It was a successful weekend on the field against the Phillies but costly on the mound as Kyle Bradish becomes the latest Orioles starter who appears headed for a Tommy John surgery as the rotation continues to adapt – and the Birds continue to win.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
talking, pitching, orioles, pitcher, kyle, yankees, point, corbin, give, week, baseball, starts, rodriguez, povich, weekend, year, game, burns, months, cost
SPEAKERS
Nestor J. Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home we are W n s t test Baltimore and Baltimore positive we are positively into what should be a glorious full week of baseball certainly started with a bang against the Phillies at Camden Yards off to New York we go Luke and I will be together over cost this I’m going to be doing the Maryland crab cake Tour presented by our friends at the Maryland lottery, we’ll have the Gold Rush sevens doublers to give away. It’s been lucky batch thus far over Coco’s last week and a Cooper’s down and Fells Point for Fleet Week. fanatic weekend. It was a fantastic weekend with a pH as the Oreos rolled through when we get together on Thursday. We also appreciate our friends at Liberty cure solutions keeping my water crystal clean. As you can see, I’m tricking the orange kool aid here, which I’ll be doing a Costas on Thursday as well as eating the crab Imperial and our friends at Jiffy Lube multi care for keeping us on the road on these wise conversation. Look, the Oreos are in New York. You and I aren’t going up here this week. Your sister’s making babies and I’m making business and crab cakes it cost us we’re going to be a Pappas next Tuesday as well. Looking forward to some great guests there. Yankees Orioles meaningful series for first place mid June. You naysayers have big series in June from months ago now that we’ve had sort of a monumental weekend if you’re an Orioles fan in regard to the memory timeline of you, in our previous segment, like comparing it to a 2131 a Delmon young something that’s memorable for this generation to go and say, Yeah, I was there on Father’s Day when they shellac Zack Wheeler and and carbon burns stood up and Grayson Rodriguez before that. But really Bradish What’s the story of the weekend and as I was driving down to Jamie Costello, some retirement party, we’re all the holy Palaui we’re still haven’t talked to Mary Beth Mars and I’m upset about that. But I you know, I even said to my wife, I’m like that, you know, they could sweep this weekend against the Phillies and this Bradish thing that’s now stacked on top of the wells thing stacked on top of the means thanks stacked on top of the Batista thing. Not necessarily an Orioles problem. We’ve talked about this. And you know, we can go into Tommy John, and you can Google all that look, and I’ve talked about this every week, because every week they’re losing another pitcher, dude.
Luke Jones 02:30
Yeah, I mean, it’s just it’s really disappointing. It’s odd. Because first day of spring training, Mike Elias announces that Kyle Bradish is dealing with a sprain to his UCL. And what did everyone think at the time, Oh, this guy’s not going to pitch this year, season over for him, Tommy John surgery all that you
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:50
had a very long face that morning afterward, anybody wants to go back? I mean, look at that.
Luke Jones 02:54
And let’s be clear, and I, I’ve stressed this over and over and over. These guys are not robots. And it’s very easy for someone else to sit there and say, Go get your elbow cut on. And John means can be case study. A in terms of that’s not always a smooth process. So I understood all along. Why Kyle Bradish and or the club and anyone else that was involved in that process, which you’re always going to have agents being kept in the loop and you know, you’ve solicit other opinions. You know, sometimes you visit multiple doctors, you look at all that and they elected to rehab. PRP injection goes through a throwing progression. And what was ironic was, it was almost what it was mid February when Mike Elias announced that it was almost four months to the date that Mike Elias had announced that Kyle Bradish wouldn’t be ready for the start of the season. And he comes out on Friday night after only 74 pitches. So I guess the point I’m trying to make is it’s been a roller coaster in terms of thinking if Kyle Bradish was going to be part of 2024 and this club that’s trying to win a World Series, whether he was going to be involved or not. I think in mid February, it felt like not in late March it felt like maybe in late April, I thought hey, so far so good. He’s, you know, rehab start assignments. You know, those starts are looking good. He makes his debut. First couple outings didn’t necessarily get deep into the game, but pitched well enough look like Kyle Bradish we see the unbelievable outing he had in Chicago against the White Sox. We see the outing even had last weekend against the rays down at the trop where he pitched very, very well. Uh, but I think there was always you know, we we’ve we’ve talked about this, the collective holding of breath. With every time he pitches with every bullpen session with every morning after the thing A lot of is this going to hold up. And I think as more time went on, there was a higher confidence level. But let’s also call a spade a spade here. For the moment, we found this out in mid February, we all knew that this was a distinct possibility, if not the most likely outcome in the full range of outcomes. So there’s nothing official yet. You know, obviously, they’re gonna run through all the tests, they’re going to do all the imaging probably going to see a second opinion. Third opinion, that’s typically how this goes. But I mean, what’s the best case scenario at this point? You know, he gets another PSA PRP injection rehabs for two months, maybe tries to come back in September? Or is Tommy John inevitable? Point is you’re no longer expecting Kyle Bradish to be part of this 2024 Club. If he makes it back any avoid surgery somehow, some way? Then we’ll talk about that then. But it feels the inevitability of inevitability really sunk in on Saturday, when not only he goes on the aisle, but they flat out, say sprained. These are some sad stories for these humans. Right, like see all spring?
