Ten days ago, the Baltimore Orioles had two potential All Star catchers on the roster and as they return home after dropping two of three at Fenway Park, the Birds are searching for answers to keep hope alive before the August 3rd MLB trade deadline. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the Atlanta Braves visit to Camden Yards and the roster realities of the depleted Orioles.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Orioles’ recent performance, highlighting their 2-1 series loss to the Red Sox and the importance of winning series. They emphasized the impact of injuries to key players like Adley Rutschman and Sam Basallo, noting the team’s 12-17 record against division opponents. Jones suggested the Orioles might need to trade players like Taylor Ward and Trevor Rogers to improve their chances. They also touched on the potential labor issues in baseball, which could affect the team’s offseason plans and overall strategy.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Schedule Maury Brown to come on the show this week to discuss baseball labor and the offseason outlook.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Interview baseball insiders and writers before the trade deadline next week to gather takeaways on the Orioles, the deadline, and labor implications.
Orioles’ Recent Performance and Upcoming Games
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Orioles’ recent performance, including their loss to the Red Sox and the importance of winning series.
- Luke Jones highlights the significance of the Orioles’ upcoming games against the Tigers and the Braves, emphasizing the need to win against division rivals.
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones reflect on the Orioles’ defensive struggles and the impact of injuries to key players like Adley Rutschman and Sam Basallo.
- The conversation touches on the importance of Kyle Bradish and other young players in the Orioles’ rotation, and the need for better offensive performance.
Impact of Injuries on the Orioles’ Lineup
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the impact of injuries to key players like Adley Rutschman and Sam Basallo on the Orioles’ lineup.
- Luke Jones mentions the challenges faced by the Orioles with their current catchers, including Sam Huff and Chadwick Tromp, and the lack of offensive production from the catcher position.
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the importance of having a strong catching duo and the impact of losing key players on the team’s overall performance.
- The conversation also touches on the potential return of key players and the need for the Orioles to find ways to compensate for their absences.
Trade Deadline and Potential Moves
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the potential moves the Orioles could make at the trade deadline, including the possibility of trading key players like Adley Rutschman and Trevor Rogers.
- Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of evaluating the value of the Orioles’ young players and the potential return they could get in a trade.
- Nestor Aparicio expresses frustration with the current state of the team and the need for a fresh start, suggesting the possibility of a rebuild.
- The conversation also touches on the challenges of trading players like Adley Rutschman and the potential impact on the team’s future.
Ownership and Management Challenges
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the challenges faced by the Orioles’ ownership and management, including the lack of experience and the impact of the ongoing labor dispute.
- Luke Jones highlights the importance of having a clear plan for the future and the need for the Orioles to make strategic decisions to improve the team.
- Nestor Aparicio expresses concern about the lack of direction from the ownership and the need for a more hands-on approach to managing the team.
- The conversation also touches on the potential impact of the labor dispute on the Orioles’ offseason plans and the need for a contingency plan.
Future Outlook and Team Performance
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the future outlook for the Orioles, including the potential impact of the upcoming games and the trade deadline.
- Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of evaluating the team’s performance over the next few weeks and making informed decisions about the future.
- Nestor Aparicio expresses frustration with the current state of the team and the need for a fresh start, suggesting the possibility of a rebuild.
- The conversation also touches on the importance of developing young players and the need for the Orioles to find ways to improve their performance.
Nestor Aparicio 0:01
Welcome home. We are WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, positively. About to bring it back home for the Orioles here, and also out on the fields at Owings Mills. Luke Jones is here. If there’s any breaking news, you’ll be getting all of it first on the WNST Tech service. It’s all brought to you by Cole Roofing and Gordian Energy, and of course our Maryland Crab Cake Tour back after it at Pizza John’s on Friday this week will be at Costas and Timonium next Thursday as well. All that brought to you by the Maryland Lottery. I’ll have the new Ravens scratch offs just in time. Also, our friends at GBMC putting us out on the road, and Farnin and Dermer. They are the comfort guys. Got a little uncomfortable in Boston there, you know, until they scored some runs in the first inning of the second game on Wednesday night. Luke, I don’t call you a genius much, even though I think it more often than I say it. We had had a trip planned to go to Fenway Park for your bucket list of covering a game at Fenway Park. You wouldn’t have covered a game, by the way. The thunderstorms came. Luke begged off of this trip. How many times did I try to get you to do the trip? At least 20, right? Like,
Luke Jones 1:12
let’s not frame it like that. I mean, we we both talked about it, but we also both said at the time, you know, if they’re still in this malaise of sub 500 and all of that, which you know, up until the seven game winning streak, it looked awful. I mean, it still doesn’t look very good, dude. I had a
Nestor Aparicio 1:29
free flight in a cheap room. That’s all I and decent weather. It was
Luke Jones 1:32
also two two days coming off a vacation and a week before Ravens starts. So, like, it’s also like a buffer week for me to. Young
Nestor Aparicio 1:40
guys are soft, man. I mean, you know, like yeah, I’m soft because
Luke Jones 1:44
I’ll be doing double duty for the next five weeks. But yeah, no, I didn’t chase a five
Nestor Aparicio 1:49
year old and a two year old last week either. Exactly,
Luke Jones 1:51
exactly. But no, I mean it’s you know it it ended up working out well because Tuesday’s game was postponed and they play a doubleheader on Wednesday and and I believe our flight back was early Wednesday, right? So we wouldn’t seen anything. So so it wasn’t meant to be, and that’s all right. And
Nestor Aparicio 2:08
it was not meant to be. Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 2:10
Kuda, I will never not listen to you again. Not that I’ve not listened to you in the past, but you know, if Luke cancels a trip, the boat’s the Titanic. Get off it, you know. So that’s perfect. Is that good?
Luke Jones 2:22
I hope it’s not quite that serious. I hope the season’s not
Nestor Aparicio 2:26
the Titanic. It certainly looked that way going into the second game of the double header. Things did not go well in Boston in early going until they scored some runs.
