you see all those names you just mentioned. I mean, I think back to 2019, the Ravens went and signed Mark Ingram wasn’t huge money by any stretch of the imagination. They gave him a little bit of real money. I mean, it wasn’t much more than that. And he was terrific for one year. Now. The next year, he wasn’t as good. And well, but what did they do the following year, they drafted JK Dobbins. So I think for me, if you’re going to ask and I and I’ve probably already said this to you, and I keep I can’t keep track what I say to you or Nestor, as we have our great conversations here, but I think my overall prediction will be Dobbins has a nice, really good season. I think he will go elsewhere, he’ll be outside the Ravens price range, because let’s face it, Ravens have a $52 million quarterback you, you need to be selective with the deals that you get out elsewhere. I mean, that’s just the reality. I think you’ll see them sign someone else among them or any names that you just mentioned. And then they will go to the draft, not the first round, but they’ll go to the draft then and drafted a run a young running back and they’ll kind of repeat what they did with Mark Ingram and JK Dobbins a few years back. That’s kind of how you have to play it out. You know, maybe Gus Edwards comes back on the cheap, you know, who knows, I don’t want to just dismiss or overlook Edwards, but because he’s really good back in his own right, but my prediction is, that’s how we’ll ultimately see this play out. And the Ravens if Dobbins has a great year, hey, the ravens, maybe they’ll get a fourth or fifth round comp pick and there you go, you’ll move on and you’ll wish them well.
Dennis Koulatsos 37:06
And the draft Dobbins came out Luka. I think it’s been well documented by the ravens and analysts. I like that JK Dobbins. I mean, he wasn’t a draft board, but not what was he the 55th pick of the second round? I mean, they drafted them because they saw a ton of value there. So I do think the scenario usually that will play out as well, they’ll have running backs, just like any other position on the board. And, and if they think a first round talent, they’re in late second round. They’ll pick them up or third round, or whatever the case may be, but I’m with you. I was surprised. I didn’t take one this year. But yeah, you know, they’re, like you said, you got to big contracts are tied up with your quarterback and they’ve got to be strategic and who they sign and meant for how much?
Luke Jones 37:48
Yeah, I mean, it doesn’t mean you don’t sign anyone, it just means Yeah, you do need to be a little more selective about that. I mean, think about it. You see Bill Belichick Well, he’s and this is what Bella tech talk talking about Matt Jude on Yeah.
Dennis Koulatsos 38:03
But I thought it was a good article because he you know, he said that. Look, you can’t keep everybody he said the Ravens would love to cap Matt Jude on I would have loved to cap several guidance that he named. But I think he made a good point that you just can’t keep everyone on I think he was prayed. And Jude on because this was one free agent signing that worked out, in sharp contrast to who was a daily as Thomas, many years ago, playing linebacker position that didn’t work out quite quite the same way.
Luke Jones 38:29
Yeah, I mean, that’s, it’s just the truth. You can’t pay everyone. And when you have a quarterback who is taking up, you know, roughly a quarter, you know, it’s a little less than that. I think, you know, and obviously the cap will continue to go up. So, yeah, this isn’t an excuse or to say that the Ravens will sign anyone moving forward that of course, that’s not the case. But you do need to be more selective because you have someone who think about a quarterbacks average annual value compared to even a top flight corner, which is 20 million, you know, I mean, 20 million compared to 52 million on an AV standpoint. Now, that’s less than half. So I mean, it really is. You have to be judicious about it. And that’s why I’ve said the same thing about Patrick queen, you know, I think Patrick Queens gonna go out and have a really nice season. Next row, Quan Smith, and then he’s gonna get paid elsewhere. And the Ravens might get a fourth round, come pick out of it, and if they do great, and then they’ll hand the reins to Trenton Simpson next to to row Quan Smith. I mean, that’s just how this works. I mean, it’s the way it all, you know, in the salary cap era, let me let me clarify. It’s the way it’s always worked, you know, you can’t pay everyone and if you want to have a balanced, healthy roster, position by position, both sides of the ball, you’ve got to make some difficult choices. I mean, it’s that simple. Because anytime you talk about this, yeah, if the Ravens really want to if they absolutely want to, if they are hell bent on doing it, yeah, they can go sign resign JK Dobbins, but then What opportunity cost is there? What do you lose out on? What can’t you do at another position that you’d like to do? So, that’s the way it works and we’ll see how it plays out. But that’s, that’s, that’s the reality of being back, you know, in the Superbowl Joe Flacco was making a lot of money was taken up a lot of the cap. Again, it’s not an excuse for the organization. But it is a reminder that you need to make smart decisions and know you’re not gonna be able to keep everyone.