Nestor J. Aparicio 06:12
Yeah, you know, I can’t get past that part of it. And, you know, right, right about the team, because we’re going to talk about burns and where it’s going to come from right. And you were at the game Father’s Day, correct Sunday? Yes, so I was on the television. Right. So I was on the I was on the fan feed that Greg Bader is made available to me on mass and where he told me 18 years ago to watch the games on TV. So the pregame which, quite frankly, I think stinks a lot. And I don’t say that it’s thanks a lot. But I think it stinks. I mean, in my household, I say to my wife, I think it stinks. So I don’t go on the internet and say that all the time. But when it’s good, it’s good. And on Sunday, it starts with Melanie Newman, interviewing Jim Palmer about Father’s Day. And he had a very unique situation that he he found out about and wrote about it and talked about in recent times, but also pitching also Wheeler and Corbin but how can you get a better analysis for a couple of minutes about that? And radishes well was part of that. And then they did this Father’s Day thing. And they did burns, McCann cologne. And there’s somebody else that’s apparent on the team. I’m missing. It was the guy on the left. I don’t know any of these guys. Helped me it was a veteran. More of a veteran guy either way, for outcome up with it was for their players. And so yeah, I don’t know. Okay. Yeah, yeah, it was for their players. And it was Father’s Day, and they were all fathers and they were discussing, being a father and I’ll come up with who it was because there’s stuff going through 25 games, I can’t tell the story and think at the same time. It’s like writing and thinking at the same time, I can’t do it. They’re talking at the same time. So they were all talking about their experiences with their children, and being grown off. So one of them out of Couser and Grayson Rodriguez needing to keep them in line as being the young guys and being Hey, don’t do that. We don’t do that in the big leagues, and teaching them about new ballparks and new cities. And I mean, I think that’s one of the things even like Robin has been around. It’s got to be still six or eight ballparks he hasn’t played in yet. Right? Like, and that’s not the mansion. Couser, who’s new to the party and like all these years, and I if it is reminiscent of my youth where I spent those parts of my years in those club houses with Ben McDonald and Mike Messina and Rick Sutcliffe. And Chris Moyles, whom you and I talked about at length two weeks ago, and just a lot of those kinds of players as well as Johnny Oates, and l rod and cow senior and Mike Flanagan, trying to keep younger guys in order and teach them the ropes and Brady Anderson, being a big leaguer, and what all that entails, and it really peel back the curtain. They’re doing a digital thing. It’s like their lounge, I guess, but they don’t have a host on it. And I thought it was the same guys every time I didn’t realize like they’re gonna put different guys in the seats and give them situational conversation which this is the antithesis of me being the old guy prick telling them not to throw sunflower seeds in each other when they’re doing it in the middle of the game in the middle of the dugout when they’re trying to talk baseball, and I’m trying to learn a little bit about them. But I really saw this leadership thing with Corbin burns, it was a great conversation, Calum about their kids and seeing the game that way and what leadership would be and then I think about these men who are having to go home to their wives, their family, they’re getting cut off. They’re letting their team down their careers in jeopardy every time and I have fallen in like with Brad as she’s one of the guys that I’ve seen more on TV and they’ve I’ve seen him speak more and he seems like a nice kid. In and means as well as being a leader thrown in no hitter. Like, the feelings we have with man see any hangover having cancer, you know, it’s not cancer, but it’s cancer for their career to have to go through this. And it’s an awful painful. I’m watching my wife boot around here, five minutes when we did this segment, it sucks being in pain, it sucks having doctors in your life. But when you put your career in jeopardy, as I watched when it happened, Rob Burnett, when it happened to Todd heap, and when it certainly happened at Dennis pitta, whom you and I have a real affinity for and will always have an affinity for that these are. It’s a tragic situation. And we’re thinking like, who are we going to trade for? And you know, what play are we going to lose on the farm? Because, and we’ll get to all of that. But there really is a human part of this for these humans on Father’s Day weekend to have their career. jeopardized sucks man sucks.
