The Orioles pitching certainly was good enough in Game 1

Luke Jones and Nestor discuss Corbin Burnes and Game 1 Wild Card loss to Royals at Camden Yards

Luke Jones and Nestor discuss …loss to Royals at Camden Yards

Wed, Oct 02, 2024 6:51AM • 32:03

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Corbin Burnes, Game 1 loss, Royals, pitching, Orioles, playoffs, bullpen, hitting struggles, Cole Reagan’s, Seth Lugo, lineup issues, offseason plans, payroll, new ownership, postseason pressure

SPEAKERS

Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio

8

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W n s t, Towson, Baltimore, Baltimore, positive. It is a playoff time. Around here, we are playing hasty baseball. Around here. We’re awaiting some football this weekend as well. All things w n s t are going to be back in action next Friday. Hopefully the Orioles are still around at that point, I’ll have Raven scratch offs to give away. It is Friday the 11th. It is Luke’s birthday. This week. It’s my birthday next week, we are converging next Friday for the Maryland crab cake tour. We’re gonna be pizza John’s in Essex. That’s I did that for Luke, because it’s Luke’s favorite place. He might need some pizza once the Orioles get eliminated. Hey, Ravens won this week’s all we can say. Also, our friends at the Maryland oyster tour and the oyster tour and the oyster recovery partnership have thrown us out with Curia wellness, foreign daughter, and our friends and I don’t have my my liberty, pure solutions. Water, yeah, because I drank some of it in my studio, because the Orioles made me drink 800 clean water is the way to make that happen. Luke Jones joins us now in the aftermath of which one we won’t forget, I guess, right, like, game wasn’t a sell out. Four o’clock weather was kind of weird. Pitching was kind of great. Uh, hitting, not so great. Um, if Earl Weaver were to sit up one last time and you were to ask him, he’d tell you, playoffs all about pitching. It’s all about pitching. October’s all about pitching. Pitching, pitching. Pitching, pitching. We need to pitching. We gotta go get Corbin burns. We gotta go get we gotta go get efflin at the deadline. This is why you go get dudes right. And I don’t think the Orioles got the wrong dude. I mean, Corbin burns, he may never make another start for the Orioles. He may never pitch again. This may have been a rental for Ortiz for for nine months, but, you know, he gave them more than enough to win game one of the wild card on Tuesday, Luke,

Luke Jones  01:44

I mean, this is what they got him for. You know, they got him back in early February because of the face plant that they’re starting pitching did in last October’s Division Series sweep to the Rangers, understanding it was young guys. I mean, it’s Kyle Bradish, his first career started, pitched pretty well, actually, in that game, Grayson Rodriguez, not so much. Dean Kramer, not so much. But you acquire Corbin burns with the idea that he’s starting game one. You’ve you’ve been talking about game one for the better part of six weeks, amidst the struggles of the Orioles down the stretch, and Corbin burns goes a season high eight innings, he very much had a chance to finish that game. I mean, if it’s two to one there, I’m not so sure that you’re going to, certainly not going to Keegan Aiken after the leadoff single in the ninth. But, you know, maybe Corbin burns tries to finish that game, but gives up one run, gives up one RBI single to Bobby Witt Jr. You know, I saw a lot of people talk about potentially walking him there. I don’t think you do that. However, I will say this, I’d like to see him miss the plate on that first pitch, rather than that cutter catching a little bit too much of the plate lowing away. I would have liked to have seen him maybe throw a sweeper there. He had thrown a first pitch cutter to wit on the first two at bats, and it had worked, right? I mean, it’s not like Bobby Witt even the RBI single. It’s not like he hammered that ball, just hit it in the right spot, solid contact on a first pitch cutter and and gets it by gunner Henderson into left field. But it’s terrible.

Nestor Aparicio  03:16

He’s got to think about that. Because, like, yeah.