Luke Jones 2:35
No, and I mean, obviously it was nice to get the last game, but they’re they’re just in a position where, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying it’s a disaster to lose two out of three to Boston, but you got to win series now, right? I mean, we we talked about this when you have a seven-game winning streak and you say, “All right, you’re you’re on the cusp of getting back to 500, like you can’t let your foot off the the gas pedal. I think Boston’s a another example of this, right? Their 15-game winning streak comes to an end Wednesday night, and the message in that clubhouse has to be: we’ve got to keep this going. Like it doesn’t mean we need to win another 15 in a row, but but don’t go lose two out of three this weekend. Yeah, you you can’t go five and 10 over your next two weeks, right? I mean, like you’re in a position. The Tigers, who we’re going to be seeing here very soon. Well, the Orioles are going to be going to Detroit very soon. The the Tigers put themselves in such an awful position. Go look at what their records been since June or june 1. They played really, really well, but May was such a disaster that the Tigers kind of put themselves in 2025 Orioles position, where you just completely bury yourself, and unless you’re going to be unbelievable the rest of the way, and obviously they have the Tarek Scouble decision to be making. It’s just really tough. But in the case of getting back to this series, I mean, let’s look at the wild card standings. The Orioles are going to be fighting with Boston, and you look at the the rest of the teams that are kind of right there. Minnesota, Houston has has bounced back since being swept by the Orioles. They’ve won three straight. You look at Seattle, Cleveland. At some point, is going to get you know that you you feel like they have another run in them at some point. They played better of late, even though they’re trailing the White Sox in that division. These are the teams that you’re going to have to beat and edge out in the in these wild card standings. So when you lose two out of three to the Red Sox, it hurts. The the that’s the captain obvious statement. And the other thing I’ll point out, even though they’re going to have at least a three week respite, three weeks or so of a respite here, they’re 12 and 17 against the division. They’re going to have to win games against the Rays and against the Yankees and against Red Sox and even the Blue Jays. They don’t get as many chances
Nestor Aparicio 4:49
anymore.
Luke Jones 4:50
They don’t, but but my point is the games that are remaining, they’re going to have to beat those teams. You know that to to get to where they want to be, right? I mean, it’s so nice
Nestor Aparicio 4:58
when you’re beating up on the Royal. In the Astros and feeling yourself over the weekend, right? Two two of the worst teams in the league. Maybe not the Astros, but they’re similar
Luke Jones 5:07
to the Orioles, right? I mean, they’re trending in the
Nestor Aparicio 5:09
wrong direction when you’re getting swept by the Orioles. But I I keep going back to our we did an hour on how bad the defense was Monday. We did literally did 56 minutes, Luke and I, and we did a whole segment on Kyle Bradish and his value to this in being a stopper and taking the ball and ending losing, like on and on and on. You know, they have signs of life, but they had signs of winning 90-two games to me in February. So, like when they come to life in these little spurts, I’m going to be more of a a doubting Nestor than a you know believing Rob Long. So just in a general sense, I I’ve given up on this team several times this year, seven game winning streak or not, and it’s because of the deficiencies. But Kyle Bradish is not that, and signing him and knowing he’s getting the ball every fifth day, it now becomes even more paramount that he’s the top of the rotation starter, right? Like that he can stop a losing streak to get them hopefully back on pace to win three games over the weekend. You’ll be down at the ballpark. The Braves are in town. Good team. You know, like this doesn’t get easier because they had a little winning streak against bad teams while everybody was asleep around the All Star break, right? And who’s their catcher? Well, I was after that. Who’s who’s their catcher?
Luke Jones 6:30
We kind of buried the lead there when Basayo goes on the IL less than two days after Ruchmund is did, which was a week after they lost plays Alexander, who’s not a catcher but has been very important to their to their defense, and obviously has been very productive with the bats. Really, the
Nestor Aparicio 6:45
versatility of what you’re trying to do with the roster and Buck was great with that moving guys around and having versatile players. That the Blaze Alexander thing of all the Elias moves, very 22nd man on the roster kind of feeling, you know. In any case, but certainly something that happened in the off season that I I feel like I know a lot about baseball, but I have a lot to learn. That’s very Earl Weaver, isn’t it? To have that Terry Crowley, that Merv Retman, that you know that that that player that that you can use, especially in modern baseball. And when you lose that guy, all of a sudden, I I already said stratomatic and fours everywhere. I you know it just depletes everything you already had.
Luke Jones 7:28
Yeah, I mean, well, just look at the nightcap and and and again, kudos to Kyle Brattish pitched really well. I I thought I was interested to see how long they were going to let him go. It had been what 11 days since he had pitched. We’ve talked a lot about his innings and and what his workload’s going to be the rest of the way. I I was actually anticipating and wondering if that would be kind of a you know they call it a deload in as it pertains to pitchers uh you know their their their pitch limit you know their workload whatever, but he threw 89 pitches. He got through six innings. He pitched really well. It helped that he got four runs right off the bat. But let’s face it, Wednesday night, you know, you don’t want to be you don’t want to be swept. You know, if you’re swept, all the momentum from the seven game winning streak is gone. You’re now at that point what five games back from Boston for the the third wild card spot, but think about this: they had Christian Encarnacion Strand, Jonathan Rodriguez, and Chadwick Trump in that lineup in the nightcap. It’s not how anyone drew it up, right? That’s not remotely well. Let’s talk about who they don’t have
Nestor Aparicio 8:38
in that lineup: exactly Westberg, Rutschman, Besayo, right? I mean you go go through is Alexander
Luke Jones 8:44
who’s organizationally
Nestor Aparicio 8:46
what they’d like to have in that lineup yes
Luke Jones 8:48
sure sure so I mean that’s that’s kind of that’s where some of the optimism has cooled here over the last week or really over the last four days with losing Rutschman and Basayo I mean think about it if you’re looking for this team’s strengths, what do they do really, really well? What positions? Where are they really strong on the diamond? It’s behind the plate until the last four days, and now you’re talking about Sam Huff. Who, I mean, you might as well put a pitcher up there the way he swings the bat. I’m seriously go look at the numbers right now. I mean, he just strikes out, and most of the at bats aren’t even competitive. Trump swings the bat a little bit better historically, but certainly not Sam Basayo or Adley Ruchman. So that right there, on the heels of losing Blaze Alexander right before the All Star break, I mean, it just let’s face it. This team wasn’t very good with those guys. Let alone now you’re talking about a lineup that is not going to have those guys. And you know, in the case of Alexander, he’s out for a while. You hope Rutchman and Basayo aren’t out long, but I know Albernaz said after I guess it was after Game One he was asked about Basayo. He was put on the IL right before Game One started, after there had been some, you know, he was non-committal about his availability, but hadn’t indicated that he was definitely going on the IL or anything like that. Sounds like he took some swings in the batting cage and it didn’t go well. So I don’t, I’m not saying that necessarily meant that he re-injured the shoulder or or made it worse, but it’s clear that he wasn’t ready to swing the bat, and at that point, you just you’ve got to shut him down. But we talked about it a few days ago, even before these guys went on the IL. When you’re talking about, and you mentioned with it being a left wrist for Ruchman, you’re catching the ball every single time. What impact does it have on your swing? I mean, a wrist injury for any hitter is not good. I mean, even even minor that can linger for a while. And in Basayo’s case, the right shoulder. I mean, that’s his lead shoulder for swinging the bat. I don’t think it’s something that was bothering him as much throwing, but it could bother him throwing, right? So you hope these are 10 day minimum kind of stints on the IL, but until we see they’re back and not just back, but playing effectively, boy, that really caps. You know that that really hinders your ceiling as a ball club, and that can also affect your pitching, right? I mean that can affect your pitching staff when you’re talking about two pitch or two catchers. In the case of Ruchman, really good defensively, and in the case of Basayo, Trevor Rogers has spoken so glowingly about him. Well, Trevor Rogers isn’t going to have Basayo behind the plate on Friday night as he opens this series against the Braves. So that was really, I mean, losing two out of three to the Brave or to the Red Sox. Yes, that’s disappointing, and they can’t be in a position where they start losing series again. They don’t have that kind of margin for error, but but really for me, it’s much more the the Ruchman and Basio news because you know unless they’re back very very quickly and they’re ready to hit the ground running, I mean that’s just two of your best players this year. I mean I mean it’s just that simple. They’re two really important players, two of their best players. If there’s one thing you hang your hat on about the Baltimore Orioles in 2026, it’s they might have the best catching duo in baseball, right? As it pertains to just two guys with that capability on the same team, and now you don’t have either of them, and and you’ve got guys that are, you know, at best, quad A type catchers right now. So that’s you know that’s really disappointing. And again, Chadwick Trump came up, and and my wife and
Nestor Aparicio 12:30
I were eating a meal at point. I said, “That’s not a big league ball player.