Dennis Koulatsos 40:30
Look, my last comment to you is about Eric DeCosta. He’s done a very good job and not having a lot of dead cat money, which is something that that that bit, Ozzie Newsome, particularly later on during his tenure, I remember the various web contract didn’t work out because of injuries to Web. Ug Monroe pops into my head. That was a bad contract. But he actually done a very nice job. I think the Ravens have about 10 million in debt cap money. But he’s done a better job in managing that and that cap money.
Luke Jones 41:02
Yeah, yeah. I mean, and I would say that a couple years ago, he did have some, I mean, the the Earl Thomas situation, left them with quite a bit. Yeah, with some dead money. I mean, you know, they’ve had, I mean Tavon young, that deal didn’t work out. You know, that’s still a deal that even at the time of it, I was a little puzzled. They were they were trying to project what Tavon Young was going to be as a healthy player, but he just couldn’t stay on the field. And that just anyway,
Dennis Koulatsos 41:29
playing LUCAM there’s a name that I completely forgot about Tavon. I got it. I
Luke Jones 41:33
you know, look him up. Right. I know what he had signed with the bears. I believe it was last offseason, but I and I don’t know what his injury was. I want to say he landed on IR and I don’t think he played last year. So I don’t I’m guessing he is a free agent right now, without having looked. But, but and I don’t say this. I’m not saying this to
Dennis Koulatsos 41:56
you. Right. He’s 29 years old. He’s a free agent. You’re spot on?
Luke Jones 42:00
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, just the the injuries and it’s really a shame because he’s a guy who looks so good as a kid. And, you know, and even came back from the first ACL injury and had a really nice season after that, but I don’t I don’t say this. I’m not I didn’t bring those players up to dispute. Your your, your your point, but no one’s gonna bat 1000. And yeah, I mean, that’s, and this kind of goes back to what I was just saying about Dobbins and needing to be selective. I mean, let’s face it. Think back to the last time the Ravens extended a running back and gave a running back big money. It didn’t work out well with Ray Rice. Yeah, I’m even putting aside the off field, you know, the domestic dispute with with his then fiancee and future wife 2012, the first year that that he played under, you know, from the time that they gave him the contract that summer. Remember, he was their franchise player that summer and they got a deal done. He had a good year wasn’t his best year, but it had a good year. And then it was bad after that. And how much of that was Dobbins? How are Dobbins? How much of that was Ray Rice himself? How much of that was the offensive line? How much of that was they went to a zone blocking scheme that didn’t really fit their personnel very well. How much of that was they got rid of Anquan Boldin and then replace them? So their running game head or their passing game had some deficiencies that they didn’t have before? The answer is yes, all those things impacted it. But the point is, even when you keep someone, even when you keep someone even if it’s one of your own guys that you resigned, you gotta be careful because just because you’re resigning someone and you like a player, that doesn’t make that a good deal necessarily. And, again, that kind of lends itself to the Dobbins thing, but by and large, yes, Eric Acosta has done, you know, they’ve been a little more conservative at times this year was a departure from that. And keep in mind, Dennis, they’ll have some dead money next year because they’ve used a lot of void years in these deals, which means that it’ll hit next year on their cap, so they’ll have some dead money next year. But by and large, they’ve tried to keep themselves in as flat a salary cap situation as they can be in to not have a bunch of dead money and resources that they can’t use.
Dennis Koulatsos 44:13
JK Dobbins. I’m sorry, Ray Rice and oh, five for rockers. 195 attempts. 1100 yards. Oh, six 335 attempts. 1800 yards. Oh seven 380 attempt Luke almost 400 rushes in 13 games 2000 yard the guy had 910 carries coming out of college.