Luke Jones  03:19

8

I mean, you know what? I mean, like, it was the same, well, right? Nothing about it, right? And really, the mistake was walking Michael Garcia right, the number nine hitter, and he steals second base, which wasn’t a surprise me. We know burns doesn’t hold runners particularly well, but, and that’s also a legitimate base stealer there. So that was what he really, truly lamented. So I was just kind of covering and addressing people who look it’s a fair question. You know, Bobby Witt, if it weren’t for Aaron judge, would be a slam dunk MVP having a historic season. But you know, they they pitched to him your best guy. I mean, Kansas City wasn’t surprised that burns pitched to wit Brandon Hyde certainly said, Hey, I’m going to let my guy go after, who he thinks is best to go after, and Bobby Witt won that battle. So but any any talk beyond that goes back to the fact that you didn’t score a run. You didn’t score a single run. I did say, and you can go back and listen to it from a couple days ago that there was way too much celebrating about the fact that the Orioles had avoided Tarik skull and the Detroit Tigers, because I said Cole Reagan’s is an all star. Cole Reagan’s is going to get Cy Young votes. You know, he’s going to get in that top five voting. Well,

Nestor Aparicio  04:33

they’re lucky to get 20 more pictures of him, right? I mean, hey, easily would have been two more innings to him had he not had that cramp, right? Right? Exactly.

Luke Jones  04:40

I mean, at least one more inning, right? I mean, I mean, this is a young guy. I mean, he wasn’t going to go 115 pitches, but he certainly was going to go longer than he did. So that was another instance there where something went their way. Actually, that was something that you would have hoped. I asked Gunnar Henderson in the post game clubhouse if that was a moment where they thought, Okay. Here’s our opening. We didn’t do much against Reagan’s, let’s go. And they just didn’t do anything against the Kansas City bullpen, either. And you know that bullpen was good down the stretch, and Lucas airsig For Save. He’s someone that, when you and I were talking trade deadline at fadelies, go

Nestor Aparicio  05:18

ahead and brag everybody in the press box in a tweet out about you screaming about needing him, as opposed to Trevor Rogers. Well, I

8

Luke Jones  05:26

mean, I didn’t scream it, let’s be clear, but he was certainly amongst the names that I mentioned to say, Hey, this is a guy that you can throw out there in high leverage. And Kansas City acquired him from Oakland and made him their closer, and he did the job. But again, this comes, they’re still playing

Nestor Aparicio  05:43

baseball two or three weeks from now, you’ll look at that and say, well, they, you know? I mean, that’s what the trading deadline is about. Is about improving your team. And I have nothing on the trading deadline. I have, I mean, other people are beating up. Mike Elias, they lost a one nothing game in the in the playoffs. I mean, like, they can play that game 100 times over. Those pitchers are elite, and I think you can see the difference between that and no offense to Dean Kramer, I’m just gonna use him, but I’ll use Suarez, because we’ve had a whole Venezuelan Anglo debate here this week with the Whistler and the Orioles. Um, didn’t matter who it is, but like, there’s a difference between a dude and not a dude, and then there’s also a difference between having Maddox Glavine Smoltz and have them go out there, and only one of them looks like that in October, because that happens too. There’s been plenty of guys have gone out in October. I mean, you can mention the giant starters, the Dodger starters from years ago, whether it’s, you know, Clayton, Kershaw, just all of these guys, if they were all buzzsaws, they they all would have won World Series, a lot more World Series, and pitching a lot more big games, because big game starters, guys like Corbin burns, they only get a handful of chances to even make these kind of October starts in a lot of cases. And it’s not just a microscope, it’s a telescope. It’s something that playoff baseball is so different. I mean, I you know, and I sensed it when I went out to the Beaumont I picked my wife up from the airport on Tuesday night. She’s been gone on a family issue, and we went out. I mean, just all the long faces and just the feeling of losing the one nothing playoff game, every fan of the Orioles, like this is a rare feeling to lose October playoff games, because we haven’t had any of them. People don’t even know how it feels. It that was, that’s a devastating loss. I mean, I I just all the air went out of the city on Tuesday night. And, I mean, I would tell I wrote a Dear David Rubenstein letter. I tell him, that’s a good thing. That means people care, you know, like people are into it. People care, but it is. Man, it’s high, high stakes, especially these games. I mean, the Zach Britton game we remember. Man, that was 10 years ago, you know, like the the one and done wild cards, and this is it’s gonna feel one and done. If the sun sets tonight and the season’s over, it’s going to feel like a one game playoff, but it happens so fast, and you have to have this pitching, and we’ll get to it in a minute. You have to hit the ball too. Yeah. I