Luke Jones 12:33
Yeah, I mean, it’s just not.
Nestor Aparicio 12:33
No offense. Hey, man, I’m not a big league ball player either. Neither are you. I mean, he’s
Luke Jones 12:38
he’s the kind of guy. He’s exactly what he is. He’s organizational depth. He’s a guy that at Triple A. That if he’s going to come up and be the backup catcher for a week and a half, when you lose one of your catchers, that’s not the end of the world. Can’t have him
Nestor Aparicio 12:51
bat 30-five times this week.
Luke Jones 12:53
Huff’s the bigger issue. Trump, Trump has at least. And let me be clear. I’m not. We’re we’re arguing about being stabbed or poisoned, right? Of like, which is a which isn’t as bad. But I mean, seriously, look at Sam Huff’s numbers right now. In 30-two plate appearances, he has struck out 18 times. Nestor. Yeah, this isn’t Jeff Tackett. This year, this isn’t that’s a that’s like a pitcher going to the plate, so in in contrast to Adley Rutschman or Sam Basayo being there on any given night, so it’s just that’s not great, and you know the the injuries have started to pile up here again, and it’s not an excuse. I mean, look at Boston, look at the guys they’re missing right now. So I’m not going to sit here and give them a pass for for losing two out of three to the Red Sox, who have played great baseball. But look at look at who the Red Sox have been missing as they just tied a franchise record for a winning streak. So, but that said, it’s certainly much more difficult when you don’t have those guys I just mentioned. So that’s where you look at this thing and say, well, you’ve got to find a way. You need your pitching to be to continue to be as good as it’s been the last two months. They need Dean Kramer to pick it up. Quite frankly, he wasn’t great in his Friday night outing, even though you know he kept them in the game. But he what he’s pulled after you know he didn’t make it through five innings, and you know gives up four runs right off the bat on the the first game of the doubleheader. I mean, that puts in no chance, really. Yeah, really. I mean, you know, that’s just not good enough. I mean, I credit him for at least giving them six innings and not getting knocked out in the third inning, and then suddenly you’re just scrambling to get through 18 innings of baseball. So I give him credit for that at the very least. But it was a bad start. I mean, it’s just that simple. You can’t. There’s no coming back from being down four nothing, as it pertains to making it into a really good start for you, it’s just that you know what’s interesting. Both
Nestor Aparicio 14:46
of the games got out of hand early, but I I thought to some it’s Fenway Park. You know, still going to end up 10 to seven. You know what I mean? Because that’s the way I feel about Fenway Park. Having gone the games there, Luke Jones is here. All right, off of the Red Sox series for a minute. I’m not even onto Atlanta because they’re not going to play. They get a little respite. They get a little rest here, and they’re going to be in and out. Detroit, the Phillies are coming in next week. I did an hour with my buddy Micah Buchdahl, who was the assistant PR director of the Capitals in 1985. Gave me my first press pass, and all these years later, I wind up the game with him. He loves Philadelphia sports and like your brother-in-law and your family into all the. I do want if you want to gift me something nice for wanting to take you to Boston, some little Philly fanatic, you know, little keychain thing. I I’m back in love with the fanatic again, so I I want to go back to a Phillies game just to see the fanatic. Will they bring him here next week? I’ll go to the game trading deadline and the Phillies are in next week and that’ll be the end of it. Trading deadline is august 3. It’s a Monday. I’ll be with Getty and Alex and Annika at the Garden. What would turn them into something that looked like a seller? Because every time I and I’ve had a couple of conversations on the air and off the air with how many teams really stink enough to want to sell. There’s only you know handful of teams that would be sellers. The Orioles might have been that three weeks ago, and I wonder what this week the real value of these three series that we’re about to see against three pretty good teams. I mean, you say that the Tigers aren’t good, not playoff worthy. Right now, they’re playoff. Right now, they’re wild card worthy. They’re play card
Luke Jones 16:30
worthy. I mean, the eyeball test, like they’ve been excellent since june 1. They just buried themselves so much that you just wonder if the math is gonna. I mean, even as well as they’ve played over the last eight, seven weeks, they’re still 40-eight and 50-four. Like that speaks to how how horribly they they buried themselves. Like go look at their May. Go look at what their record was in May. I mean, they just completely fell apart. But yeah, you’re playing three teams that are, you know, two of them are in a playoff spot, and the Tigers are more desperate than the Orioles right now in terms of winning. Dude, as an
Nestor Aparicio 17:04
organizational guy and a guy with no dog in the hunt, and I’m not giving these people any money, and I’m not running down and giving them, I’m buying tickets until my press pass is left behind, home plate appropriately right next to yours, right next to Jerry Coleman’s. But like, I don’t think they can sell off ideologically like Angelos 30 years ago when he wanted in on Chris Widger and David Wells and you know these deals back in the day that I remember that nobody else remembers but I remember it and this is worse he doesn’t have tickets sold they have tickets unsold that they’re trying to sell tickets. They’re trying to have a season before they have a strike. They’re trying to create a season before the Purple Birds take you out to Owings Mills, and all of a sudden, you know, Jennifer Grandal’s down looking for who’s in the WNST seat, and Luke’s sweating with the oldies and Lamar and Ronnie Stanley and people are gone in three weeks, four weeks. I don’t know how they could sell, but I’m telling you, man, from a from a media tough guy standpoint, from the prick on the radio every day for 35 years, going back to when Lachino owned the team when I you know what when I got involved in doing this, it wouldn’t break my heart. You know what? What if they sold? It wouldn’t break my heart if they just said Rutchman gone, Gunner, we’re not signing you. The Dodgers are giving us A B C D E a left-handed pitcher. Buy buy buy, and we’re gonna go on strike, and we’re gonna come out of this, and we’re gonna start with a bunch of really decent minor league talent again. That’s gonna get here quicker. Not we’re gonna stink for 100 years. We’re gonna go raid a couple of shelves here with this smart Michaelias guy who we really believe in. I don’t know, dude, because this is sort of reminds me of the Pittsburgh Steelers, where you want to be mediocre. Really, you want to be mediocre? I mean, he’s got all this money into Alonzo, you got all this money into Bradish now, and you better get him better help than bye bye to Ruchman, bye bye to Henderson. We can’t afford this guy. Westberg never worked out. Heston who, Colton who where, Jackson hole in his swing. Like I’m just being honest with you, dude. And and I’m not being a prick. And I’m not. This is two years of this. Sure. And this is failure at a at a Elias level. Elias should have been fired a long time ago. Like seriously. Like if you’re really doing this, if Aaron Getty is a real baseball man and really working this and not doing the hot dog race, and Rubinstein’s not out on his honeymoon looking for another bobblehead. Write a book with the Whistler. I mean, these people are clowns. They’ve been here two and a half years. They are clowns, and I don’t know that they know what they’re doing or not what they’re doing. Elias is the only guy around there that knows anything about baseball. But I’m telling you, man, they could do a lot worse than breaking the whole thing up by next weekend because the sport’s going to shut down in the off season. Not going to matter whether they have Gunner Henderson who hit 234 with 28 home runs and 68 RBI. Whatever it’s going to be at the end of the year, if it’s not good enough. And I’m with you. I love the aircraft carriers and the one ones and all that, but dude, it ain’t working. I’m just saying it ain’t working.