Luke Jones 10:57
It really does. I mean, it’s, it’s difficult. And this is why and we’ve talked about this for years when whenever there’s an injury, you know, we’ve talked about a lot with football, right? Because injuries are so prevalent in a contact sport, you know, you go further, far enough down the timeline. injury rate is 100%. I mean, that’s just the truth. Everyone who plays football is going to get hurt. And when it comes to pitchers in baseball, just about everyone gets hurt. And we’ve talked about the prevalence of Tommy, John, whether you’re talking about youth baseball, high school, baseball, college, baseball, minor league baseball, or the major leagues. I mean, it’s such a, an epidemic that is very, very difficult to try to navigate. And I don’t think anyone has the perfect answers, obviously. That’s That’s an understatement. But there is a human element to this. That’s why it’s something that as someone who’s covered these guys and been around these guys enough, it’s not as though reporters get to know all these players intimately. So I’ll stress that but it is, there’s a mental side to this that goes beyond just okay, well, how many? How many games you’re gonna miss how many weeks you’re gonna miss? Certainly, how are you gonna miss a season, whatever. But the player tends to go away then. Right? I mean, and even the teams themselves have to acknowledge that, you know, the wheel keeps moving. I mean, you don’t stop right. I mean, we’re going to be talking more and more about K. Povich we’re gonna be talking more and more about Dean Kramer coming back from a rehab assignment, we’re going to be talking about someone like Chase McDermott, who’s at triple A, and potentially could be in the mix, we’re certainly gonna be talking about the trademark it but it’s very difficult. And I think for pitchers, specifically, we’ve talked about this, so we don’t need to belabor the point too much. But we’ve talked about this element of everything that helps these guys get to this point. And we’ve talked about it so much with modern day pitching, and the philosophy behind it and max effort. And guys going to training facilities like drive line and all these different facilities around the country and all this specialized personalized coaching to add two or three miles per hour on your fastball to add more vertical and horizontal break on your breaking balls, all of that, that helps you get to a certain point that helps you reach a certain level of success. Also is what’s going to contribute to your downfall at some point in time and I don’t say that to be fatalistic, but the numbers are the numbers in terms of the degree and percentage of pitchers that have UCL injuries and have to undergo Tommy John surgery or UCL surgery with internal race you know, all the different kinds of surgeries that we’re starting to see now as it pertains to the elbow, let alone even talking about you know, if you have a rotator cuff injury or something like that, so it is very difficult. It is something that I don’t I don’t be grudge fans this but there’s just such this automatic reflex to just say next man up next man up next man up. No, it is a human being there and that’s why I continued to stress during the spring training that oh, how dare anyone just tell a pitcher I’ll go get go get your elbow cuddling, know that even though it’s a guaranteed 12 to 14 month or 12 to 16 month recovery. And there’s no guarantee that you’re not going to be like John means who comes back and makes what eight total starts late last year and early this season. And then he has to get it again. Dude, how
Nestor J. Aparicio 14:30
long is money back by now? It really is. Right? So so for me my back’s been three years I was told a year and a half ago I needed to be caught on by three different surgeons that I have this L three L for like real situation in my life. I have chosen for a year and a half to sort of put it off try to work myself through it before the segment I was on the floor stretching. Thank you to Planet Fitness for trying to take care of me and all my Yoga people. But like I I like I’m putting it would completely effed my life up my work my this my that my recovery. I’ve Dr. Steve, like everything I saw like I am. But if my work dictated that I had to do it right now, I’d have to go do it right if I had to go play sports, if I were a an athlete trying to play golf or tennis, and now we’re 30 years younger, like, it’s an amazing thing that any of us would try to, when you get a toothache not go to the dentist, right? Like to put it is funny. We’re sports fans that you just think they’re going to come back. And they’re robots. And that’s the part that by the way, the other player was Kimbrough and as being the Leadership Council, and all of this, that these veteran guys watch these young guys go through this, and they’ve been watching this. It’s like, I don’t want to make the war reference or whatever. But it’s like being off with a troop where you go off, and you’re all think you’re gonna be happy, and millionaires, you’re all gonna make the big leagues, you’re all gonna win, you’re all gonna marry the pretty girl, and you’re gonna throw the ball over the moon and do all of that stuff. And then the real like for these veteran guys, they’ve seen this road, but in this organization in this clubhouse in the last 10 months, with a promise of winning a World Series, like that brass ring sitting there, and they’re going to Yankee Stadium. Man, it’s Mike Elias hats off to you if you can win a World Series with this. I mean, because this is hard to do. And this is, this would be tragic in any other organization. I mean, you just lost your best pitcher from last year.
Luke Jones 16:31
Yeah, I mean, it’s it’s not easy. And again, it was a roller coaster over the last four months. You know, I think mid February, everyone assumed Kyle brightest wasn’t gonna pitch this year. And then it’s like, okay, he comes back. And then he looks like Kyle Bradish, even slightly better than he was last year. I mean, the strikeout rate was even better this year. I mean, just to tell you how crazy this was. And I do wonder if there was something to this. In the first inning of Friday night’s game, he struck out Bryce Harper, it was the fastest pitch of Kyle Bradish his career now? Was he a little too amped up? And maybe I don’t, and I don’t want to speculate about it too much. We knew we had a UCL injury back in January and February, it’s not like that. Magically, you know, a ligament ligament doesn’t just completely fix itself, right? I mean, I mean, you’re talking about, it’s like a rubber band, if there’s a slight stretch or slight tear to a rubber band, it might still work for a while. But that doesn’t mean that it’s going to go back to how it was. So I don’t know. I mean, again, it was this have have not feeling as far as with Kyle Bradish. So I don’t want to completely make this out to be that it’s completely changed their trajectory, because I think there was very much a sense of you and I even talked about it last week, I think you even said, Are we betting on Kyle Bradish being there in August, September and October, and I didn’t want to bet for or against. You know, I certainly don’t want to bet against the player. When you’re talking about his livelihood, you would
