What gives Rubenstein such ‘confidence’ in Elias that Orioles fans lack?

Yeah, the Baltimore Orioles lost two of three to the surging Atlanta Braves at Camden Yards but it was the Kyle Bradish press conference with owner David Rubenstein and baseball ops leader Mike Elias that Luke Jones and Nestor want to discuss after another lost weekend of terrible offense and bad defense. And this franchise will be a buyer this weekend at the MLB trade deadline? Help us make it make sense…

Luke Jones and Nestor Aparicio discussed the Orioles’ recent series against the Braves, highlighting their 2-1 loss and the team’s overall struggles. Jones criticized manager Craig Albernaz’s decisions, particularly the pinch-hitting choices and over-reliance on pitcher Rico Garcia. Despite strong pitching, the Orioles’ offense and defense have been underperforming, with key players like Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman injured. The conversation also touched on the ownership’s lack of baseball knowledge and the potential trade deadline moves, emphasizing the need for long-term improvements rather than short-term fixes.

Orioles’ Weekend Series Against Braves

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Orioles’ weekend series against the Braves, highlighting the team’s performance and key moments.
• Luke Jones mentions the Orioles’ potential to sweep the series but points out questionable decisions by Craig Albernaz and Atlanta’s defense.
• The conversation touches on the team’s pitching performance, noting the rotation’s strong ERA since May 22nd.
• Luke Jones expresses frustration over the team’s underperformance, despite strong pitching, due to offensive and defensive flaws.

Managerial Decisions and Player Performance

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones critique the managerial decisions made during the series, including the pinch-hitting choices and pitching decisions.
• Luke Jones highlights the flaws in the roster, particularly the lack of depth and the impact of injuries on key players.
• The discussion includes the struggles of players like Kobe Mayo, Colton Cowser, and Sam Huff, and their inability to perform consistently.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the overall mediocrity of the offense and the team’s inability to capitalize on opportunities.

Ownership and Front Office Involvement

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the involvement of David Rubenstein and the ownership group in the team’s operations.
• Nestor Aparicio expresses skepticism about Rubenstein’s understanding of baseball and his role in the team’s decision-making.
• The conversation touches on the lack of local investment and the impact of ownership on the team’s performance and fan engagement.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones express frustration with the ownership group’s public statements and their perceived lack of commitment to improving the team.

Trade Deadline and Future Moves

• Luke Jones discusses the potential moves the Orioles might make at the trade deadline, emphasizing the need for long-term improvements rather than short-term rentals.
• The conversation includes the challenges of trading major league players for short-term gains and the importance of positioning the team for future success.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the potential impact of the trade deadline on the team’s performance and the future of the front office.
• The discussion highlights the need for significant changes in the team’s approach to player development and roster management.

Hall of Fame Debates

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the recent Hall of Fame inductions, including Carlos Beltran, Andruw Jones, and Jeff Kent.
• Luke Jones defends Andruw Jones’ inclusion based on his defensive prowess and offensive contributions.
• The conversation includes a discussion on the historical context of second basemen in the Hall of Fame and the impact of steroids on players’ careers.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones express mixed feelings about the inductions, with Luke Jones leaning towards a more inclusive approach to the Hall of Fame.

Nestor Aparicio 0:01
Welcome home. We are WNST AM 1570 Tass of Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We are on the grid. It is summertime. The Ravens are on the field this week. Luke will be out in Owings Mills. Any breaking news happens first on the WNST Tech Service. All brought to you by friends at Coal Roofing and Gordian Energy. I am fired up about a crab cake tour at Costas In Timonium this Thursday. We did Pizza John’s last week, big fun. Had John Allen at, had Jessica Vallis who runs our website doing an ice cream social for Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania, where Luke Jones almost presides, where he’s about to join us for some Oriole baseball over the weekend, he will not be with us on Thursday. He was not with us on Friday. He’s been busy eating pizza and wild wood and making his way back and muscling up for this football season. But still a trading deadline. The Orioles are still in it. He spent the weekend at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Birds in Detroit, and then Filthy comes in this week. You’ll hear from my pal Michael Bookdall about all things filthy. I chase some other filthy people around. I I guess they’re independent race, right? I mean, they spent all the money. mr. McGoo showed up on Friday and gave the vote of confidence to Elias. Elias looks strangely tanned. Looks like he he’s he’s had a nice summer so far, better than maybe than some of the fan bases had. I’ll leave it to you, dude. I mean, two out of three again over the weekend, off to Detroit, Philadelphia. Here’s the trading deadline. They spent a lot of money on their current players. You know, Boz with an early exit over the weekend. Another one of the money guys. They don’t have a catcher right now. Like, I don’t pick up the drama, Luke. You know, I’m just setting the stage here.

Luke Jones 1:44
Well, they lost two out of three, and honestly, they could have swept that series if this was a team that was playing a more inspiring, more consistent, better brand of baseball. And I’m not, I’m not talking in terms of well, score 10 runs a game, right? I mean, trying to be realistic here, but you look at Friday night’s game, a very winnable game. Some for for me, some really questionable decisions by Craig Albernaz. You look at Saturday’s game, Atlanta’s defense was the difference in that game, really, as it pertained to who won and who lost, so they win that game on Saturday night. Dylan Beaver’s the hero. That was good to see. So you have a chance after you lose the opener to win the the series on Sunday. They come out. Some shoddy outfield defense costs them a couple runs. They don’t swing the bats once again, and they have a golden opportunity in the bottom of the 10th inning with the bases loaded and nobody out, and they don’t score, and then they lose. Line

Nestor Aparicio 2:45
drive to the first baseman. Yeah,

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Luke Jones 2:46
and it’s just that that series was a reminder of just how razor thin the margins are in baseball. Well, Andrews

Nestor Aparicio 2:54
hit the ball in the outfield and they win the game, right?