Luke Jones  08:10

mean, that’s the thing. I mean, Corbin burns gave up one run in eight innings. I mean, that was excellent. That’s all you could reasonably ask. You can’t ask your pitcher. You can’t expect your pitcher to go out and throw a shutout. I mean, even Cole Reagan’s as good as he was, he was lifted after six innings. I mean, they had their chance, right? They had their opportunities. They had their opportunities against coal Reagans. And we can get into that, but it’s, it’s deflating, I think, what’s you and you just mentioned it. Obviously, this is not the one game wild card. So it’s not that extreme, however, now, and you’re really apt to be patient, to not overreact, even in a five game series, right where, you know, if you go down, oh, one, hey, you got at least two more cracks at it. And that’s where the Orioles were at that point in game two, when Grayson Rodriguez took the ball against the Rangers last October, and we we saw how that happened. But it is tough to not make it feel like your season is absolutely on the brink in the way that it would be if you were down three. Oh, right, in a best of seven. You need to think about this more in terms of, okay, you’re down three games to two and a best of seven, because that’s what it is right now, you win two, you win the last two. You’re moving on. That’s not insurmountable. That’s not something that hasn’t been done many times in the history of baseball. But in a best of seven, where you’re down three, two, you’ve won two games already, right? You’ve you’ve tasted victory in this case. And this is why I think you making the point about game one so many times, and you were mentioning it more in the context of Corbin burns, but I think it’s bigger than that for so many of these other guys who were here last year, and now you’re thinking about, Oh, are we are we going to be out just like that again, just like this

Nestor Aparicio  09:59

8

one? For dinner. I’m like, if they lose tomorrow, I don’t have any plans in October, literally, other than this crab cake door next week, I cleaned my calendar. I didn’t make sales calls, I didn’t make appointments. You and I could be in New York on Monday. It’d be fun. Why wouldn’t we go? If I got $100 room in New York and you and I are up there? Like, why wouldn’t you go and squeeze out the juice of whatever this season has been, which was really nice the first three months, not so great the last three months certainly doesn’t feel good today, right now. But like, I clean the whole calendar out for us, for you, for me, for my real life, to watch baseball and like, if I’m sobbing in my natty bow at eight o’clock tonight, it’s i It would really be deflating if this thing goes the wrong way, especially today, and I dare I say today, because, like, Tommy combo says, right, no tomorrow, baby, there’s just right now. They better be playing a game on Thursday, right?

Luke Jones  10:52

I mean, you could say that, but Seth Luca was going to the hill. I mean, you’re talking about another All Star starting pitcher. I hope you know, for Baltimore’s sake, for this Club’s sake, that they get off the mat and they answer the bell and Zach Eflin is as good as Corbin Burns was, and your office somebody hits the ball. How

Nestor Aparicio  11:09

about somebody Exactly,

Luke Jones  11:11

exactly. But I’m also not going to be shocked, as I wrote at Baltimore positive.com Look, the October Orioles debut was very similar to what we saw throughout the second half of the season, right? I mean, I guess the only thing you would say is they didn’t kick the ball around defensively, right? But they didn’t hit, and we saw plenty of that as the month of August went on. We saw plenty of that, a lot of that in the month of September, but they had the five, five and one Finish to close the regular season. They had the late September return of Jordan, westburg and Ramona Rios, and even though it didn’t apply, Danny coulomb and Jacob Webb and Heston kerstad, I mean, they got all the members of the band that could come back to for the remainder of the season, other than Grayson Rodriguez. They, they all came back. So there was optimism, right, that October was going to be different. And, you know, instead one loss in your seasons on life support, but that’s, that’s the reality of a best of three, and you just mentioned it. I mean, it’s just because you play a certain way, or you have a certain record in the regular season, or even in the month of September. I mean, Kansas City had a bad September, but they had a good starting pitcher on Tuesday. The slate is wiped clean. And their starting pitcher was, you know, I don’t want to say he was better than Corbin burns for one thing. I mean, he went six innings, but I would say this, he was more dominant in terms of missing bats. I’m not saying that as a knock on burns. Burns was great.