Luke Jones 20:42
I’m not going to sit here and say it works. The only thing I would say about that is, well, if you’re going to do that, then Michaelias, it’s it’s tangible proof that it can work, and then it should be someone else running them from that point forward. To to which I would then say, I’d much rather hold off on trading some of some combination of the individuals you just laid out with the new guy, right? Or the new guy evaluates and maybe injects some new. This is why
Nestor Aparicio 21:13
I fired him in May because I just because we’re up on this now. He’s picked all the young players. He Nestor
Luke Jones 21:19
But who are you going to hire? I understand that. I’ll continue. Then go
Nestor Aparicio 21:23
work harder. I don’t quit on that.
Luke Jones 21:25
But who are you going to hire in the middle of the season? You are nobody if you don’t
Nestor Aparicio 21:30
know what you’re doing. If you bought a $2 billion asset and you have no idea of anything about the industry, are you
Luke Jones 21:35
going? Are you going to hire? How are you going to hire? They’ve had no choice. They’ve
Nestor Aparicio 21:39
had to keep him.
Luke Jones 21:40
No, but my right, but my point is with that. I mean, you’re just in a very limited space. Look, in a vacuum, it’s tough for me to disagree with what you just said in terms of, like, look, do they have a run in them that they could get the third wild card spot? Sure. Look at the math. Just look at the math. If somebody’s going to
Nestor Aparicio 21:58
pay me like Adley Ruchman and Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holiday are hitting 284 Like, like they are producing. Like, if somebody’s going to pay me and young players a premium at the deadline where I can get some arms, seriously. Like, if you’re so smart, Michaelias, go raid some places because there’s nobody out there that’s going to be selling, and there’s going to be somebody more desperate than you, and I don’t know what that deal is, dude. I really don’t know, and maybe people are down on Ruchman’s banged up and injured. I don’t want him. He ain’t won one to me anymore. They would treat any of these guys like the next general manager would treat them. The way Jesse Minter is treating Ronnie Stanley and Marlin Humphrey and Roquan Smith, dude, you’re just players. I didn’t pay you. I didn’t draft you. You’re not a lottery pick to me. I didn’t trade for the Bears for you. I haven’t been up and down the mountain like I didn’t lose championship games and you know to you with you. You’re just my left tackle, and around here, Adley Rutschman’s the one one, and you know I even bring it up, and it he scoffs at it, and and and and Holiday, who looks like a little leaguer, he doesn’t look like a big league player. He doesn’t look like he belongs. I mean,
Luke Jones 23:18
I think that’s a bit harsh, but he he doesn’t look like a one one. I would agree with that. I I think it’s harsh to say he doesn’t look like a big leaguer. I mean, because
Nestor Aparicio 23:27
he doesn’t look like a thriving big leaguer.
Luke Jones 23:29
I mean, okay, he hasn’t done anything. He’s also 26 He’s also 22 Right, and the
Nestor Aparicio 23:34
organizations pulled him along because they’ve had to. They’ve had to.
Luke Jones 23:39
But I but I think it’s harsh, and I think it’s I think it’s hasty to say he doesn’t look like a big leaguer. I think I my concern is he doesn’t look like someone who’s going to become anything more than a solid big leaguer. Which at one one that’s still
Nestor Aparicio 23:52
okay. So what do you trade him for? If somebody gives you one one doesn’t have value for him and really believes in him, do
Luke Jones 23:58
you think people are doing that at the trade deadline? No,
Nestor Aparicio 24:00
that’s what I’m saying.
Luke Jones 24:01
Like a lot of what you’re saying to me, I’ll continue to say these are winter questions. Like Taylor Ward, Trevor Roberts. There ain’t going to
Nestor Aparicio 24:10
be no winter, though. That’s part of it too.
Luke Jones 24:12
Okay, but like, but but who’s trading for Jackson Holiday right now? No one in a pennant race.
Nestor Aparicio 24:19
Thank you. Okay, good point.