Luke Jones 44:33
I I remember and look, I’m not going to sit here and say that I ever said the Ravens should not extend Ray Rice. But I do remember looking at that at the time and at least bringing it up and saying you’ve got look his first four year at that point. It was his first four years in the NFL. Terrific, right? Everything about him said and keep in mind this is pre incident and In, you know, in the casino and all that that happened, he was one of the faces of their franchise did a lot of community work for them, met with season ticket holders and sweet holders and all of that. So all of those factors, that was something that I looked at and said, Look, just because we’re talking about the NFL compared to college, that wear and tear still counts, and I understand that he’s only 1920 21 years old. And I’m not saying that means a guy. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t draft them, or I wouldn’t play them or even extend them. But you need to at least consider that. So that it’s a cautionary tale. It really is. I just, I find more often than not tennis. And again, this is philosophically me speaking on running backs in general. Every time you see a running back, get this big money, what do you hear a team say, our guys different, our guy is special. And then two years later, they’ve got the same buyers or more sellers, remorse or signers, remorse, whatever you want to call it. You know, that’s just the way it works out. And yes, there are some exceptions, I get that Adrian Peterson, really long hall of fame career, Frank Gore, really long, very productive career. But for every example like that, you know, I’ll even throw Derrick Henry out there, you know, who had the foot a couple years ago and and has bounced back better than I thought, I think a lot of people thought he would. But for everyday example like that, I can probably give you three or four times as many examples on the other side of the ledger, where you just say, probably would have been better off saying, You know what, thank you for the great production, I’ll let someone else pay you for that, and then roll the dice and see what you’re going to be over the next five years. I mean, that’s just how I view it. I don’t say that to be disrespectful to running backs, I’m just, I’m trying to, it’s all about taking the information that you have precedent, evaluation, health, projecting what you think someone’s going to be, it’s no different than trying to anticipate market stock markets and things of that nature, you know, you’re trying to project out what you think is what it’s going to look like in the future. So in the case of running backs, I’m not even opposed to taking one relatively early, although I’m not going to take one in the top 10 or anything like that in the draft, not quite that early. But for me, I’ll take you know, love you over the course of your rookie deal. But I am probably going to say goodbye maybe a franchise you a year, if you’re that special. But beyond that, I’m probably going to say farewell after that, because I just I’ve seen this play out too many times. And it stinks for those guys, I really do feel for running backs, you know, you and I’ve talked about even, you know, guys maybe need to, you know, if the running backs at the collegiate level really try to cash in from an NL NIHL perspective. Because you don’t you just don’t know what you’re gonna get in the NFL with in the long term, but it’s just it’s, it is what it is. And you can’t expect teams to suddenly just be dumb because they want to be nice to running backs. You know, they’re, they’re looking at recent history. And most of these teams are making decisions and saying, We got all this surplus value over the course of your rookie deal. Assigning you long term is handing that right back to you.
Dennis Koulatsos 48:19
I agree with him. If my son played the running back for any team, I wouldn’t want to see 380 carries in 13 games, there’s a lot of no question. It’s a lot of wear and tear on the body. And it’s just tough to just one of those compound punches right compound, it just compounds itself. I think all on the fair players when they get drafted, they’re probably the healthiest are ever going to be and they regret from that point is picking up injuries and that running back position to me. They’re like eagles, they come out of big and strong and over space and time and money. Just their value community gets diminished because of the weird Turner bodies. And it’s one of those unfortunate things look.
Luke Jones 49:01
Yeah, it really isn’t. I just looked it up just out of curiosity. And I had remembered this and I mentioned Frank Gore, a couple moments ago, he had 348 career carries at Miami now. He had injuries. And there Miami also had some other really good backs. And I think what he played with Willis McGahee. So, but there’s an example of someone who even even with having some health concerns at that point in his very young career. I think what he was ended up being a third round pick, I think he was yeah, he was.
Dennis Koulatsos 49:32
Yeah, he was very different. Frank was different kinds of a cat. Yeah,
Luke Jones 49:37
exactly. But he didn’t have you know, he didn’t have 900 carries in college. So I think and I think we’ve seen some point. Yeah, we’ve seen some other examples like this play out. You know, I don’t have a list in front of me because I wasn’t expecting our conversation to necessarily head in this direction. But you know, if I’m a an NFL team, I’m absolutely looking for that running back who maybe was stuck behind someone in QA College for a couple years
Dennis Koulatsos 50:01
giant just can’t articulate behind Derrick Henry from not mistaken. But again, Josh Jacobs didn’t really shine until his senior year, he was a he was very much an unknown, right? He was one of those classic boom or bust prospects that turned out to be a really good player for the Raiders.