8

Nestor Aparicio  12:41

Yeah, we’ll talk about missing bats in a minute. We should do a whole freaking segment on swinging through pitches, and James McCann and lineup and where rushman, we can go through all of that, but Paul

Luke Jones  12:50

Reagan’s is great at that. I mean, go, Look. I mean, this is a guy who averaged 11 plus strikeouts per nine innings. I mean, that’s, that’s really elite territory for a starting pitcher. You’re like, Nick

Nestor Aparicio  12:59

laughing. I mean, just the way he the way he looked, the way he threw the ball. And then, you know, I watched the earlier game, you know, that guy scooples A monster. I mean, he’s like, he reminds me Richie path in little league. And Barry Stitz knows what I’m talking about. So does Carol kowski and but, I mean, just big, nasty, overhand, hard throwing Sabathia, kind of like nasty, um, I’ll say this when it’s all over with and the requiems done, and whenever it ends today, tomorrow, next week, when they don’t win the World Series. Because I don’t think they’re winning the World Series, but you’d come back and beat me up if I’m the guy the morning after they lose game one and they go, win the World Series. You can find the tape and saying, I don’t think they’re winning the World Series. Oh,

Luke Jones  13:40

8

no one’s saying that, right? I

Nestor Aparicio  13:41

mean, you’re I’d be okay doing that. Yeah, I

Luke Jones  13:45

think he’d be okay doing that. I mean, but, but, like, I’ll continue to say it, and I hear you. I love Tarek schubel, but Cole Reagan was excellent this year. I mean, look at especially look at the peripherals, with the strikeout to walk ratio and all of that. He probably was better than what his season era was. That’s how impressive he was over the course of the season. And this is a guy that you know had two Tommy John surgeries early, early in his minor league career. I mean, this is the guy who go look at his minor league numbers. He had multiple seasons where he didn’t pitch at all. So he’s actually a great story. You know, we haven’t paid attention to him because it’s the Kansas City Royals. I mean, they Royals. I mean, they lost 106 games a year ago. The Royals have been a really good story. If it weren’t for what the Tigers did in the month of September, everyone would be talking about the Royals in the context that they’re talking about the Tigers right now. That’s why I kept saying, and I don’t mean to you. I mean, in general, when people were saying, Oh, wow, the Orioles got lucky. They’re avoiding Tariq, just like hold the phones. Cole Reagan’s is really good. Seth, Lugo. I mean, that’s a as formidable as a starting one two punch as just about anyone has in baseball, other than maybe if you want to look at the Phillies and a couple, maybe a couple other teams, but their statistically is as. Good as anybody that’s left in this field, Al or nl. So I was saying, Hey, you got to be ready. Cole Reagan’s is really good. You know, this wasn’t fluky. I’m not giving the Orioles a pass. Let’s be clear. You’ve got to go out and score some runs. Can’t get shut out in a postseason game, especially when your ACE goes eight innings of one run ball. But at the same time, Cole Reagan’s isn’t a slot. He’s not a, you know, he’s not a, he’s not a bomb, right? I mean, he’s no slouch. So I can’t sit here and say I’m shocked about it, but you’ve got to move past it. You’ve got, you’ve got to turn the page. And the problem is, as much as you’re apt to try to compartmentalize and just move on and say, Hey, that that’s over next day, and that applies. But you know that the stakes are way higher than that. You know, this isn’t a case where even in a best of seven you dropped game one. You know, it’s disappointing, but you’re not feeling your seasons on the brink. You drop game one and a best of three, I mean, you’re staving off elimination the next day, so next two days, yeah, well, and even if they win up, you’re doing that the next two days, sure, but dude, I