Luke Jones 24:21
So that right, I mean, like
Nestor Aparicio 24:22
you’re allowed to yell at me, talk me out of the tree. I’m just, and I’m not even in a tree. I’m not. I’m in a quandary of there’s nine days left, and there’s nine games left, and I don’t believe this team’s winning anything. That’s fine. Let me go back to your original
Luke Jones 24:35
question because you know we’ve kind of gone off in like four different directions, and they don’t have a
Nestor Aparicio 24:39
catcher for the next two weeks, but you
Luke Jones 24:41
had but you had asked me what need what would have to happen for them to be definitive sellers. And again, I’d go back to you’d be talking talking much more about Ward. You’d be asking about Trevor Rogers, and Ruchman would be the other. And Jeff Passen just put out a you know ranking. Trade candidates and Adley Rutschman was in there, right? And the the thing that I find interesting, I’ve I’ve said this in passing a couple different times, but and I’ll continue to say it. I am very surprised at the seg. You know, this is a large portion of the fan base that pushes back on any notion of trading Adley Rutschman, which I guess I understand from the standpoint of he was the face of the rebuild one one. He has been the three All Star games, right? I mean, it’s not like he’s a bad ball player, but has he been the guy that you wanted him to be? Hasn’t been since 2,001st half of 2024 Part of that is
Nestor Aparicio 25:38
nobody else has been that either, and they showed Alonso to be that. They drafted Holiday to be that. They want Henderson to be that. But I hear
Luke Jones 25:45
people. But I hear some fans, and even some media, quite frankly, express the sentiment like they have no choice but to to sign Adley Rutschman long term. And I just kind of ask, like, have we all watched the last two years? He was really bad at the plate for a year and a half. If you look at this year now, he’s bounced back this year. There’s no question about that. He’s been much better this year than he was last year in the second half of 24. However, go look at his splits. His overall numbers this year have been buoyed big time by having a monster April, since then he’s been much more fine than anything else at the plate. He’s been really good defensively. Dave, kudos to the the the coaching staff and some of the adjustments they’ve made with him. His defense has been as good as it’s been at any point. I mean, he’s been really good defensively. So that right there, look, I may have just laid out an argument to sign him. However, he’s been on the IL five times in the last 13 months, and he’s going to be 20-nine years old. I’m a little concerned about that. Now, when I say that, that doesn’t disqualify any thinking at all for me on an extension. But I don’t know, man. Like, if he wants a six-year contract extension, I’m not comfortable with that. If it’s three, maybe four, I can probably live with that. But if I’m being honest and I’m trying to do this in a vacuum, right? And none of these moves are made in a vacuum, right? All these moves have something attached to it, whether it’s trying to sell tickets, fan morale, all kinds of different issues. Guys that are more marketable, the strike,
Nestor Aparicio 27:27
the strike, preparing. Of course,
Luke Jones 27:29
of course, that’s there. Yeah, no, no doubt about that. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 27:31
that’s different than any other year. So I just wanted to point that out. I guess
Luke Jones 27:34
for me, the the notion that the Orioles shouldn’t even listen to the idea of if if a team’s unlike some of the other names that I mentioned that have disappointed, that you question whether you’re going to get great value. If Adley Rutschman hypothetically comes off the IL what next Thursday or whenever it is that he’s eligible next Wednesday, and and that’s still a few days before the trade deadline, he plays, hits a couple home runs, catches two games, three games before the deadline. Hypothetically, someone could offer up something really, really attractive for Adley Rutschman. You have to listen to it. I think it would be irresponsible whether you whether you want Michaelias to be the GM moving forward or not. Whoever’s in that seat, it would be irresponsible to listen to to not listen to that. So, but to go back to the question, I mean, comes down to this. I mean, how did the next nine games go? PO two and seven or something like that. Three and six, then you’re back to six games under 507 games under 508 games under 500 and like, what are we doing here? You know what I mean. But if you, you know, I’d I’d love to sit here and say they could they could go seven and two or six and three, and then they’re at 500 or a little bit above that. Then, yeah. But I think the interesting factor here, and you mentioned some of the others, but how about the factor of Mike Elias, you know, auditioning for his job, so to speak. Now, for all we know, ownership has told him, “Mike, you have nothing to worry about. You’re our guy. Or the phone has gone silent on him, right? Which is kind of what happened with Steve Bashati and John Hart. Well, who knows how these neophyte owners? Again,
Nestor Aparicio 29:19
I have no idea. Who knows how Rubinstein and Araghetti are even getting along through all of this? Because this is a disaster. I mean, they they put a billion dollars each up into this thing, and nobody’s running it. the The woman who’s running the team has no idea what she’s doing. They pissed off the people that are already pissed off. The team was in a cellar for a period of time, not a seller, the seller, the basement.
Luke Jones 29:43
But the point is, with with Elias, if you’re not going to sell, you’ve got to do something then to improve your chances. Right now, does that mean I’m advocating for them to trade trade for Tarek Scoubel? Not, not really, but. There are other moves you can still make, especially if you can get a pitcher or a bat, someone that’s under club control beyond this year, someone that could help you for 2027. Assuming there will be a season at some point next year, so Trevor Rogers’ deal would be, you know, along those lines, right? You know, a another outfielder, right? We’ve talked about the outfield a lot, right? And part of the problem here is I think a lot of teams are looking for a right-handed hitting outfielder because there’s a there very much a scarcity of those in the game. We have one, so well Taylor Ward, but we only you know the Orioles have them for this year and that’s it, right? And you know I don’t know if he’s necessarily someone I’d look to and say, “Oh, I want to extend that guy. I mean, if I’m just being honest, but but that’s you know the other side. By the way, Tyler
Nestor Aparicio 30:49
O’Neill got hurt the other night too, so throw that into.
Luke Jones 30:52
I don’t know. We’ll see. Albernaz downplayed him good. Albernaz said it was more they had a lead. Left-handed pitcher was out of the game, right? They had brought in Bayo at that point, and they wanted, you know, they wanted to get O’Neill off his feet because he played the first game. They brought
Nestor Aparicio 31:07
Baio in pretty quick. I’ll
Luke Jones 31:09
right. I’ll buy. I’ll buy that until we see he’s not in the lineup over the weekend at all. Because I will actually say, look, Tyler O’Neill, that he’s had a good
Nestor Aparicio 31:17
week. That signing has been
Luke Jones 31:19
an utter disaster. He’s actually been decent over the last three, four weeks for for the role that he’s in, right? Which is not the role that you envision, dude. You were in the DFA
Nestor Aparicio 31:29
in back in May. I hear it. Sure, I hear it.