Luke Jones 2:55
Right. I mean, it’s just. But but you look at this team, and I just looked at it again. How many times have you heard me say over the last two months how well they’re actually pitching? I looked at it again, Nestor. Since May 22nd, which was the start of that homestand, now over two months ago, their ERA ranks second in the major leagues. Like the rotations led the way. I get it. I know the bullpen. We we saw Rico Garcia give up a home run on Friday and Saturday. They pitch well enough to win. But but even the bullpen, which doesn’t inspire nearly as much confidence for me, that if we’re talking about this team in serious contending terms, and I’m just humor me for a moment, I would say they need one, if not two, stud high leverage relievers, but even the bullpen, for the most part, is good enough. Their offense and their defense continue to be the reasons why they’re under 500, despite the fact that they have pitched so surprisingly well for over a over two months now, and that’s what’s just so frustrating about this club. And look, yeah, they’re still in it, right? They’re still at the end of business on Sunday. They’re still two and a half games out of the final wild card spot. Not not behind the Red Sox anymore, but behind the the Cleveland Guardians who have suddenly fallen apart as Jose Ramirez has come off the IL, which is kind of odd. You know, it’s kind of the opposite of what I expected right off the bat. But, but, but you just look at this team and the flaws are evident. But it’s just so frustrating, and you keep coming back to this reality. This was all supposed to be built on their offense, this was all supposed to be built on their young position core, and that is the biggest reason why they’re under 500 right now. And we can beginning with Gunnar Henderson, but going on through, and now as you alluded to in the short term here over the last week, it’s really hurt the. Not to have Rutschman and Messiah, there’s no doubt about that. I mean, Sam Huff. No disrespect, you know me. I’m I’m not going to try to throw shade on someone and make fun of someone, but you might as well throw a pitcher up there at the plate. That’s how bad he’s been offensively, and Trump’s not much better. So you you can look at that, but they still have six or seven other should be representative guys in that lineup, and they’re not getting it done. And it’s just that simple. I mean, this was, you know, the Braves have been one of the best teams in baseball since early in the year. Now they did most their their heaviest lifting. They did it was in April and May, but you still look at their record. I mean, they’re still a team that’s 19 games over 500, leading the NL West, one of the best teams in the NL, and they the Orioles absolutely had a real chance to sweep that series, and instead they lose two or three, and they’ve fallen further away from 500. And you know, you look at where they were a week ago with the Houston series; they were two under, and they’ve lost back-to-back series now, so it’s it’s just it’s the same story we’ve been talking about for weeks and weeks and weeks, and at some point in time, you keep hearing the organization whether we’re talking about the owner talk about it, whether we’re talking hearing about Mike Elias talk about it, whether we’re hearing about Craig Albernaz talk about it, or whether we’re hearing about the players talk about it, or even fans that are trying to be positive, and I’m not, I’m not throwing shade at fans when I’m saying that. I understand, you know, fans want this team to win, but you can keep saying we think we’re better than this. We should be better than this. We we’re going to be better than this, and then it just doesn’t happen. This is what you are, right? They just aren’t. They’re not good, and maybe you can keep saying maybe it’ll change, maybe it’ll change, maybe it’ll change. Well, it’s not, and yes, they had a seven-game winning streak, and that was fun.

Luke Jones 6:54
And mathematically, they’re still right there because the rest of this AL wild card picture stinks too. But it’s just it’s so frustrating and it’s so uninspiring because you look at these series. I mean, the Boston series they lost two out of three there. That could have been a series win, right? I I won’t I won’t say that they should have swept that or could have swept that, but very much could have been two out of three. You change the complexion of these two series, you’re talking about a team that’s now 500, or might be a game or two above 500, and now you’re really talking about being excited. But it’s just the same story, you know. One step forward, two steps back, two steps forward, two steps back. I mean, however you want to describe it, they just don’t. They’re not a winning club, and at some point in time, and yeah, I’ll call out the young core about this. And we started doing this last year. I just don’t know if it’s in these guys’ DNA at this point. I remember two years ago saying to you, I’ve written this, I’ve talked about this on the air. I remember talking about it lat in August and September of 2024. I thought at that moment in time when they were going through those struggles, I thought with all these young guys, I think they’re going to be better for this in the long run to go through that adversity. Two years later, they’re still not any better, right? And in some cases, guys have gotten worse. So at some point in time, you just look at this group collectively, and it’s just it’s not working. It’s not working the way it needs to, and again, I’ll hear the math. I’ll hear the wild card race. I’ll hear two and a half games out. I’ll hear all that. But when you when you’re looking at it from 30,000 feet, as far as what this is supposed to be, I continue to really question what exactly are they building here. Like, does any of it resemble something that that that’s going to be special. I more and more I feel no, and that’s where you know you get into the short term trade deadline. What happens at the end of the season? What happens with Mike Elias? What happens with ownership? Where are they going with this? But I just I just don’t. It doesn’t feel like any of it’s good enough, right? I mean, certain individuals, yes, but the collective, you know, the the sum continues to be, you know, the the the parts, you know, the sum of the parts continues to be lacking compared to what I guess we all think it should be. But at some point, goes back to what I said a couple minutes ago. At some point, you just kind of say, “Well, this is just who they are, right? And the biggest reasons why their defense, and and we saw that rear its head once again over the course of the weekend. But even more so than that, their offense is just so painfully mediocre, and this was not designed to be that. And that’s why it’s so frustrating to look at the pitching numbers over the last two months and still see a team that’s below 500.

Nestor Aparicio 9:45
Here’s Luke Jones, the Orioles. I mean, I would say scuffling. I mean, they’re in games. They’re just the defense continues to be so horrific. I mean, Holliday throwing the ball around the other day, and to your. Point. This is about Holliday, Henderson, Ruchman. Kozar got thrown under the bus by the manager. But let’s talk about the manager a little bit, and let’s talk about bench management. Let’s talk about. I found that quote last night that that he had from two months ago about being on the bus or off the bus, and I want to get the quote right. If you want to jump ship, you can jump ship, but don’t ask to come back on. That’s what this guy said in May. He’s a rookie manager who’s under 500. I I don’t. I’m thumbs down on a lot of this, but boy, he’s shown himself to be thin this week. This week specifically, especially when the roster gets thin.