Nestor J. Aparicio 17:58
talk about him in terms of being October rotation. And I was always a little skeptical. Well,
Luke Jones 18:04
I mean, you’re always going to be scared. I mean, look, I don’t No one’s a mind reader. No one can no one has an orange crystal ball here. I mean, for me, it’s a matter of wanting to be respectful to the players livelihood and saying, We’re gonna sit here and say, Oh, I I’m gonna bet. You know, that bet $1 on whether he’s there or not. Yeah, I don’t want to do that. But I know the same thing that anyone else knows when you’re talking about UCLA. And for every pitcher, like a Tanaka like Aaron Nola, years ago or, or whoever. I mean, for every guy that can avoid surgery when there’s a UCL issue of some meaningful degree. We know there are many, many more that are ultimately going to have surgery, whether you try to rehab it and come back or whether you avoid it for a year or two or not. I mean, that’s just the way the same thing you said
Nestor J. Aparicio 18:50
the morning after it happened back in February, like literally, that was your framing of it. And now here we are. Yeah. So
Luke Jones 18:57
and look, I I already saw some of this on social media again. Okay. Yeah. Kyle Bradish have undergone Tommy John surgery back in March. You know, if they just decided, okay, this isn’t going to work. Maybe they got a different doctor’s opinion. Could he have undergone surgery then? Sure. But, again, John beans is a great example of you don’t just make a hasty decision to get cut on because now and look, John means had, you know, his injury. They didn’t even dispute it. Right. I mean, when when he had that to two and a half years ago at this point, not even two and a half years. What going on 26 months at this point when he had Tommy John surgery in late April of 22. It wasn’t one of those that was borderline they needed to get it done. But we see how that’s worked. And I don’t mean I don’t say that to mean that Kyle Bradish is doomed or any other pitcher that has to get it is doomed. It just means it’s not 100% I’ve heard some people characterize Tommy John, over the last 10 years is you know, it’s almost like getting a tune up for your arm. No that that is such a lipid. I don’t want to say insensitive because it’s baseball at the end of the day. But that’s that’s not what it is. It’s a major surgery. So if you can avoid major surgery and do something in a more conservative way, and, and, and doctors deem you a candidate to try to do it that way. I can’t blame a player for saying no, I don’t want to just make a deliberate decision to sacrifice the next 16 months of my career. These
Nestor J. Aparicio 20:26
are personal decisions, man. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like literally like, like, my back is a professional decision for me, right, like, and I, I really appreciate that. And I certainly wouldn’t want to be making that for other guys with their livelihoods. But there’s something even with football, Tamar, Hamlin, and I don’t want to say aside or CTE, because we talk about all of these very serious issues with football. But we get knee scumming John Harbaugh talked about Marlon Humphries thing the other day as though it if it were you or me, it wouldn’t just be a bag of doughnuts, you know what I mean? For for any of these small procedures or scope, my wife’s on crutches right now, it’s not a small thing. It’s not a small thing for their spouse, for their children, for the trainer for their, their teammates, for any for their psychology for their agents, you know, for any of it, it sucks. And, you know, on top of all of that, there is the, the thing we’ll get back to, which is who’s gonna pitch you know, that’s where we move on and move on for Bradish you’ll be gone. We were talking about him last week is 123 in the rotation now that’s over. Now you and I have to like cut and say, Alright, let’s do sports, radio, Luke and, you know, move on from it, because that’s what we do. And that’s unfortunate. And I guess the human part of Father’s Day and then having Kimberlin, Calum and Mackenzie do that their little boys and their little girls and, and the leadership part, which is what struck me which I guess will transition to conversation. Luke Jones is here. He’s Baltimore, Luke, you could find him out on the interwebs. You could find us together on a Costas on Thursday. Obviously Ortles Yankee is going to be going all week here. We’re doing the crabcake tour over there. The part for me where the pitching and now we’re going to discuss Kramer. We’re going to talk about Povich. We’re going to talk about urban we’re going to talk about what they have as they go to Yankee Stadium. You know the season starts to teeter when you start to take these starts away and start taking innings away and start stacking a bullpen. And what do they do now? You know, like I guess that’s what do they do now? What is my what’s Mike Elias his next card trick here? Yeah,
Luke Jones 22:37
I mean, look, let’s also be clear, the other guys have pitched pretty well. I mean, Corbin has been one of the unsung heroes of 2,024k Povich first starting Toronto wasn’t very good. Second start against Atlanta was fantastic. You know, I want to see, hopefully more of that. But obviously, so much focus is going to be on the trade market and understandably so. I think it’s complicated by the fact of go look at the wildcard races in the respective leagues. And you tell me, who are definitive buyers and who are definitive sellers, the definitive sellers, okay, the White Sox shore, the Marlin shore, the rocky shore, but are the Rangers going to sell in the Al or the rain is going to sell or the Red Sox is going to sell or the Astros is going to sell? I mean, I don’t know. I mean, you look at some of those, somebody
Nestor J. Aparicio 23:27
somebody’s gonna fade, why as you would think some of
Luke Jones 23:29