Luke Jones 50:16
Yeah, give me that guy who I can get on day three of the draft, maybe, you know, maybe the fourth round, maybe it’ll end the day too. Yeah. And I’ll just take that guy. And I’ll say that I will say this much at the very least, that guy who has a lighter college workload, I will entertain at least a little bit more not saying I’ll do it. But I would entertain the thought of extending someone like that way before someone who carried the ball a whole bunch in college as well. So again, it’s
Dennis Koulatsos 50:45
another step I think gather 510, five, nine about 205 I think they have a better chance for longevity versus the big guys there. Can we of course with the exception, but now remember, Earl Campbell was a my favorite running back of all time. But again, the rules are different. You can really spear people and whatnot. But Earl lasted seven years. And I mean, he’s just a total mess these days. He can barely walk wheelchair about for the most part. But yeah, I mean, they I do think it’s a certain type of a build that can allow with the managed carries lower. Yeah, like that can maybe have a 810 year NFL career.
Luke Jones 51:17
Yeah. You mentioned Earl Campbell. How about Jamal Lewis and looked them all. Give him all the credit in the world. He came back from the O one ACL injury, which was his second and what a four year period he had a torn ACL in college. So yeah, he had won a Tennessee which, you know, was part of the reason why, you know, you kind of looked at, there were some mixed opinions on the Ravens taking him fifth overall
Dennis Koulatsos 51:38
overall, right? Travis Taylor was 10th. Overall, you were like, okay, because I had I’m taking Sean Alexander, who actually had a very good career as well, for the Seahawks, I believe at 26 in that in that draft class. But yeah, but hey, they would have been okay with either player. And I think we all know that Jamal was instrumental in a Ravens winning that 2000 Super Bowl. He was
Luke Jones 51:58
but there was another example the Ravens extended Jamal Lewis, look at his production over the course of that contract compared to his rookie deal. Look the signs. Yeah, I I don’t say this to be disrespectful to running backs. I don’t I think you just have to look at reality, though. I mean, it’s just,
Dennis Koulatsos 52:15
I’m with you. It’s my favorite position. It really is. I mean, it’s what I played high school, played in college. I love running back there. They’re getting screwed. They’re getting the short end of the stick. But again, it’s business. And there’s no way around this thing unless, again, the NFLPA I don’t know when the next CBA comes up, but that’s the time to address it, then maybe get these guys look, maybe they’re you hold the rights for three years versus five in the first round, which is crazy. I mean, it really is. They got to do something different. PayScale paying for production over the first three or four years or career but that’s when after best or really are after the rookie year the figure things out the instinctive position. They either have it or they don’t. Right, that it factor. Do you see it right away? Yeah, there’s Yeah. And they you’re right, the, the contracts are for future performance, not for past performance. And that’s what stinks about these running backs.
Luke Jones 53:04
Well, and I think what’s tough for them, but everything you said, just that has merit. I think that’s absolutely something that in a vacuum, you would like to hope would be considered or at least fought for by the NFLPA. But the reality is Dennis and we saw this with the 2011 CBA, where the rookie contracts pay scale went way down. Why? Because the NFLPA wanted to take care of veteran players a little bit more understood. Now. Could the veteran running backs set make their voice heard? And maybe there would be something done? I think it’s, I think it’s a really tough problem from their perspective. And I don’t know if there’s an easy solution that’s going to appease the running backs, the rest of the NFLPA teams, you know, I think it’s, I just think it’s one of those, one of those deals where I think it’s tough, and it’s gonna be fascinating. And you’ve mentioned it, you know, talking about talking about fathers telling their sons not to be running backs, in college, you know, go play another position. It’s gonna be funny. Not funny, it’s gonna be fascinating to see how it how that plays out long term, because to your point, barring something fundamentally changing from a union perspective, from a league perspective, in terms of contract structure, what have you. It’s not going back, you know, we’re not going back to the days where, I mean, I can remember 2025 3035 years ago, you’d see three running backs go on the top five sometimes, right? I mean, now, it was big news this year that two running backs went in the first round. You know, it used to be two running backs. Sometimes they go one, two, or one, three or two, three, you know, in the top five, so those days are long gone, and they’re not coming back. So is there a middle ground for these running backs to get paid a little bit better? Maybe, but, again, structurally speaking, fundamentally speaking I don’t know if you’re gonna put that proverbial toothpaste back in the tube.