Luke Jones 10:46
Well, I will almost start with that caveat. Let’s let’s call a spade a spade. Even before the injuries, this roster was flawed in how it was put together. We were talking about that in the off season, right? How many times did you hear me say over the course from the time they signed Pete Alonso, you know, so they had already had Taylor Ward, and then they signed Alonzo, and they they tendered Mount Castle, which which I was surprised about at from from Jump Street, and obviously we see how that’s turned out. He hasn’t even played this year; he’s been hurt. But how many times did you hear me say, “Well, they’re going to trade Mount Castle, or they’re going to trade Mayo, or maybe they’ll trade both of them, right? I mean, like I expected that because you just looked at it, and it always looked clunky, right? It always looked like a weird, redundant, and in certain ways disjointed roster from a position player standpoint. So when you look at it now, when you’re missing your top two catchers, and look, would I like them to have a better number three option as a catcher and a number four option as a catcher? Of course. I also am going to be realistic about it and realize that whoever you’re going to bring in is not going to be Adley Rutschman or Samuel Bassayo in the ways that those guys can impact a game for you. So, having said that, I really looked at Friday night’s game as a bad night for the manager. First of all, pulling Trevor Rogers after 88 pitches, he was so efficient, he was so good. I mean, he was a strike-throwing machine. Go look at how many strikes he threw over the course of those 88 pitches. I think it was. I have it right here in front of me. He threw. Sorry, I was looking at Saturday’s game by accident. He threw 72 strikes out of his 88 pitches, and that was that was him throwing a couple more, a few more balls over the last inning or two. But was so good, so they pull him. Obviously, lots of folks pointed to pitching to Matt Olson, who hits the three-run homer in the top of the 10th inning. Right, Atlanta scores four times in the top of the 10th. But I’ll go back to something that was a little more nuanced than that, and it really speaks to the problems that they have with their bench, with the catching situation right now, so they got to the bottom of the ninth inning, and Chadwick Trump was due up. Albernaz hits Kobe Mayo for him. Okay, then you realize it’s against a right-hander in the bottom of the ninth inning. Kobe Mayo can’t hit right-handers at all. Kobe Mayo against a right-hander compared to Chadwick Trump against a right-hander, I’m not sure there’s any meaningful statistical edge you’re gaining there. So they do that. Mayo doesn’t hit. I assume he was going for Mayo to run into one and hit a home run and end the ball game there. Didn’t goes into extra innings, and obviously you’ve pulled Trump. So Sam Huff is in the game. He’s your last catcher. Sam Huff comes up in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Orioles’ last hope. You can’t pinch hit for him because you don’t have another catcher, and I don’t know if they had anyone left on the bench at that point or not. Well, here’s the problem. Guess who he Faced a lefty, that bottom of the 10th situation with a lefty on the hill. No matter who who was going going to be due up, that screamed for Kobe Mayo in that spot, right? But herein lies the problem. You have so many individuals on this roster that are such extreme platoon performers, right? Kobe Mayo can’t hit right-handers. Colton Kozler can’t hit left-handers. Dylan Beavers can’t really hit left-handers. And and let me be clear: there’s two issues at work here. One, in a big picture sense, I’d like to see them give guys opportunities against the other platoon, you know the platoon disadvantage, so to speak. Because how do you ever get better?

Luke Jones 14:45
But part of the issue there is you go to these platoons in, you know, in a in a bubble. They bring in they bring up Tyler O’Neill against the lefty, or Leodi Taveras plays against the lefty in center field. But you kind of look. Those numbers, and you see that those guys don’t really perform either, right? So you just have all these guys that are so flawed in some way, and it makes it really challenging for any manager, let alone a rookie manager. Well, it’s hard to look

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Nestor Aparicio 15:14
good when your options are hitting a guy that’s winning 188 or a guy that’s hitting 212. Someone who’s

Luke Jones 15:19
bad or terrible, right? Like, like those are your two two options. We have a

Nestor Aparicio 15:23
pitcher and a soft hitting catcher on the bench. Yeah, which one are we going to hit? Yeah.

Luke Jones 15:26
So, but but but Friday night, that was pretty glaring to me. I I didn’t like pulling Rogers there. I didn’t. I I certainly heard pitching around Nat Olson there. Although, like Atlanta’s got some other good hitters, and you you kind of look at the guy that that that was behind Olson in the lineup. It was Michael Harris. Well, that guy’s hitting 300, right? I mean, that guy’s having a big year too. So, so so they’re hurting games over

Nestor Aparicio 15:51
500 for a reason. They look sure, no

Luke Jones 15:53
question. But I really looked at that pinch hitting Mayo for Trump against a righty. Kobe Mayo shouldn’t be hitting for anyone against the righty, other than maybe Sam Huff, right? So, but but that was a situation where you’re trying to do that. Oh, Sunday, they he hits O’Neal for Colton Cowser in what the sixth inning, I think it was. And don’t get me wrong, like Colton Cowser, if you look at how he swung the bat, I think he’s had. I think the at bat quality has been a little better than this. But go look at his, like he’s three for dude. There’s nobody

Nestor Aparicio 16:30
on the team playing well, but there’s not a hitter. No, I understand. I understand. James Alexander was a guy for a minute, right? I mean, Basayo, fine, not there. Ruchman, our all-star, not there? Like it’s just

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Luke Jones 16:43
it’s limited. You have one or two guys. How can they

Nestor Aparicio 16:46
think they’re a buyer this week?

Luke Jones 16:47
But but let me finish my point.

Nestor Aparicio 16:49
Okay, I’m sorry. No

Luke Jones 16:50
no it’s okay. That’s a whole

Nestor Aparicio 16:51
segment.