those teams would be sellers, but we know some of those teams. Oh, of course, I mean, there will be that. But my point is, projecting that in mid June is not easy. So if you’re Mike Elias, you’re trying to manage all that as much as you can, but in the interim, and you don’t want to make a move just for the sake of doing that. That’s, that’s when you end up giving up a really good prospect for someone that’s not moving the needle that much for you. But in the meantime, they’re gonna be evaluating K Povich even more now. I mean, it’s great to hear these comparisons with Max freed of the Atlanta Braves. I mean, and by the way, Drew French their pitching coach even made a comparison on Sunday morning as we were talking to him, just outside the Orioles clubhouse. So there’s some excitement about K Povich there really is that said it’s grounded understanding that that that’s not the same thing as penciling in a healthy Kyle Bradish as your number two starter and then Grayson Rodriguez slots into your number three spot for an October rotation. But look again, there was always an unknown there there was always you know, no one was sitting here and when we were talking about it my line as I was writing about burns Bradish Rodriguez was can you find a way to get these guys to October healthy and then Kyle radish. His arms hurting him the next start so that’s the nature of the beast right? I mean, the Yankees haven’t had Gerrit Cole their side Young Award winner for the entire year and it speaks to how impressive they’ve been and how good their rotate snares. But, you know if you’re the Orioles right now, the good news is this stretch of what was it 45 days or 47 days where they played on 45 Of those, you know, or 44 of those where they had so few off days that we are down to the last couple of weeks of that. In the July, they’ll have more regular off days. So you can go back to a five man rotation, because they have a five band rotation right now at least until Dean Kramer is ready to come back, which I’m guessing he’s going to get at least one more rehab start, I would assume. And then he’s done. We’ll have a conversation about him. But, you know, I mean, Albert Suarez, Albert Suarez has a 1.6 era right now. Corbin has a 3.03k. Povich is at 476. But we know how good a second start was. I’m not saying that you’re gonna stand pat, let me be very clear, I am not at all suggesting that. At the same time, as you are trying to figure out if your mic lives as you’re trying to figure out whatever this trademark is going to look like and to in terms of who are the truth sellers. You’ve got to evaluate these options. I mean, they did this with Grayson Rodriguez last year. Now if you recall, Rodriguez came back from the minor leagues right out of the all star break. And what did he do, he pitched really well to the point where they got to the deadline and said Grayson is gonna be one of our guys. And he might be one of our top three, or he might be your top two before it’s all said and done. And it was regardless of how it went against the Rangers last October. So there’s all of that going on. I’ll remind everyone for all of the angst about the Orioles pitching, can look at the numbers, rotation and bullpen I’m not saying that there isn’t room for improvement. But we knew all along the Kyle Bradish was a maybe in terms of his health. So I’m not going to sit here and say this does doesn’t change anything because that that would be ridiculous. Yeah, I’m not trying to be a Pollyanna here. At the same time, you knew that this was a very distinct possibility. So you’re going to evaluate these other guys, you still have a heck of a ballclub. And we saw that Saturday and Sunday with the way that Grayson Rodriguez and Corbin burns handled their business against the best team in the National League. But yeah, they’re gonna have to evaluate this thing. And is there a pitcher out there? That can be your number three starter in a postseason series? If there is how much is it going to cost to get that guy in terms of capital in terms of salary, all the different factors there? Or is it a case of your your you acquire someone that might not be your number three, but is at least going to give you very dependable winnings in the way that a Kyle Gibson did last year and the way that Jordan Lyles did the year before that? I’m not to me, that’s probably the lowest Yeah, that’s the bottom. As far as your range of outcomes, I think you’re going to need a pitcher to do that, at the very least, even if Capo Povich proves to be a rookie sensation in the second half of the season, which you know, I don’t know if he’s going to do that. But they’re they like him. You know, they’re definitely impressed with him. There’s optimism about him, but it’s not going to be Kyle Bradish. You know that that’s kind of Brad, it’s just one of the best pitchers in the American League last year, and was looking at way again this year. But we also knew there was an elbow issue here. And we knew that it’s one thing to have PRP injection, go through a two month throwing progression, go through the minor leagues, make six or seven starts. But then you get into the grind. And oh, yeah, you’re facing the best team in baseball on a Friday night and you’re jacked, you’re completely jazzed up and jacked up and throwing the ball harder than you ever have. Did he quote, injured himself there? Or was it just the inevitable thing that was going to happen? I don’t know. But long story short, he’s not available, we assume he’s not. The assumption now is, you don’t expect him to pitch the rest of the year. And whether that means Tommy John, or eventually Tommy John, or whatever, I think it’s, you know, now you’re in a position of evaluating the other guys. And Mike Elias feels more and more likely that yes, if you want to put your best foot forward and give your team the absolute best chance to win this division, but more importantly, just put yourself in position for October, whether that’s as the division winner or wildcard, because they’re gonna be there. Look how many games over a 23 games over 500 and mid June they’re gonna be in the playoffs, regardless of whether it’s division or wildcard. So what can you do? What movie is out there? Is there a starting pitcher out there that for me, what I’m looking at? Is there a guy out there that has an additional additional year or two of club control that you can acquire? You know, someone that’s not not a rental, or maybe not even someone that’s a free agent after next year? Because who knows what’s going to happen with Corbin burns, so you know, we’ve talked about that,
Nestor J. Aparicio 29:50
but I must say this to you after the start on Sunday, right out in the middle of my Facebook page. He’s people that are baseball fans. Rubenstein’s gotta find a way to keep Corbin burns here. That’s what a fan would say. You got to find a way. I don’t know what I would do with that from a phone call perspective. So I’m going to give it to you. Maybe, Mr. Jones, what are the chances the Orioles resigning? Corbin burns? How much would that cost? Oh,
Luke Jones 30:19
it’s going to cost a lot. I will say this. And this is just the general way approach to roster building. You can’t change the you should not change your valuation on a player based off of someone else. What happens with someone else? Right. Eric, the cost will tell you that. This is a $5 million football player just because someone else gets hurt or someone else retires or someone else leaves in frequency. If you still feel that’s a $5 million football player. It’s a $5 million football player. Beckham Jr.