Nestor Aparicio  16:10

hope you and I are here tomorrow. You know, talking about a game two victory, a five, three win, and they swung the bats a little bit, and somebody hit the ball, and there’s a spark of life, because that, that is how this happens. Me sitting here pissing myself crying on Wednesday morning, saying, Oh, next thing you know, Saturday morning, Luke and I are firing up the old Mega Bus, and next thing you know, the lights are on in the Bronx on Saturday Are you like? Because it does happen like that. I mean, it happens very, very quickly, but it was disheartening and not hitting the ball, which is not, you know, it’s a trend, it’s a way. It’s been a way of life around here, and then getting that kind of pitching and having it not work. Luke Jones is here. He’s Baltimore, Luke, we’re gonna be back after he’ll get the ballpark today. We have no coverage of the Ravens. If you want to know why we don’t have ravens coverage, email. Chad Steele, I’m sick of it, especially on a day like today. Really pisses me off. If you want to read my David Rubenstein letter, please read that I’ve been doing this work 33 years. These people are disgraced, not letting me in and running Luke ragged and having me not have coverage. So I just want to say that having Mike radio station for 26 years not have coverage is disgraceful, disgraceful. And discriminating against me and saying one guy can go another, disgraceful, disgraceful. I want to say it again and again, disgraceful. So that being said, pitching, um, burns right the minute he walks off the hill, the fan, the real fans, the fans that are way nastier than me, you know, the like, I’m out on Twitter, and you can see it’s like being in a bad bar. I mean, what a cesspool that that website is. But if used properly, you only get three Elon Musk Trump ads a day. But nonetheless, the the Corbin burns experiment for this organization at a time where John own the team, allegedly, Elias takes on payroll. They have a new owner. I’m sure he was in contact with Rubenstein in February and March, when a thing happened that there was some level of, don’t give the farm away. I’ll be there April 1, whatever, right? Corbin burns happens that, I don’t want to say that’s an outlier. They had enough in their farm system to give up a major league player. I mean, it’s going to be in the big leagues for a number of years to rent him. To your point for yesterday. You know, nice to have him for those 2832 starts, whatever you’re going to get out of him was great for three months, stunk for a month. Pretty decent for the last month. You get it, it’s over for their relationships, over now, right? Unless he’s pitching in New York on, I guess, which would be Monday night, right? Unless that happens, that transaction is now over, and Corbin burns, according to Ben McDonald in the broadcast of he’s gonna be a 200 million Well, we always say that. Scott Boris is saying $500 million picture, right? But the reality of now, I saw where Mr. Rubenstein’s never spoken to me, but he speaks to whatever the banner, whoever has a paywall, he’ll speak to them. And apparently said, Well, I guess we’re gonna have to spend some money. Yeah, yeah. Did you look into this before you bought the team. Did you look into how these angry? You think my letters bad? You should hear what they say on the internet. I wrote a civil letter. You know about my professionalism, but people like expect this time next year if they get to the playoffs, who’s the number one starter? I guess it’s effluent. He better look like that today, right? And they’re already paying him on short track for next year, part of the deal in August. But this is how tough Mike Elias job is in managing the it’s different for the Costa and those guys, because they have money falling off a tree too. I mean, there were empty seats the other day. This team’s not rolling in the kind of money. Yeah, unless Mr. Rubenstein’s just really, really generous, if he’s generous, he’d leave me a freaking press pass today. But if he’s really generous, um, he’ll put an extra 50 or 60 million in for the next couple of years and add another 20 to 30 million to the payroll, the way Peter did. I mean, I talk bad about Peter, plenty. Peter pissed a lot of money away in 2002 345, chasing ghosts and being 25 $30 million upside down on revenue and payroll. I don’t know, Mr. Rubenstein doesn’t run upside down businesses to clap. I’m, you know, I’m not even convinced he’s like this hardcore baseball fan, or as baseball people around him. I think he wanted to be famous, and I think he has a lot of money. Was money. Was looking for a toy that’s, that’s what I think we’ll find out. But it’s an, it’s a way better toy when you don’t feel the way you feel today, when you lose buying Corbin burns to start next year’s game one or someone like him, or you were trying to steal scuba at the trading deadline. There was no stealing. You have to get Jackson holiday way to get, you know what I mean, like you weren’t going to steal that guy. But this is hard to do to find the kind of pitching that you’re going to be able to go because we don’t love Dean Kramer. We don’t love you don’t love most of these guys that we like Bradish, I don’t ever might not be the same, same thing with means these guys, they’re ancient history. Now they’re gonna have to go out next year, and there’s going to be all these expectations in the orange Birdland. They’re going to come out and whatever’s going to happen the next day or couple of weeks with the team, but getting another Corbin burns to go get you a game one, I got to tip my cap to Elias, because I’d say this much as they’ll beat him up over if there’s idiots over 1057, um, I mean, he gave him everything. He’s exactly what they needed. They brought him in. He was dude most of the year. You know, he didn’t look like Jim Palmer in August, fine. But, like, it’s gonna be really hard to get another dude like that that can come, come and do that, because that’s gonna be a $200 million Spence for this, for this program. And I do that’s my long winded on a day, and we’re not going to do a lot of radio, just saying, like replicating the pitching that you’re going to need this time of year. Mr. Rubenstein, better not be telling the you know, guess we’re going to have to spend some money. Better have a plan, dude. Katie Griggs, all of you, you better have a plan, because winning these games, if, if burns and Eflin aren’t good enough, if something bad happens, and they lose Ford two today, and effin really pitches well and gets six in a two thirds, or whatever, they’re good enough to make this happen. This never would have happened under angelos, like literally taking on this money taking on these pictures with the stadiums empty. We’re not selling tickets. It’s the crime. It’s the game time, it’s the weather. The kids are school. Tickets are 12 bucks at game time, and people didn’t want to come the pitching part of this and paying for it. I don’t, I don’t. This is rarefied air. It’s really hard to get to October, and it’s really hard to win in October. And to your point, they don’t draft Tarik schoubles. They don’t draft pitchers. You beat me up pretty good. You sat me down and gave me a gave me a talking to two weeks ago. They don’t draft pictures, so they have to buy them. So I am concerned from the from a pitching perspective, if this isn’t good enough, and it was good enough, but what’s it going to cost? And winning a World Series is going to, they’re going to have to invest in Corbin burns. They’re going to, they’re they’re going to have to buy him, or a dude like him, because you can’t come in October without him. See, I