Luke Jones 16:52
No no I I hear you. I’m not disagreeing with what you’re saying, mind you. But you had the case for for O’Neill hitting for Kouzler in the sixth inning, and then okay, you’ve sacrificed some defense the rest of the way. Not that it reared its head at that point, but it could have, right? And I get it. Cowser Cowser booted a ball early in the game on Sunday, but overall he’s their best defensive outfielder. And then later in the game, that spot comes up again, and now you have O’Neal facing a right-hander, right? Like so, like you’re you’re in this position where you can try to make these push a button in isolation, but then it’s going to come back to bite you at some point because all these guys are so flawed against one side of you know one side one arm pitcher or not the other you know right handed, left handed, whatever, and that’s where I’ll stick up for Albernaz a little bit, but Friday night was really rough for him. That that that was not a good night for him, and I had I didn’t haven’t even gotten into. He continues to show way too much confidence in Rico Garcia at this point. Rico gives up the game tying homer on Friday and does it on Saturday. Now they won Saturday, and I’m not saying Rico should be confidence in everybody else probably. See, I don’t know. I mean, yes and no. I I think it’s much more. Rico was so good the first two months of the season, the first two and a half months of the season. I think he’s trying to get back to that. And what do you do? How do you how do you get a pitcher performing at that level again. Well, the answer is not to have them sit at the back of the bullpen and not pitch them ever, right? But you do need to pick your spots, and he gave up a home run back-to-back nights on a changeup. So it’s just there’s so many different things you can point to, and there’s so many different things that are points of frustration. The the Sunday post game notes that the Orioles put out after the game, the Orioles allowed at least one unearned run in a league high 34th game this season. Now I will also point out, keep in mind the ghost runner at second base in extra innings. That is always an unearned run for a team when they give give that up. But still, Orioles they entered Sunday giving up 63 unearned runs. That’s five more than any other team in baseball, right? So there you go. The pitching numbers are what they are, yet their overall run prevention still isn’t where what you would need what like it to be because the defense is so woeful, right? So we but we keep coming back to this painfully mediocre offense, and I haven’t even said it yet. I tweeted it out, but they were four for 27 with runners in scoring position over the course of the series. A lot of times, you’ll hear managers and players say, “Oh, it was just one play here or there. Right? That’s that series literally was that, where they were the Razors thin margin of winning and losing was so slight in that in that series? But I watched

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Nestor Aparicio 19:49
the game Acosta’s on Sunday, and I turned to Jen. I’m like, at some point, somebody’s got to get a hit.

Luke Jones 19:52
You got to get a hit. Yeah, somebody’s got to

Nestor Aparicio 19:54
get a hit. And and

Luke Jones 19:54
that’s the thing. Look, we we talked about this a lot with talked a. About this a lot with John Harbaugh and the coaching staff in the Ravens in recent years, right? At some point in time, however, you can keep complaining about the coach and complaining about the manager, even complaining about the general manager, right? And there’s plenty to complain about there, right? With Michaelias and and all that, but at some point in time, if your stars or even just say guys that you fancy being good players or good hitters, if they’re not going to get the job done, there’s nothing else to say. I mean, wait on Blaze

Nestor Aparicio 20:32
Alexander to save you.

Luke Jones 20:33
Yeah, I mean, let let’s. This is this team’s four games under 500, right? And this is after having a pretty good month of July so far, but just just imagine if Gunnar Henderson were not saying Gunner MVP of the league, right? Just say All Star version of Gunner that he was in 2023 when he was Rookie of the Year, and 2024 when he started the All Star game. Heck, I’ll go as far to say, even give me the version of Gunnar from last year who didn’t hit as many home runs, but had a much better batting average, got on base more consistently, all of that. If you had any of those versions of Gunnar Henderson, guess what? This team would at least be 500, if not at at least a couple games over 500, and hello, yeah, they’d still be flawed. But right now, the final wild card spot in the American League is Cleveland at 54 and 53. I, you heard me say this a few weeks ago, and I don’t say this to be personal. I think very highly of Gunnar Henderson as a ball player, or I thought very highly of Gunnar Henderson as a ball player, he’s killing this team. Gunner being league average as opposed to an all-star caliber, potentially MVP caliber player, is the single biggest reason why this team is under 500 right now, and that’s a bold statement because of the fact that they do have a lot of other flaws, right? But you go, you know, and and you know, Rubinstein and said this during the the Kyle Bradish press conference was like, and you know, all the injuries, the injuries. I mean, if Gunner Henderson were being Gunner Henderson, the guy that you thought he was, the guy that he had been over the course of his first three seasons and two two and a half seasons in the majors, this team would at least be 500, right? They would at least be 500 and probably be a couple games over. 35

Nestor Aparicio 22:35
at bats, 221, 45 RBIs, 18 home runs, 112 strikeouts, 34 walks, OPS 693, yeah, slug 402 on base percentage 291.

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Luke Jones 22:48
I mean, there you go. Again, I’m not, I’m not trying to do this thing where it’s all his fault. It’s not all his fault, but if you want to rank, if we’re just talking about individual players, you want to rank and you know not just rank it, but put weight to it. It’s easily Gunner Henderson. If you had told me guys his numbers

Nestor Aparicio 23:09
on august 1, I would have told you the team’s probably struggling. I would have said that Alonzo’s really going to have to, and Holiday’s going to have to come on, and yeah, a lot of things we’re going to have to go right. Let alone Westberg not being right, let alone Holiday not being healthy to start the season, and the problems they’ve had at the catcher position-they have two catchers and they have none right now. So on and on and on and on. You know, Efflin’s injury, just through through it all, everything that piled onto this team to make it what it is. And that being said, I can break if you wish, and we could do a whole other segment. But they’re going to be buyers this week because Magoo showed up on Friday, and I don’t. I guess I longed for a day here for 30 years where some member of the Angelo’s family would show some level of their face that they’re there, acknowledging that really they are the ones pulling the strings behind all of this, which was really the part that was amazing to me. That for 30 years the fan base here were ignorant enough to believe like there there was no one running it, that no one had to answer questions. Now this guy shows up at every press conference, and he’s there to instill confidence in the fan base, of which there is none. Yeah. When he shows up, I’m less confident because I know he doesn’t know what he’s doing, and I know he’s a figurehead. And I’ve talked to his whistler, who’s treated me with a lack of integrity, and a lack of respect, and a lack of truth that I didn’t appreciate certainly. And that was two and a half years ago. Now I see him pop up every 6090, days somewhere, looking like he’s in charge and he’s got he’s ready to make it rain for the players. I, it’s it’s designed to have me come on the radio and Rob Long go over on the Big Bad Morning Show and so. Hey, you know the ownership’s different than it used to be. I don’t know. I might be worse because they’re willing to spend money, and Elias looks like he has a vote of confidence that may or may not be real. Yeah, I promise you this: David Rubenstein’s out out today studying up on hiring a general, like who the next guy is going. They they these are billionaires that are out to lunch. Like I and I, until they prove otherwise, I don’t see it any other way. And I, there’s nothing for me to grab onto that tells me it’s anything different. And this guy’s not even running the team. Arigetti is the guy who’s on the bat phone with Katie Griggs in heat about how bad this is, about how bad the the strike is coming to hit the wall. They’re spent a lot of money. The money’s not coming back. There is no investment from local business. There is no we’re buying cable tell like there is no the city or the state or Wes Moore is going to come in here with his little Superman cape on and give them land so that they can make the money that they want to make by building the structures they want to build with TIFs and tax-free, and I mean we’ve already given them $600 million, and they made a television that they only utilize when they want to use the fans to churn a call that’s against them, which was the first base in the 10th inning. They had the fans all worked up because they were showing the replay. If it doesn’t look good. They don’t show the replay. So I don’t know what good the frigging television is. And then on top of that, the truest club kicking everybody out of the press box. The stadium’s empty. They give away Hawaiian shirts. That’s what I’m seeing from management and ownership.