Luke Jones 31:31
And and look, part of part of the equation now with Alexander out, Ruchman out, Pasayo out, and and the latter two, you’re hoping not for long, but at least for the next week, they’re out. That you’ve got to get some other guys hot, right? They’ve got to score runs. That’s why, like Christian Encarnacio and Strand, had a really nice series at Fenway. I have no idea if he’s going to continue with that. I’m going to guess no. But point is, if you’re going to do this thing where you can at least win enough that you’re going to buy and you’re going to make a couple additions and and try to make a run at it. And keep in mind, the end result is not buying at the trade deadline. The end result is: do you make a play? Do you secure one of the wild card spots or not? You’ve got a a two plus month sprint left to go. You’re hoping that the pitching continues to do what it’s done. That’s their only chance, but they’ve got to they’ve got to hit. They’ve got to swing the bats better. That and you’re going to need a couple guys to to catch fire. We’ll continue to talk about. I mean, Gunnar Henderson, you know, quietly had a pretty nice series at Fenway at the plate. Now his defense on Monday night was a different story, but are are you hoping could this be the time Gunner finally gets going? Get finally gets hot. Does Colton Kauser, who’s completely stopped swinging the bat again, does he have another three week run in him where he goes nuts and can carry them for you know a handful of games like we saw him do when when they had that, you know, that big home stand where he hit a couple walk-off home runs, right? You you go down the list. I mean, it was nice to see Beavers drive in a couple runs in the first inning of the nightcap on Wednesday. Like you look at this and you say, “Man, you need some guys to just get hot. I mean, they’re going to need Pete Alonso to carry them again at some point in time, right? I mean, he’s had some stretches where he’s been red hot, you know. He the the home runs have dried up a little bit for him here of late. He’s kind of due to to to get going again. They’re going to need some of that, especially being at less than less way less than full strength right now. I mean, not even counting Westberg. I mean, he’s been gone all year, but when you’re without Ruchman and Basso and Blaze Alexander, I mean, your that lineup is even more diminished than it was already, and like I said, it’s not like they were great with those guys anyway. So, yeah, I mean, the the deadline is obviously fascinating in so many different ways, right? I mean, in terms in 30 different ways, literally, right? In terms of where they are right now, where they’re going the rest of. I think this labor thing I keep bringing it up because it is the elephant in the room in all of these cases. Say where does my franchise need to be during the work stoppage financially, structurally, leadership wise? Do I have my general manager? Do I want a general manager? Are we even in the baseball business beginning october 15, like I don’t know, I I literally, but it has to be discussed because I think it’s paramount, paramount, and the fact that these guys don’t really know
Nestor Aparicio 34:30
what they’re doing, these new owners, they’ve never really been through any of this. They had there’s nothing predictable about how they would react or how the Steinbrenner family’s been through this for you know three generations, and these guys are just pricks with a lot of money. I mean, literally, that’s that’s all they-they’re just dudes with a lot of money who want to play and make bobbleheads. I’ve seen no sincerity about anything involving these cats regarding civics, community, fans, anything other than. We’re open for business, and we’ll pay baseball players, which they paid radish this week. So they think that’s their job. Great, somebody’s got to sell your sport, Pub. So off season and the labor situation is so combustible and so unpredictable.
Luke Jones 35:18
I was just going to say, I mean, I I I don’t disagree with anything you said about having an inexperienced ownership group that has never navigated anything like this. I think you’re a
Nestor Aparicio 35:27
fool if you aren’t. I mean, and they’re not fools, and believe me, they’re not fools. They are navigating all aspects of a one week, six week, six month, one year, two year. Like they have to have a plan for all of that and know whether they want Adley Ruchman in their organization or out of their organization. And I don’t know that they’re sophisticated enough.
Luke Jones 35:49
Yeah, the
Nestor Aparicio 35:50
owners that they would spend enough time that they’ll just do whatever Elias, whatever Mike says. Mike, you run baseball. Mike, you run base. I don’t know anything about baseball. I’m on my honeymoon. I’m making bobbleheads. I’m writing books. Mike, you do it. You do it, Mike. I mean, like I can hear Rubinstein. I don’t think Rubinstein’s like Mike. Let’s have a summit about baseball. Teach me about the inner workings of Major League Base. I don’t think David Rubenstein’s a goof. Like as far as I can tell, he could not sit and speak with me about baseball. Now he’s owned the team for billions of dollars for two years, and I don’t think he could sit and talk to me on this show at length about labor any maybe a widget better than he could two years ago. But I just don’t think it’s where their focus is. That’s my point. My point is, if this is Elias’s problem until it’s not anymore, and then when it’s not, to your point, well, who are they going to hire? Well, they don’t know anything. They’re not involved in the industry, really, and that’s where Bashati did his five years of hanging around before he axed Billick and decided he was going to keep Ozzy and everybody. You know, like Kevin Byrne and who Chad Steele was going to be his constellary, and so like you make these decisions, but you have to be around to make those decisions. These guys aren’t. These guys are not hands on, and this is a time where, to me, that’s going to show. And it’s very evident to me, having witnessed this for 40 years on the radio.
Luke Jones 37:11
Yeah, I mean, I look. I’m not going to sit here and stick up for them. The only thing I would say is it’s not as though John and Lou Angelos were well thought of when when, but they were
Nestor Aparicio 37:22
immersed in it.
Luke Jones 37:23
But they right, sure, and that’s fair, and that’s fair. I could sit, but
Nestor Aparicio 37:26
John Angelos was so immersed in it that he was a prick to everybody else, thinking they couldn’t possibly know anything about baseball, like Peter Schmuck and me and Dan Connolly. People that study this our whole lives. You know, you’re not talking to Tom Davis or Rob Long here, and we’re giving you know these are. I’ve done this. My I’ve been on the radio for four work stoppages now at various points, and in Sarasota, and standing next to Don Fear, and having Marvin Miller on the show. Like I’m, I I’m not going to hear it. So if they want to sit and talk to an expert, meet me. Meet me anywhere you want, David, Michael, Katie, any of them? Let’s talk about it because it is going to affect everything about this trading deadline, and then literally everything that happens the minute the season ends. And for them, that might be october 1, right? If they’re making playoffs, right? Like so, and it’s not that far off, and they’re not in control of it. They’re not driving the bus, and I, I, dude, I just spent two days with nothing, but sage sports writers, not sage steel, sage sports writers in Philly. I talked to, I mean, Verducci and I talked 20 minutes. We talked about nothing but labor. I sat with Eric Fisher and had a meatball sub for an hour. All we really talked about was labor, but like, like talk to Rosenthal, labor. I talked to Passen briefly. We did not talk labor. But like, when I bring these guys, Evan Drellic stopped me on the courtyard. He’s doing a book, and he said, “Hey, labor, get me on. I texted him the other day. He’s in Boston. So like, when I have these writers on, this is going to be. It’s not going to be player, player, player, money, money, money, sign, sign, sign. That’s going to all go away. I remember this vividly, and that’s going to be their new job. And I don’t know, I don’t know how they’re going to do with that. And and I think this is the beginning of that for me. How they manage this trading deadline and their assets to say how we’re going to treat the work stoppage because there is going to be one.
Luke Jones 39:23
Yeah, I mean it’s just going to be a matter of how how long does it go. One or games missed. Two how many games are missed. I mean like it’s that simple. I mean there’s obviously going to be a work stoppage. I think
Nestor Aparicio 39:34
it’s how you conduct business in the off season that revenue, money, subscriptions to this is this money coming in. Where are your sponsors? And then where where is your labor? Because minor leagues are they going to open for business? I mean, this is more minor leaguers than than less major leaguers. If the sport is shut down next year,
Luke Jones 39:55
well, I mean, I think, but I think a big part of this, and look, I I think it was Maury Brown. Was actually noted this, the thing that might actually save the sport from a truly long work stoppage next year. It might it might be the TV, the various TV packages that they have in place, and but because here’s here’s the difference: who’s subscribing to Masson if the season doesn’t start. You know what I mean. Like in the past, it was baked in the satellite cable. Oh right, my dad paid
Nestor Aparicio 40:29
for home team. No, but I’m just when they were like weren’t working. Right.