8

Luke Jones  23:37

think that’s, I think that’s the wrong way to look at it. I mean, if you’re singularly focused on one player, then yeah, you’re going to give him a $200 million contract, and he’s going to get hurt. He’s going to get hurt or and now, September changed my thinking on this a bit, because he did make the tweaks with the cutter, and he did start missing more bats. Go, look at a strikeout rate over the last four years. It’s declined. Now, let me be clear. I’m not saying here with 100% conviction, do not sign Corbin burns under any circumstances. That’s not at all what I’m saying here. What I’m saying here is there are always multiple paths to get where you need to go. And I would look no further than the Texas Rangers. A year ago, Nathan avaldi wasn’t a $200 million contract guy. Jordan Montgomery was a rental. So there are always ways to do that. I mean, Zach effel, even if Grayson Rodriguez had come back, Zach Evelyn was going to be their game two starter the way he pitched over the last two months. So my point with that is, yes, I agree their pitching is going to have to be addressed in some shape or form, and that includes potentially spending money, and even big money to go get pitching, or to go make a really savvy trade, or whatever you decide to do, they’re gonna have to address it. But I think the wrong thinking would be to overreact and just throw two, $50 million at Corbin burns without at least. And considering all of your options, but you’re right, because they’re going to be in a position where, okay, Zach Eflin will be the opening day starter. Presumably, you hope that Grayson Rodriguez, who is throwing bullpens at the end of the year, will be you know you’re number two. You hope that Dean Kramer builds on his second half, and you feel good about him as a middle of the rotation guy, if not a back of the rotation guy, but Kyle Bradish, best case, best case scenario is he’s back in what August, maybe Tyler wells, same kind of deal for him. So, yeah, you’re gonna have to go out and do some work if Corbin burns doesn’t return. So look,

Nestor Aparicio  25:39

there are recording birds returning. It starts elite. Look like 150 million after start like that, right? Sure. Look, it’s

Luke Jones  25:45

not going to be cheap. I mean, he’s going to get paid by somebody, because this is a guy who has a track record. And again, I want to stress, I’m not sitting here saying don’t do it under any circumstances. That’s not what I’m saying. In the same way that we’ve talked about Anthony Santander, there’s a price point where I’d want to resign him at the same time. I also remember the Chris Davis contract when he was coming off of a 47 home run season, and everyone was saying, oh my gosh, we must sign Chris Davis. We must sign Chris Davis. And everyone who says they didn’t at the time is lying, because if I remember the chance that they have a screenshot

Nestor Aparicio  26:16

8

from John Moeller that I you know, our relationship and him doing the show didn’t look well. It did live long enough for me to give him ish about it, but I have a screenshot of his. If they don’t sign, Chris Davis, I’m done, you know, because that’s lots of people who said things like that, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like so. And I would just say we’re a long way removed from that. And they don’t have any turd contracts right now, they don’t have any. Mr. Rubenstein doesn’t have any money on the books that are turd deal, other than whatever he’s paying. Bobby Bonilla, you know, Chris Davis is the one that every year is getting some money annuities. Is what they would say, Nice annuity. But he doesn’t have any dead money like that. But he’s gonna have to step up. And I don’t think he’s a cheapskate. He’s a billionaire, but he might still be a cheapskate. I don’t know. Time will tell as to how this place is run, and that’s why I sent him a letter on Tuesday. How you running this place? You are Angelos. Now don’t pretend you’re out throwing hats. You’re responsible. You’re responsible for the fact that Luke has a press pass and I’m not. You’re going to be responsible for the $200 million or not, and Elias will make run cover for you and whatever, but and Katie Griggs has to go out and find money in this market where they couldn’t give away $12 tickets for a playoff game at four o’clock because the kids were at school, or the weather was bad, or they didn’t like the opponent, or I was afraid to get mugged, or whatever stupid thing you’d say, but they have a, this a business issue. I mean, for Luke, I mean, it is. It’s a business issue as to how you afford Corbin burns, or whether, you know, you know, Uncle Rubenstein’s just going to be philanthropic, because it’s really expensive to have Corbin burns. And dare I say, you don’t want to be in October without, without him, without, without it, because you had it, and you still didn’t win, um, but it gave you a chance. And, yeah, I don’t know we can linger. You won’t do another one. Take, take a break like we haven’t talked about the hitting, because there hasn’t been any