Nestor Aparicio 26:36
And this week they’re going to go out and deal from the bottom of what you and I have talked about whether they even can be buyers. Like, who wants Colton Kozer? Who wants Adley Rutschman? And at what price? Who would want Gunnar Henderson right now? And what would they give up? It would be depleted, so it’d be nothing that you’d want to accept. And you’re like, well, people would love Gunner. Yeah, okay. That’s what they would pay. Yeah, they’re going to give real draft picks up. I mean,

Luke Jones 27:00
what’s the peak value going to be, right? You know, what’s the value going to be? What’s the value in

Nestor Aparicio 27:03
any of these guys? I mean, they’re going to make deals this week with a guy to me who is as lame duck as hell. In any other organization, when this isn’t going well, Michaelias would be a guy who’s getting fired.

Luke Jones 27:16
Oh, ownership would have to fire him to do that. And let me let me read you David Rubenstein what he had to say because he was asked about his level of comedy. He was asked.

Nestor Aparicio 27:25
I’m kind of working on his voice a little bit, so you know you. Well, I’m just you can do the

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Luke Jones 27:29
impressions. I’ll read it. Yeah. Okay. Good. But I have

Nestor Aparicio 27:31
to work on the comedy here when the team’s in last place for the 35th year in a row. You know what I mean? Like it’s just sort of like I’m. But but and frustration is real. Just so you know, I’m frustrated all the time. I only bring it out. I think most people on Monday mornings, once in a while, I sit here and watch this shit on TV every day, and I watch these liars lie, and these billionaires billionaire, and the millionaires millionaire, and the pitchers get paid, and the players get paid, and the price everything goes up unless people come, and they want me like Rob Long or like Rock Cabaco to shine it all up and make it something it’s not. Which is, it’s poor. It’s poor by every measure. Every measure of this since these dopes have bought the team has been poor, including how they treat people, how they treat everyone-it’s poor. Go ahead, it’s trading deadline week. So, so

Luke Jones 28:27
I’ll, so I’ll say this: Any owner that’s have has his general manager sitting right next to him, unless you’re firing him five minutes before that, you’re going to give some level of a vote of confidence, right? We understand how this works in business, in any front-facing industry. You’re going to support, support, support publicly until until that guy’s gone, right? Until you make a change. However, when David Rubenstein was asked whether he has long-term confidence in Mike Elias. Here was the quote: “Absolutely, of course, he was the baseball executive of the year a few years ago. He’s widely regarded as outstanding by his peers and other people in baseball. Absolutely, he’s done a terrific job. I’m very, very happy. Here, here was the line that got me: “We couldn’t be more pleased. Really, look. There’s a way of still publicly supporting your general manager, even if you have full conviction behind closed doors and say, “We still think Mike’s the guy. We got to make some changes, but we still think Mike’s a guy. Even if you feel that way, truly have conviction about that. To say you couldn’t be more pleased when the club is below 500 over the last two calendar years, boy, I mean, just talk about something that comes across as completely tone deaf. By the way, like he’s not going to spend

Nestor Aparicio 29:54
time with the Whistler, and when I mention the Whistler to everybody, he’s the guy who whistles the national anthem. Who is his consliary? Yeah, you cannot get to David Rubenstein without getting to this Chris. Whatever I don’t even know his name. He was such a zero to me, such a lacking integrity man in a general sense that I want nothing to do with him. You know, once you call me and bullshit me once, dude. You got the wrong cat. You get the wrong cat thinking you’re getting back on the phone with me, and we’re gonna make it right after you’ve put me on the radio lying about your integrity. So there you go, Chris. Whistle away like the Oriole Bird. But I’ll say this: when I spoke to that man, he knew nothing about baseball, and it’s been a while since I’ve talked to somebody that knows nothing about baseball, that’s going to be in charge. Like my sweetest girlfriend, 25 years ago. You probably have never done this, Luke. Maybe you’ve done it with your your niece. I had a Swedish girlfriend 25 years ago. Took her to Yankee game. She knew nothing about baseball, and I was trying to explain it to her. I was literally from scratch trying to explain what a ball, a strike, an out, like baseball stuff above and beyond nine innings and how many players are on the team. This guy knew nothing, and he told me Rubenstein knew nothing. And then two and a half years later, every time I see Rubenstein, he knows nothing. My point is, when Mike Elias gets together with David Rubenstein and they get together at the top of the the center club, and they eat a $55 crab cake for lunch, and they have an iced tea, and they talk about things, or they get together in an office, or they’re zooming together, or mr. Rubenstein’s on his jet or his yacht, and he’s checking in. Hey, Mike, how are things? I heard we dropped a few over the weekend. I mean, what is that level of communication, I promise you, with Bishati, even with Chad Steele and Sashi Brown, when they go down to Jupiter and put their iced tea and their their beverages out and their cocktails, and she has his cigars and he emotes about the meaning of life and all of that. Like this is a two and a half year relationship between Rubinstein And Elias, whatever the level of their Yale is, and their Ivy League, and their political affection for Donald Trump, and taxes, and the country, and the payroll, and all of the important business parts of this, what does David Rubenstein know about baseball or care about baseball, and what are those interactions even like? What what is Mike Elias saying to Rubinstein about OBP and launch angle? And we’ve got this guy working out on the this into this. We’ve had him into this. Like, what what does Rubinstein is? It care. He’s a billionaire. So to me, the only one that really cares about the baseball thing here, and and believe me, I am not praising John Angelos or Lou Angelos or Brady Anderson or any of Peter or his wife or any of the nephews that might have gotten involved in Sid Fernandez or Chris Sabo or or Leo Gomez or whatever. Right, those guys were immersed in the team, and they cared, and they were up on it. And if you saw John Angelos out, he could tell you who’s hitting what at Double A because he cared that much. He did. Like I, I’m not saying like he he became a savant at any of this. He’s Fredo. He is. He’s off the reservation. It wasn’t good, but there was somebody in ownership that rolled their sleeves up and kind of took it hard when the team loses and and lived here part of the time and was around a little bit. My biggest fear in all of this is Rubenstein’s trying to bullshit everybody by just sitting up there. Like,