Dennis Koulatsos 55:04
I was just looking up the deal that Josh Oliver got that 21 million over three years. I mean, this is this is a backup tight end. When you think about it, and you look at some of these positions and the money given to some of these players, and Josh Oliver body of work not to diminish what he’s done. It’s nowhere near one year. Yeah. And he gets that kind of a deal. And it’s hard to imagine. JK Dobbins getting that kind of a deal for himself.
Luke Jones 55:32
Yeah, now, I will say this, I like Josh Oliver a lot as a blocking tight end this past year, I would not have given them that deal. Clearly, the Ravens had no interest in giving them a deal like that. So but yeah, it’s, it’s fascinating. And again, you know, bringing it back to the ravens, as we’ll wrap up, you know, this specific topic, you know, it’s gonna be interesting to see how it plays out. But, you know, if I’m the ravens, I’d be playing it exactly as they are where it’s just like, we like to JK we do. But now we’d
Dennis Koulatsos 56:02
love to get on the field. But you know, yeah, you’re right. Let’s, let’s see what you got. And we’ll talk about the season, but we’re not going to talk about what the season we expect you to show up. That’s the company line.
Luke Jones 56:12
8Or in the case of what’s actually happened. They’ve talked it’s just what the assume numbers are, are not even close, which you’d kind of expect right at this point. The Ravens would be looking for a T for a player with such question marks. They’d be looking for a very team friendly deal. And if you’re Dobbins Why the heck would you assigned a team friendly deal when you’ve been hurt the last couple years go go out and have a fully healthy season and go make bank then next March
Dennis Koulatsos 56:37
but you know what, even if even if there weren’t any question marks even if he had been healthy, it’s there’s still X amount of dollars a team from the top net position. That’s the sad truth. Maybe more but I don’t think it’s a whole big scheme of thing. I don’t think it moves the needle a whole lot.
Luke Jones 56:51
I just don’t Yep, totally agree with you.
Dennis Koulatsos 56:54
Alright, look, I appreciate you please tell our listeners. Of course I appreciate your time as always, please tell us where they can find you and Baltimore positive wn s t 1570. Am your social media presence, your blog and everything else that you do?
Luke Jones 57:08
Absolutely encourage everyone to follow us on Twitter at wn S T can follow me personally Apple, Mr. Luke, whether I’m at the ballpark or whether in just a few weeks, we’re less than a month away. Be in Owings Mills for the start of training camp. Check out my blog at Baltimore positive.com sponsored by coons for to Baltimore. The latest on the Ravens latest on the Orioles. am taking a little bit of downtime here over over the next couple of weeks so we won’t see me on there quite as often. But certainly we’ll be back after that counting down to ravens training camp Orioles as we get to the closer and closer to the All Star break and they continue to be one of the best teams in baseball. So plenty of coverage from Camden Yards and Owings Mills. You want to get wn st Baltimore positive tech service sponsored by coons for the Baltimore if you are you got the news that the Orioles were promoting Jordan Westbrook to the major leagues. You got the news that the Orioles had activated. Cedric Mullins from the IRL over the weekend. You’ll get the news if the Ravens sign someone like I don’t know a Justin Houston or a veteran cornerback that could still be out there. Any significant local sports news sent directly to your mobile device via the wn St. Baltimore positive tech service sponsored by coons for to Baltimore. And of course anything throughout the week on AM 15 Seven eight with Nestor any Raven sound from Owings Mills as we open up training camp in a few weeks. Any rate, Orioles players and coaches interviews from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Check out all of that at Baltimore positive.com
Dennis Koulatsos 58:35
All right, my friend always great than just when I thought we probably have a half an hour segment we double that time we our conversations take different directions often not predictable, but that’s part of it makes it so much fun. I appreciate it.
Luke Jones 58:49
Absolutely. And hey, it works out because we will not be talking next week but we’ll reconvene in a couple of weeks so Hey, double the time to take up we’re not talking next week.
Dennis Koulatsos 58:58
Maybe I’ll break it I’m able to have this week and I’ll play you can the other half nice week Luke enjoy your well deserved time off.
Luke Jones 59:06
Thanks Dennis be well I’ll talk to you in a couple of weeks.
Dennis Koulatsos 59:08
You got it my friend Eric goes live challenge here 1570 Am wn S T we’ll take a quick break and come back right after this.