Luke Jones  28:18

Sure. And I’ll leave you with this, and this will actually roll right into our discussion about the hitting. I mean, going back to what I said about there being more than one path to approach the off season, you can go out and resign Corbin burns, great. You need another right handed bat in this lineup. I mean, at some point in time, we’ve got to acknowledge that. And you know what? Maybe it is Kobe Mayo next year. But I don’t think you can put all your eggs in that basket. I think one basket. I think one of the problems that the Orioles have run into, and I think this is where you give Kansas City some credit. Go look at what the Kansas City Royals did over their last off season, and some of that was that was much more on the pitching side. I mean, that’s not a great lineup. Bobby Witt Vinnie pasquatino, they’ve got some hitters at the top of that order, but they’ve got a lot of have nots in that lineup as well. Lineup as well. Let’s well, they only gotta overreact, but my, but my right, exactly. But my point is, this team’s kind of in that in between phase with the old guard of the you know, obviously, Austin Hayes is gone. Cedric Mullins, it’s gonna be entering the last year of his deal. Santander is in a walk here. No go down Mount castle and the new guard, which, hey, gunner was a stud almost, you know, he needed a couple months, and he’s their best player, right? That’s fine. Adley rutschman, we’ll talk about that. Colton cowser has taken a really nice step forward, but still want to see more consistency out of him. But, you know, would be their best player if it weren’t for Henderson, West, you know West westburg, great. But you know some of the other guys, like, you know, Jackson holiday, he’s 20. I’m not, I’m not down on him, let’s be clear. But he’s, he’s 20, uh, Heston kerstead, what is he right? I mean, so they’re kind of in this in between phase where, I think looking at how the Royals approached it, even though they don’t have these. Great veteran bats in the middle of their lineup, but it’s the same principle they supplemented, They complimented some of their young talent with some established veterans. I mean, Cole Reagan’s looks so much better when he’s got Seth Lugo and Michael waka backing him up in that rotation, right? So it just makes them better collectively. I think that’s something the Orioles gonna have to look at this off season, regardless of whether the season ends today, tomorrow or maybe not. If they go to the World Series, maybe then we just say, Hey, man, maybe it was good enough. But, you know, I think that’s something else they’re going to have to take a look at, because of the way that this offense struggled, especially, you know, for a big chunk of August and for the first three weeks of September. So it’s not just about Corbin burns or replacing Corbin burns, and not just about the bullpen, but they’ve got to take a look at the lineup. I mean, how can you not? And we’re going to spend our next segment talking about nothing, nothing. No runs scored in what was the Orioles nine. Stay

Nestor Aparicio  31:00

tuned, everybody. When we come back, we’re going to talk about nothing, nothing. Luke Jones is here. He is Baltimore, Luca. We’re going to be next Friday at Pizza John’s. Look I’m going to sell. It’s October. Sammy hagar’s birthday. It’s Jim Palmer’s birthday. It’s your birthday. It’s my birthday. We’re getting all the birthdays together. Next Friday, the 11th, will be a pizza John’s. We’ll have the Raven scratch offs to give away. I promise we will get back to happy news and the Ravens one, they look good. He scored points, um, and they’re headed off to Cincinnati this week. But in the meantime, I hope we have 124, more baseball games before the three more baseball games before Sunday, when the the Ravens get together with the Cincinnati Bengals. He’s Luke. I’m Nestor. We’re back for more. Oyster tour begins. Check it out. And please, please take seriously my letters, all my letters to Steve Bisciotti and John Harbaugh and Eric DaCosta, but I wrote a letter to David Rubenstein that launched on Tuesday. And hope you read it. Take it seriously. I’m Nestor. He’s Luke. We’re back for more. We’re wnst. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore. Positive. You.