Luke Jones 33:35
well,

Nestor Aparicio 33:35
he really knows baseball. He’s he is the figurehead of the brains of where the strategy is going to go, and all of that is ask Mike, ask Mike, ask Mike, because there’s no way David Rubenstein or the Whistler can understand baseball. There’s just no way. I don’t think they care enough, and I think it was his ego all along, and people who knew him who told me he was a bad guy before he bought the team? Told me this is a completely egotistical, over the top. I want to own something. I want to be famous. I want to be an owner. I, you know, like this is not. These are not serious people. Now, Mike Elias is a serious guy about baseball, but what I’m telling you, and this is my fear: no one sits above him.

Speaker 1 34:24
Well, and even

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Nestor Aparicio 34:25
Angelos would have Rick Dempsey, Flanagan, Berlazzo, Tom Davis. I mean, Tom Laverro from the Washington Times. Angelos would call him 30 years ago and say, “You know more baseball than me. He would call Peter Schmuck. He would call Rosenthal when he’s still like. He would definitely call Boswell and and ask for like opinions on some. Not that that’s good. Not that that’s good at all. But can be

Luke Jones 34:50
very problematic. Where’s

Nestor Aparicio 34:51
Rubenstein going for baseball knowledge when he has none? And he gets up and reads the printed statement that he has to. Oh, it. Be more happy. Have you looked? Have you talked to your customers, billionaire out to lunch guy? No, he hasn’t. But John Angelos and even Peter. I don’t believe me. I am not in any way going to beg back for Peter Angelos. I’m just saying where we are. Fans watching this show, this performance of David Rubenstein showing up. There is 00 confidence that he knows anything about baseball, or that he’s in any position to judge, grade Michaelias, or then seek the next Michaelias based on institutional knowledge that he does not have, and that’s all I’m going to say. And Bashadi’s come a long way. Bashadi hides, but if I flew down to talk to Bashadi right now, he would know tons of stuff about his organization. Tons of stuff. Of course, he would. Even though he’s checked out, and he is, I don’t think he knows as much as he did 20 years ago when he was taking Ray Lewis to Terps games. You know what I mean. I think that was a different era for him too. But we should be really worried about how poor the ownership of these two teams are, and these clowns, these utter clowns that they hire from out of town to come in here and put some algorithm together in social media, thinking that they’re answering their call of duty to the community and to the fan base and the people here, like me, who know the difference. I’m sorry,

Luke Jones 36:30
I had the monolog on that. I think, and I don’t mean this about David Rubenstein or anyone from the Orioles ownership ownership group specifically. We often hear in sports that you want to have an owner that’s willing to spend but not metal, right? That that’s kind of the model. However, that’s not entirely accurate, right? You need to have an owner that at least knows enough to know whether it’s on the right track or not, right? Because you can have an owner that hires the wrong person and then just has blind faith. Might have completely good intentions in the process, but if they don’t have discernment, if they don’t have enough working knowledge to recognize this is off the rails or this is not working or we need to make a change, all you have to do is go sit in the stadium, and you could, and that can be, but that can be as detrimental as an owner who knows enough to be dangerous in the negative way, where you start, you know, you’re George Steinbrenner in the first half of his tenure, where you’re firing a manager. You and

Nestor Aparicio 37:37
I know a lot about baseball. If he put us in charge of interviewing general managers, we’re not qualified. So how the hell is he?

Luke Jones 37:45
Well, and that’s why you need to have good people, and that’s where I just-it’s just-I have my concerns. Like I said,

Nestor Aparicio 37:55
good people. I watch the television broadcast; they’re horrific. Like, like I said, they’re just like they don’t have, I see the manager in the post game. It’s not good enough. I see the players in the field defensively. It’s not good enough. I see the players at bat. It’s not good enough. I think I’ve met the executives like Mark Fine and Katie Griggs. It’s not good enough. It’s not good enough. I’m I’m just telling you. It’s not not good enough for me if I were a billionaire and I own the team, and I’m just a guy here waiting to be a fan again, waiting for them to do something that I’m either proud of, can get behind, can publicly endorse, and certainly I got my credit card right here. I’ll pull it out, participate in something that I would invest in with my money to tell this fan base that it’s as good as the Crabs are at Costas were on Sunday. It’s not. The Crabs were great on Sunday at Costas. The baseball and the television was dubious.

8

Luke Jones 38:52
I mean, I’ll just go back to what he said on Friday. Again, he was always going to give him a vote of confidence. You’re you’re you’re going to support support support publicly. However, there’s a way to do that in saying I still have confidence in Mike Elias to lead us moving forward. However, we all need to be better. Mike has recognized he needs to be better. This has not been good enough. Yes, we are still in the playoff race, and we are not going to throw in the towel. And we still have confidence that we can get the job done the rest of the way, but we know we need to be better across the board. And for that, you know, if you want to say sorry, you can say sorry. But for that, we we want to do better for our fans. But instead, we got quote. I’m very very happy. We couldn’t be more pleased. We’ve had some injuries, but that’s not Mike’s fault. In the end, we’re very pleased and we’re really, really happy to have such a talented executive leading our baseball team. I mean, that is not inspiring people one iota. That is not prompting anyone to go buy a ticket for a game the rest of the year. Just not. And again, like I said, even if you have behind closed doors. You have the conviction, and you’ve talked with Mike, and he’s laid out exactly what’s going to happen, starting with the trade deadline, going through the next three off seasons for this team to get where it needs to go. Even if you believe that in a vacuum, you’ve got to be. There’s got to be a little more humility, a little more recognition, front facing talking to your fans that this isn’t good enough. People don’t want to hear we couldn’t be more pleased when you’re four games under 500, six games away from the trade deadline. No matter how mediocre the AL is, that is not how this was designed to be eight years ago when Mike Elias arrived, and or let alone two or three years ago, when this team was in that top tier of the discussion of the best teams in baseball, and how much it’s fallen since then, people don’t want to hear we couldn’t be more pleased. It’s just major whiff in in that way, and I’m saying that as the guy that fully recognizes David Rubenstein’s not going to throw him under the bus when he’s sitting two feet next to him, right? So it’s just none of this is inspiring. None of this is good enough. Yeah, we’re going to talk about the training. None of this is