Nestor J. Aparicio 30:52
Except for Well, yeah, sure, sure. Hey, dude, I just gave it to you. Well,
Luke Jones 30:59
that was such an odd set of circumstances with Lamar and all that. But the the point I’m making is, however you felt about Corbin burns, on Thursday, or Friday afternoon. Just because Kyle Bradish goes down with an injury that again, we all knew that this was a possibility. But even the most optimistic on Kyle radish, no one was just making an assumption that he was just going to be fine forever, right? I mean, we knew that this was possible. So I would say and I’m not, I’m not 100% opposed to it, but realize and recognize how much money it’s going to cost. This is not the NFL is all guaranteed money. This is a very long term investment, presumably. And what happened with Kyle Bradish could just as easily happen with Corbin burns at some point in time, whether it’s later this year, next year, the year after that, whatever it is, I don’t say that to completely dismiss any free agent contracts for pitchers. But boy, that is very treacherous ground you’re walking on when you’re talking about giving that kind of money to a position or to a pitcher, as opposed to a position player. I mean, you tell me right now, the Orioles are willing to give Gunnar Henderson and he’s willing to sign a 12 million or 12 million a 12 year deal for whatever the you know, we’re talking high nine digits, right? I mean, it’s not going to be 12 years for $90 million, this is gonna be something that would be insane. I’m much more keen to sign off on that and say sold. But if you’re talking about a starting pitcher, as greatest
Nestor J. Aparicio 32:34
million dollars $500 million for him. I mean,
Luke Jones 32:37
it’s not gonna be $500 million. But it’s gonna be I mean, this isn’t five years, $125 million. It’s significantly more than that. So there’s also the understanding that whatever that money is, you do the math, there’s probably a good likelihood that he’s going to miss time during that, whether it’s because of Tommy John, or, I mean, it’s just, it’s tough. And to sit here for me to sit here and say that that’s going to be the best possible investment you can make. I I’d have to see exactly what the
Nestor J. Aparicio 33:12
numbers are. But so Mr. Rubenstein, by the way, Mr. Eric, Eddie,
Luke Jones 33:17
a thought exercise for anyone that’s clamoring for that and look, I’m not discrediting anyone that’s that’s wants to do that. I’m not saying that there’s not a path for that in some world. But right now, go look at the 10 most expensive pitching contracts in baseball, and go look at how many of those guys were hurt right now. And I’m just saying, everyone thinks they’re guys different. Same thing that happens with signing running backs and football and look pitchers are way more starting pitching is way more valuable than a running back is to their offense. When we’ve talked about that you and I just spent an hour talking about the academy recently. And so much of that was not about Derrick Henry, it was the valuation of the position. But you just look at that and for every time you say our guys different aren’t guys durable, our guy doesn’t get hurt. Our guy throws 200 innings every year. Everyone’s durable until they’re not
Nestor J. Aparicio 34:08
anymore. These are waiting on Kericho Wednesday night. Right? Correct. And
Luke Jones 34:12
by the way, I mean the Yankees look at what Luis Hills done for them. And I would say if I’m the Orioles. I’m much more keen on. Go get your go develop your next Kyle Bradish go get your next Kyle Bradish that they got from the angels in the Dylan Bundy trade. Right. Go draft your next Grayson Rodriguez you need to develop and maybe maybe the point of emphasis for the Orioles needs to become more on the pitching side and we’ve seen that swing a little bit with their drafts the last year or two. Remember it was very college hitter heavy for the long you know the first three for that show. Nice. It has but at the same time you need pitchers to write that shows up in the Bronx this week. No doubt no doubt. So I mean, it’s look, I love watching Corbin burns pitch but I also recognize how much money that’s going to cause How that’s a guarantee. He’s also you know, he’s not 20 is gonna
Nestor J. Aparicio 35:05
figure it out somebody else is gonna give him money I guess. Phillies come I don’t know, you know you someone
Luke Jones 35:11
will but at the same time, go look at the Texas Rangers right now, you remember how much money they gave Jacob deGrom? I know, how many starts Has he made for them? And look, I don’t I’m not saying this to be so risk averse that you never ever ever sign a starting pitcher. But, boy, I know that the Orioles also have some players that are currently on their roster that if you’re going to talk be talking about giving out $200 million contracts, they got a couple guys in line. I’d much rather give it to those guys, and then take my chances in terms of trading for my next Corbin burns or drafting and developing my next Corbin burns. That’s all I’m saying here. tread very carefully talking about any exotic
Nestor J. Aparicio 35:53
coal Irvin like you know sub to you know,
Luke Jones 35:56
let’s be clear color if it’s not gonna be
Nestor J. Aparicio 36:00