Luke Jones 40:32
How many people are doing that unless you were still subscribed to Xfinity or like you know various you know but cable and satellite does still exist, you know, not not to the degree that it once did, but like someone like me who just buys the season. Well, I’m not buying the season until I know the season is starting, right? I mean, I guess I suppose they could do some discount type stuff and say they’re getting their two
Nestor Aparicio 40:57
bucks from me. I got a cable package, so like I’m great.
Luke Jones 41:00
But I’m just saying that there there are way fewer people that are in that camp anymore. So, but but I know and I my apologies for this. Mari Brown did a really good piece that just kind of
Nestor Aparicio 41:12
I’ll get him on this week. I’ll get him on. I’ll grab Mari. But there was
Luke Jones 41:15
another piece that was behind a paywall, and I you know I didn’t have the subscription for it, but it talked about some of the some of the different books that are that are in these TV various TV packages that they have, you know, the with you know talking about ESPN and NBC and Apple, all those that it does sound like there might not be, you know, there might there there might be some bigger consequences than you would think if we’re talking about going months without baseball next year, right? Where we’re talking about the season potentially being canceled or no All Star game or or anything like that. So once they get to St. Patrick’s Day, they better step in. That’s the thing, right? I mean, look, they had a lockout four winners ago or three winners ago, whatever. Four winners ago, did it really hurt the sport in any tangible? Like, did any fans stay away because the season got pushed back? Well, look, you and I don’t spend
Nestor Aparicio 42:10
November, December, January talking baseball around here anymore. Anyway, we have other things on our mind. You know what I mean? That’s
Luke Jones 42:16
kind of the point I’m making here. They can’t even
Nestor Aparicio 42:18
have a carnival. They barely have a caravan that you know they’ve they’ve pissed in their own bucket around here, and that’s why going up to Philadelphia when I had Michael Bookdall on, you’ll hear it this week. The Phillies are like a real thing; they make money in the off season. Yeah, some of these teams aren’t the Pirates and the Orioles, and you know we can’t even gather our alumni to put the convention center on with 1200 people. Yeah, yeah, to come down and want to stand in line to get an autograph. Like I, that thing’s deteriorated. So the off season thing, I would agree with you. It’s you and I do it for a living. It’s relatively quiet, but from a business standpoint, they can’t have it be that way here. They they need that, and they need the inertia of having some level of success the next 90 days going into all of that, and that’s why selling this week feels like something I would do, but something they’re not going to do.
Luke Jones 43:10
Yeah, I mean, and I, I think either way, I mean, to to bring it back to the micro, what are you going to learn about this team in nine games that that that you haven’t seen over the better part of two years now, right? And they can pitch
Nestor Aparicio 43:27
well. Their hitting’s going to be inconsistent, and their defense is going
Luke Jones 43:30
to be awful. The hitting’s going to be you know underwhelming, especially now without Basayo and Rutschman for at least most you know part. What do you expect? You take those guys out of lineup. So I just-that’s where it’s-it’s tough for me. And look, that’s not me saying I want to throw in the towel and and make like I’m-I’ve already said I’m very much not in line with the idea of any kind of a harsh sell, even if you sell right. To me, the most extreme would be if someone’s offering you a king’s ransom for Adley Ruchman, right? And I would have to at least consider that, especially if you’ve had conversations behind closed doors, and and he has no interest whatsoever in signing an extension that’s sensible, right? I mean, you know, if he says the starting point is seven years on an extension, I mean, I’m just like, I wish you well, Adley. God bless you, but but that said, at the same time, let’s say they go six and three, right, and they’re 500 when when they go into that off day, you know, at when the trade on the cusp of the trade deadline. Even if you’re going to buy, what do you want to completely strip your farm system on something that’s not going to be a guarantee, and then you fall short. Michaelias maybe gets fired, maybe does. Like let’s assume they they go in a different direction. So now a new general manager comes in, and you have an even lesser farm system at that point in time, and. Still has all these decisions to make about all these members of the young core who have either regressed, never lived up to expectations, still waiting to for the next step, whatever. I mean, it’s just it’s messy, right? I mean, it’s and it kind of goes back to your original point. I mean, it’s nice that that they had the seven-game winning streak, but I’m just I’m just not a big believer in this anymore. I’m like, just not not a big believer. You know, I don’t believe in Mike Elias and and the the front office. I think they have tried to pivot in some ways over the last year or so. Do I think it’s been enough? Do I think there’s still too much scar tissue here? Do I think I want to see new blood at the top that maybe can salvage some of these members of the young core, maybe not. And if that, if not, make some trades and and and maybe pull off some. You know, some of these guys still do have value. Like I’m not talking Heston Kerstad. Let’s be clear. But like in the winter, if you decided you wanted to trade Jackson Holiday, or some team came calling and wanted to give you a really good package because they still really like that guy and they would have drafted him in the time. Well, this is the
Nestor Aparicio 46:11
time to find out who really likes your guys at the very least. Call around and where it where is the value if because there’s nobody here I wouldn’t trade. I mean, like literally. I mean,
Luke Jones 46:22
I mean, obviously, other than the guys they’ve extended over the last, you know, Basia, you know, Pete Alonzo’s not going anywhere, Basayo’s not going anywhere, Bradish isn’t going anywhere, Baz isn’t going anywhere.
Nestor Aparicio 46:34
Okay, fair enough. There’s your core. No, but I’m just. I thought their core was Henderson, Holiday, and Ruchman, but it’s not. It’s not.
Luke Jones 46:41
I mean, you know. And if it is, it’s dog meat. Go look at their. Go look at their numbers. If that’s your core, that’s why you’re you’re in fourth place. Like literally. If just look at their numbers, man to man, mano a mano. That’s you know. Dragon plays Alexander around here. You know what I mean? It’s sort of like. I mean, Ruchman’s Rutschman’s had a really good season. I mean, he made the All Star team, but he’s also been on the IL three times now, right? And and that’s where you look at it and just say, is that something that looks like an investment I want to continue to make long term, right? Not talking this year and the and through next year. So I mean, it’s just it’s tough. I I really struggle with where they are in the micro compared to the macro. Like, where is this going? Is is any of this good enough? And for me, more and more, the answer just feels like no. I mean, I I love Kyle Bradish, and I love that extension. But whether Michaelias is going to be the GM moving forward or not, I think anyone coming in to be the general manager is going to look at that and say, “Man, Kyle Bradish for the next five years, when he’s now two plus years removed from Tommy John surgery, I can get in line with that, especially at that rate. You know, are you? Does Boz have another level? Maybe, maybe not. He’s still offered a pretty high floor this year. It’s not like he’s been terrible, and he’s still young enough that it’s like Brandon Young’s
Nestor Aparicio 48:07
going to be in the rotation next. Brandon Young,
Luke Jones 48:08
yeah, he he’s another guy. Let me be clear. Like, I don’t know if any team’s really coming after Brandon Young anyway, but he’s so cheap and and has so many years of control. He’d be another guy that
Nestor Aparicio 48:22
got to have one or two of those when you’re the Orioles.