Nestor Aparicio 41:15
something I want to invest my time or money in. I

Luke Jones 41:17
mean, I just being honest. You got to do

Nestor Aparicio 41:18
this for a living. I would be just be gone. I just would be gone. It’s funny. I fall season. I would be gone on to boating or going down to the beach or going to see rush in New York this week or find that Mellencamp concert down at Jiffy. I mean, I’m going to other things.

Luke Jones 41:32
They’re frustrate. They’re they’re so frustrating to watch. And I don’t even mean that in the context of oh, these guys are supposed to be better than this, even though that’s certainly part of it in terms of what we were. You know, the the idea that fans sat through multiple tanking seasons to draft these players, right? But it comes down to this, and I even I spoke to someone who used to be in the media over the weekend.

Nestor Aparicio 42:00
Me? No, no,

Luke Jones 42:02
not talking about you. You’re you’re still in the media. Just you’re not credentialed media. You’re still media. You know, let’s let’s be clear. There’s there’s a there’s a there’s a distinct difference. Just when I

8

Nestor Aparicio 42:12
changed the picture up on the front of the website. Oh, by the way, we won the best of Baltimore War. Can I tell you? I saw

Luke Jones 42:17
that. I saw that. Well, you won it, right? It was your name. So that was you. You’re a small part

Nestor Aparicio 42:22
of the operation here, you know, just a little bit. Yeah,

Luke Jones 42:24
little. You’re not

Nestor Aparicio 42:26
part of the reinvention though. You’re part of the old world. Yeah,

Luke Jones 42:29
I’m. I’m the old school guy.

Nestor Aparicio 42:31
Bitch about ownership all day because the team’s terrible and the prices go up and they lie and they lie and. But I, you know, just to finish my point though,

8

Luke Jones 42:39
I I talked to it’s like three different people over the course of the weekend, and one of them was a relative. You know, it’s not not anyone connected to the Orioles, but someone who, someone in my personal space that I enjoy talking sports with. Which, you know, when I’m off the clock, I don’t necessarily want to talk sports 24/7 when I’m off the clock. But just the the overall message I hear from so many different people, they’re just they’re a really hard watch. They’re not enjoyable to watch when you kick the ball around, and your defense costs you games, and your approach at the plate is as flawed as theirs, so often is. You know, it’s not a terrible offense, but it’s so painfully mediocre and inconsistent compared to what it’s supposed to be, which is supposed to be the foundation that this entire club was built upon. Good baseball’s good baseball. You just you hit situationally. You catch well. You catch well. You know what I mean. You like that’s good baseball. Yeah. Whatever this is, not catches. They don’t do that nearly. I mean, and and look, they’ve won over the last two and a half weeks. It’s been one of their most fruitful periods of the season, and yet you still see those things that just frustrate the heck out of you. Runners in scoring position, flawed approach at situational hitting, kicking the ball around. Right? I mean, just dumb things, quite not even knowing where to play. Dumb plays, yeah, and and it’s just, man, it’s just it it it ticks you off, it ticks you off watching them, right? It they are a team that you know you often hear about teams that are you know cardiac kids or teams that come from behind things like that. You’ll hear the the expression that it’s a team’s bad for the fan base’s blood pressure, right? This team is that, but it’s in such a there’s such a negative connotation of that. They’re not they affect your blood pressure, but not in enjoyable ways. Okay, they won for they won Saturday night. Dylan Beavers, nice moment, right? By the way, I like that they moved him to the leadoff spot among the options and where their lineup is right now. I don’t mind giving that a whirl to at least do something different at least. But for every moment like that, you get a game like Friday night where man, you sat there at the end and say, “Good team wins that game. Sunday after. Noon, good team wins that game, right? I mean, Atlanta is a good team, and Atlanta gave them a game Saturday and tried to give them a game Sunday. I mean, game-ending double play goes through Ozzie Albie’s legs, right? How do you not take advantage and win that game? Atlanta tried to hand it to them, and they still couldn’t do it. And you just look at that thing, and yet you hear the owner say two days earlier, “We could, we’re very, very happy. We couldn’t be more pleased. And look, it’s not all Michaelias. At some point in time, fans need to let go of this feel good. Oh, I love the young core, and I love the bobbleheads, and I love you know mooing for Colton Cowser, and go down the list of all. The group collectively is a colossal disappointment until they prove otherwise. It’s just the truth right now, just the truth, right? We’re not giving

Nestor Aparicio 45:49
participation trophies. Even the even the guys teams has to win.

Luke Jones 45:53
Even the guys that you pointed to as being trending upward, Basio and Ruchman this year compared to the previous year and a half, they’re hurt right now, right? So you have guys that are either regressing, have plateaued, or they’re hurt, and that all adds up to a sub 500 baseball team that has wasted some really good pitching over the last two months. And are there any

Nestor Aparicio 46:18
deadlines dangerous, dude? With a lame duck general manager, I think it’s the. I mean, I’ll say this. I think we’ll talk at length about. You will. I’ll say.