behind in matters too. And you know, the catcher matters and the ballpark matters. Jim Palmer has started calling it the Great Wall of Baltimore, amongst others. Alright, so Luke Johnson are here we’re talking about pitching here we got baseball, we’ve got all sorts of things going on the Marilyn crabcake door is coming to cost this which is why I’m wearing the costume shirt today. On Thursday. We’ll be there before the Orioles Yankees game. It’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. We have the Gold Rush seven doublers to give away. We were Coco’s last week we were at Cooper’s you’ll hear the conversations with Ron Furman and Tom Pierce from classic five and received and Max Weiss and just had a great time last week. We’re gonna have great time this week. We’re gonna be Pappas and Parkville. Next Tuesday as well. I’m welcome to a whole bunch, John Patti OBL stopping by Chris Emery is coming by. I’m trying to drag Jamie Costello out. You know, you were talking about pitching and the arm and all a max effort. I was at Costello’s party the other night and Dave Johnson was there and no one. He won’t admit this, but we really like each other Dave Johnson and I so all these years later, Eastside guys sticking together, I always say he’s the one guy that has never given me up, has never had to unfriend me unlink me, Dave Johnson. So as if, and he would appreciate this if Ackman were here. He’d say, at Dave Johnson. he’s the right guy. He’s the right guy. So, but we’re talking about max effort. And he’s like, I never pitched like that. And he, you know, he’s got a sense of humor about his whole cocktail speech about, you know, when my fastball reared at 88, you know, in 88, you know, so like, he’s got all that going on, but he’s like, I didn’t throw every pitch at eight, I would have blown my arm out. He’s like, even though Ada was alive for me, every pitch at 88 I wouldn’t blow my arm out before Did you know and, and his boy pitched right. So meanie, it’s no one knows more about pitching or spent his life more around arms and elbows and pitching than him and then doing it with his kid trying to get his kid to the big leagues. And they weren’t six, five and these towering specimens, they were artists, you know, when you pitch at that level, they’re not doing what Felix Batista was doing last year. And then there’s Garrett Cole coming back this week, and the actual matchups we have here with the Yankees this week. I mean, we can cry the blues about what happened last week, or even talk about the Phillies fans and like all that, man, it’s sort of next game up. And these are the most important games you’re gonna play all summer. And certainly pitching, no
Luke Jones 38:29
question about it. I mean, they’re not the end all be all. But yeah, these games are worth more. There’s no doubt about that. I mean, even when I was talking to you about this in late April and May when the Yankees came in. I recognize that the head the heads are important. Yes, of course. You know, it’s captain obvious statement there. But I’ll say this much. When you look at the pitching matchups on paper. Yeah, the Yankees are favorites. Yeah, the Yankees are at home. But the Orioles lineup hit four home runs against Zack Wheeler on Sunday. I mean, we know that they’re capable of beating anybody on any given night. But this is going to be quite a test. I mean, Albert Suarez has been such a great story. How’s he look against the Yankees in pitching in the Bronx, K Povich fantastic against the Braves, you know, again, grounded, grounded optimism, but optimism nonetheless, as far as how he looks and what he can potentially do, and just, you know, Drew friendship there pitching coach talked about it mature beyond his years. I mean, yeah, that’s what he said about Cade. COVID. So how does he handle that environment? Kolarov and can he continue to do what he’s done? Which has just been such an such an unsung hero? I mean, I guess at some point, we keep saying unsung heroes. You’re not unsung anymore, right? But he’s just been so huge for them. And, you know, whether it’s rotation or coming out of the bullpen as he was for a piece of time more
Nestor J. Aparicio 39:47
often with dogs and cats, which I appreciate so they’re sure
Luke Jones 39:50
sure sure. So you know, but this is a big test and these three games I mean, look, you see what the standings are and the Orioles and Are this series tied in the last column with the Yankees. So any outcome here is not going to decide the division, you know, in late June, right? Your you get swept, you sweep them, you win two out of three, you lose two out of three that none of those are season defining at this point in time. But these head to heads knowing that you don’t play 19 times head to head like you did a few years ago. So yeah, it’s a little more man, you
Nestor J. Aparicio 40:26
want to be one up not one down Thursday night, that’s it, when you went to the bar, it cost this around 645. You just want to like, you’re not just have a great meal and a great crab soup, you go 5050 however you want to do it me, I would, if I were you, I would go with the crab Imperial. And I would definitely get the cream, spinach. Maybe a little bit of rice on the side there too. but delicious. You want to be you know, to one, you know, and the three was nice, but can’t be oh three don’t really want to be one too. But you wouldn’t, you know, lick your wounds. But you just want to hold your own literally against them up there in that environment after the environment you had here. Because these big environments. We talked so much last year about Rodriguez going down to Arlington and what big stadiums felt like and you and I talked in August and September then seen a lot of that. See more of that now. And this will I don’t know how full it’ll be at Yankee Stadium because it’s a lot of things to do in New York on summer night, June, trust me. But it’ll be vibrant, I would think.