Luke Jones 48:24
You know, even at worst, if he becomes the next Dean Kramer for them, that’s that’s still there’s still value in that. And and but Brendan Young’s pitching better than that, right? Be the
Nestor Aparicio 48:33
next Miguel Gonzalez, and he’d be great.
Luke Jones 48:35
Sure. So so it’s not as though there’s nothing here. Like it’s not as though the cupboard’s entirely bare. I don’t want to make it out to be like that, but at the same time, this was supposed to be like think back to 2022 when they sold at the trade deadline. Michaelias may not have said it specifically, explicitly laid it out there, but the the mindset at that point was 2022 is not the the prime years of our window. That’s 25 and 20-six and 20-seven and 20-eight. Like this is supposed to be the prime years of that, and yet look at what it is, right? They’re not even in a wild card position in an American league that’s painfully mediocre this year, right? You can keep talking about like this year and where they are right now, but that’s not a reflection of that they’re in a good position moving forward, and that’s what’s so disheartening about this, and that’s why nothing
Nestor Aparicio 49:31
has a bullet going up in this organization right now. I mean,
Luke Jones 49:34
individuals, some individuals do sure. Okay, yeah, no, but I’m just saying, like it’s not all. Brandon Young’s a major upward arrow compared to what we thought he was going to be back in spring training years. But
Nestor Aparicio 49:46
the things that need to be upward arrows are. I
Luke Jones 49:48
mean, it’s just it’s a lot of stuff that Rutchman
Nestor Aparicio 49:50
Holiday Henderson, Ruchman Holiday Henderson. Now it’s more than that.
Luke Jones 49:54
Kozer. I mean, like go down the list. I mean, it’s just Westbrook can’t even get on the field, let alone see. What he what he can do, right? I mean, it’s Heston Kerstad’s a trip away. I mean, think about it. They called up Jonathan Rodriguez, and I get it. He’s a right-handed hitter, you know. But when they put Pasayo on the shelf, they didn’t even call up Heston Kirstadt, right? There was a school of thought. If you liked what he was doing at Norfolk, you call him up, and he he could be your DH most days. Well, he can
Nestor Aparicio 50:21
be in September if they’re going to stink. No, but but my. You know what I mean. If they’re going to stink and not be in the race, this is a chance for them to do all of that. But
Luke Jones 50:27
for me, I think that was an indication of where they think he is right now. Like you know, not good enough. Not even at Triple A, he’s not doing enough of of what they think would play at the major league level, right? So it’s just, I’m just so meh about all of it, right? And that’s where, like, well, football season. Thank God for that, for you. But I’m just saying that doesn’t make for good radio in terms of the buyer-seller thing. But like, I’m not really enthusiastic about either of those options right now because I, I just don’t know what they can really acquire at what cost to truly give themselves the best possible chance? I mean, there are no guarantees at the trade deadline. There just aren’t. But what can they really do, and how much does that really move the needle for them? And on the flip side, you know, okay, you trade away Taylor Ward. Do you really think you’re getting anything that’s really truly going to put you in great position for the future. I mean, maybe you get lucky, but Taylor Ward’s not. You know, like you’re you’re not getting the number five prospect in baseball for Taylor Ward. You know what I mean? Like you’re not getting anything like that. I mean, he’s a two month rental of a guy who’s had you know great on base skill this year, but his powers largely evaporated. I mean, I and Wednesday night’s game, notwithstanding, where he actually did make a couple nice plays in the field and did a nice job, it’s not a great defensive outfielder, right? So you’re talking about him, you know, Trevor Rogers. You know, is there a scenario where they can extend him? You could, I suppose. I I would say this: if you extend him, then I kind of feel like your rotation’s pretty pretty locked in moving forward in terms of big ticket items, right? Because at that point, long term money pumped into Boz, Radish, and Trevor Rogers. If you were to do that, now again, I’m not saying I wouldn’t, but then okay, you better be able to develop some other pitching, and they’ve got some pitchers at Triple A, and somebody’s going to deal for Scouble next week. Sure, but but that’s a rental, right? I mean, I mean, Scoble’s no one’s no one’s acquiring Scouble and signing him before he hits the market, right? I mean, I mean, so that’s just the reality. One, how much are the Tigers going to command? Two, how much is a team willing to give up? You know, for 10 starts, I certainly don’t expect the Orioles to be in the Terek Skubble business. I just don’t, right? I mean, and I’m not even saying they should be per se for what I actually think it’s going to cost. I mean, it’d be really fun. Like if they do, I’m not going to sit here and complain. Let me let me be clear. But yeah, if
Nestor Aparicio 52:57
they had six more wins, it’d be different. We feel different. And that’s the
Luke Jones 53:00
thing. I just, I just, I just don’t think they’re very good. Yeah, and you know, like a seven-game winning streak didn’t change my mind. There, there, there hasn’t
Nestor Aparicio 53:07
been a minute, you know, in three months we felt that way. All right, um, football ahead for you. Put your little purple hat on for next week and get your sun sundan lotion out and your SPF. Football’s here. Baseball is here this week in Brazier Town. Luke will be down at the ballpark. The Phillies are in next week. My buddy Micah came on and did a long piece. You’ll hear that. I’m going to chase all these baseball people around before the trading deadline next week. Some yeses, some noes, some maybes, and we’ll get into football season as well around here. Meantime, doing the Maryland Crab Cake Tour on Friday at Pizza John’s in Essex. Next Thursday at Costa Sin Timonium. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland Lottery. Also, I do Raven scratch-offs, the two-dollar scratch-offs. They’re kind of cool. They have the Kiss face on them, so they’re my favorites. It’s my favorite logo, and also our friends at GBMC and Farnin and Dermer. Any breaking news in and around the trading deadline comes first on the WNST Tech Service. As always, we’re 20 years into it. It’s all brought to you by Cole Roofing and Gordian Energy. At some point, I will shave, bathe, and get ready for Getty Lee to approach the Big Apple next week and get ready for football season. I am Nestor. We are WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking. Baltimore positive.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