Luke Jones 41:25
Yeah, no question about it. And I mean, this even goes back to, I mean, look at the weekend, how many Phillies fans were there on Friday? And the Orioles lost that game? And this goes back to what Brandon Hyde said they handled that environment really well. I mean, that could have been jarring to them to see that kind of a takeover for your ballpark. Not that it was at 20 Phillies, but I mean it was 5050. And on Friday night, if you told me there were more Phillies fans there than Orioles fans, you know if you told me it was a 5248 split or something like that, I wouldn’t have denied it.
Nestor J. Aparicio 41:59
But either way, it’s a $60 you get in in New York on Tuesday night by 50 bucks on Wednesday, Thursday afternoon games light it’s gonna be 3035 bucks they get in. Dude, Yankees game sometimes can be six 810 bucks. I mean, empty seats. Now. This is me. They’ve got going on man. Yeah,
Luke Jones 42:17
yeah, it’s weeknight game. So I mean, this is gonna be big. But at the same time, like the point I was just trying to make the Orioles handle that environment over the weekend very well. Now they, they could have been a little. I don’t say this in the sense that they’re going to be disparaging the fans. But how would you react if your home ballpark suddenly has 23,000 opposing fans and a cheering that that could mess with your head a little bit just as a competitor? They handled it very well. They handle that. To me. What we saw over the weekend was some growth from maybe what they lacked last October and I’m not sure
Nestor J. Aparicio 42:51
is that the word
Luke Jones 42:52
in a big game and a big series. I mean, maybe again, I don’t want to I don’t I want to stress mid June is not postseason baseball, but it’s as close like what we saw this weekend was as close as it gets to be in postseason without it being postseason in terms of atmosphere. So, you know, they handled that. Well. Let’s see how they handle it in the Bronx. You know, I mean, it’s gonna be another learning experience for some of these guys. Keep in mind, Colton Couser didn’t play wasn’t even on the roster in the postseason last year. I mean, we already mentioned Cade Povich. How’s that? Gonna look? You know, how’s he going to handle the Yankees lineup? I mean, the Braves really scuffling offensively. Yeah, I’ll say that in fairness. So how does he handle it? So, so be good for them? I mean, as I said about the the Philly series, regardless of outcome, it’s really, it’s gonna be fun. You know, it’s gonna be fun going up there and seeing how they do but even if the worst case scenario happens, and you get swept out of the division, race, I mean, their game and a half out going into this series. I mean, worst case scenario. Division race is far from over. So try to handle your business, try to win two out of three. If you can do that. Awesome. You do that you leave the Bronx, you’ll be a half game out. That sounds great. Right? Especially considering losing Kyle Bradish. And John means and losing Tyler, Tyler wells, whatever, wherever Tyler Wells is going to fit in. I still think that would have been bullpen long term. But you know, they’re still have a lot of really good baseball players on this team and they still have pitchers who have done really well for them. So we’ll talk about the trade deadline. We’ll talk about that a lot. Now that’s gonna be a major topic of conversation.
Nestor J. Aparicio 44:26
You mentioned the bullpen guys he’s got to get over getting knocked up. I’d like replacing
Luke Jones 44:31
the bullpen was a problem to begin with. So, I mean, even one of the names that surfaced over the weekend that the Orioles were one of the teams linked to Tanner Scott, old friend Tanner Scott, who the Orioles traded away a couple years ago and I don’t know if he’s the guy. I’m not saying he’s the answer, but that’s just one of many names that we’re going to hear the Orioles linked to. They are going to be linked to just about anyone whether it’s something that has real footing or whether it’s more conjecture than anything else because the Orioles have needs and they have The prospects to go get guys. So, in the meantime, this is still a heck of a baseball team, even even with the disappointing news of Bradish. I mean, they really are and give this team credit. They’re not going to fall apart just because of Kyle Bradish by any stretch of the imagination. But certainly, the the microscope is on Mike Elias more and more, we’re here to make a move at some point. I’ve said it all along doesn’t have to be tomorrow. Doesn’t even have to be next week. But it’s feeling more and more inevitable that yeah, if you want to really put your best foot forward in terms of not just getting the October, that’s not the issue here. It’s positioning yourself to do something really meaningful on October. There are going to be a couple of moves that have to be made. And I think Mike Elias realizes that at this point, it’s just a matter of going out and doing that and wanting to make the best possible move. Not the first possible news
Nestor J. Aparicio 45:54
and arms race as it were Orioles vs Yankees in the Bronx Luke and I’ll be monitoring all that out on the social medias. We will be together at Costas on Thursday during the Maryland crab cake Tour presented by our friends at the Maryland lottery conjunction with our friends at Liberty pure solutions keeping our water clean, as well as Jiffy Lube multi Claire and keeping our car out on the road. We’re going to at least evaluate some offense as we get to the Bronx as well. Lots and lots of guests this week mark Bryan from hooting the blowfish, my friend Thomas Dolby have joined us in the Maryland crabcake tour. Lots of conversations I haven’t had room for because we’ve had so much baseball so much Fleet Week, so many things going on around here. Even some political talk with Damian O’Doherty from over cocoas last week and a great movies and music segment with Max Weiss from editor in chief of Baltimore magazine, and my old pal Allen McCallum coming together so really good stuff here. Bright conversations lots of baseball Orioles in the Bronx crabcake toward cost this next week. We’re papists on Tuesday. We are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. And we never stop talking Baltimore positive