Luke Jones 46:24
I’ll give you a parting shot on the trade deadline. Look, there are a lot of different ways a trade deadline can go. Right. We tend to think of this in terms of extremes. Right. You either have a fire sale or you go all in buying rentals. The reality is where this team needs to be with the space that they’re in. If if you want to add and look, it it is a tough sell to say I’m going to throw in the towel because of the wild card picture, but I would say this: I’m not interested in rentals. Go make a couple moves that can help you for beyond 2026. Go make a couple moves for guys that are going to in the way that Zach Eflin was that for them two years ago at the trade deadline, right? Didn’t work out ideally the way everyone thought it might at the time, but you went and got a guy and you say, hey, he’s going to help us for the last two months, whatever playoff push we’re going to make, and then we’re going to have him next year, right? I’m interested in making a move or two like that. I am not really interested in giving up future assets for guys that are going to be here for two months because at the end of the day, even if this team can make some kind of a run to a wild card spot, and I really I doubt that because I just don’t think they’re good enough. I don’t I I don’t think it’s in their DNA at this point. I’m just more and more I just feel that way about this group collectively, they’re not-they’re not winners. They don’t play winning baseball. They don’t do the things you need to do to win collectively. But you know, I-I just-if you’re going to make moves, have have it be more so with a thought of positioning yourself in a better way for next year and beyond. And if that means trading a couple major leaguers in the process, then so be it. But I’m really not interested in let’s go trade prospect A and B for someone who’s going to be here for two months, and that’s it. I I don’t I don’t have that kind of resolve in the way that we’re going to see the Detroit Tigers here over the next few nights, where boy, they’re in a really interesting position because they buried themselves with a terrible May. They’ve played great baseball since then, for the most part. I mean, go look at their record since june 1. They’ve got Terek Skubel, who you know is one of the best three pitchers in baseball, you know, somewhere in that category. What do you do? Because they were designed in the off season to go for it, so that’s a really tough sell. Considering that division is still winnable, considering they’re still in the race, you know, very, you know, they’re what one game behind the Orioles. They get scuba Wednesday

Nestor Aparicio 49:02
afternoon, right? But I’m just saying, like Wednesday afternoon is

Luke Jones 49:06
that to me is an agonizing position for a general manager to be in because there’s still six games under 500, but that the Central’s not very good collectively. Like they they still have an outside chance at their division even, whereas the Orioles, you know, the Orioles are 11 and a half games back, Detroit six games back, and you know the White Sox. I think the White Sox are going to run away with it at the very least, as good of a story as they’ve been. So that is truly agonizing. Where the Orioles are right now, I’m much more of the thought. I’m more inclined to stay stand pat than anything, but if I’m going to make a couple moves to be a buyer, man, it better be some something that’s going to help me for beyond this year, because this team has shows no evidence whatsoever of a group that’s going, even if they could sneak in as the last wild card spot to make any kind of a meaningful run, and I just you don’t. Invest real assets in that kind of a position, but because they have a a general manager who may or may not be a lame duck. Again, we’ll see, right? We’re going to see in two months, I guess, I suppose. But that that’s where you look at it and say, well, they might go all in in in that way. And but Michaelias never went all in, even when they had really good teams a couple years ago. So that’s where I’m a little more skeptical that they’re going to do something extreme. We’ll find out, I suppose. We’re we’re only a week away at this point.

8

Nestor Aparicio 50:30
You know a lot about baseball. Luke Jones is here, by the way. He’ll be knowing a lot about football this week. Carlos Beltran, Andrew Jones, and Jeff Kent. I I’ve covered baseball for 35 years, even though they don’t. Every baseball writer at their All-Star game acknowledged my baseball writer status a couple weeks ago when they saw me for the first time. But I don’t think either any of those three are Hall of Famers to me. Beltron before the banging on the trash cans, I would have you cheat, you’re gone for me. I mean, if that’s the rule for bonds and Clemens and the rest. I mean, the Hall of Fame, and you know, I visited it. My last name’s in it. I didn’t watch the ceremony over the weekend, and I just, I, I can’t get behind any of the three of them as really being next to Brooks Robinson and George Brett for me. And I watch a lot of baseball. I just, I don’t get it. I just want to throw it at you. Yeah, you feel similarly. Clearly, you feel like they’ve lowered the bar at the hall. But like,

Luke Jones 51:30
and I don’t even think those those three are necessarily the worst examples of that. If we’re gonna, I will say this: I have way more conviction about Andruw Jones being a Hall of Famer. It’s a 10-time Gold Glove center fielder. Okay, fantastic center fielder and a guy that you kind of forget. He had 434 home runs in his career, right? I mean, this is a guy who, and that included he hit 51 in 2005. That was when steroid testing had begun, right? So I hear your point. You know, Jeff Kent. For me, I just think of Jeff Kent as the guy that benefited the most from hitting behind steroid Barry Bonds. You know what I mean? Like, you know, Beltron. Beltron was a heck of a ball player. You know, the the the Astros things is certainly. I mean, my goodness, it cost him a managerial job after the fact, but but Andruw Jones, I I feel pretty strongly because I I’m someone who really likes defense. I mean, my goodness, if you don’t value defense in this town with what Brooks Robinson was, and you think of Belanger, Paul Blair, right? Go down the list of so many Gold Glove fielders, you know. But Andru Jones was a phenomenal center fielder and had a lot of pop and played at a high level for you know quite a long time. He played 17 years in the major leagues, I think it was. So I I had no problem with Andrew Jones being in the Hall of Fame. You know, I mean Jeff Kent. The thing I would say about him in defense of him, second basemen historically have been underrepresented in the hall. So maybe there was a little bit of that in in reverse working in his favor. Well, although I would say, go look at someone like Lou Whittaker if if you’re looking for some second basemen who maybe are more deserving of the hall than than what what other shake they got, so but but the overall point, I mean, you you heard me say this a few years ago, and I hate it. I hate saying this because he’s guy was one of my favorite players growing up. Harold Baines is in the Hall of Fame, and he’s in the Hall of Fame. I I would say this. I think all three of these guys probably have a more convincing case than Harold Baines making it a few years back. So it is what it is, and I love Harold Baines. Yeah, no, exactly. I I I love Carlos Belt. I have felt like I have been Alan

Nestor Aparicio 53:55
McCallum’s favorite player for years.

Luke Jones 53:56
Yeah, I mean I have felt like such a heel about Harold Baines the last few years, I love one of my favorite baseballisms from my dad throughout my childhood. When when Baines before he came to the Orioles, this was when he was still with the A’s, you know, as a DH, you know, before or after he was moved on from the White Sox. But my dad used to always say, “Harold Baines, bad knees, but man, that guy could hit sitting in a wheelchair, and and it was just one of those things that just always stuck with me. Is just something funny that he. I used to watch

Nestor Aparicio 54:27
him in batting practice when he came here, and it was just

Luke Jones 54:30
yeah,

Nestor Aparicio 54:30
but but otherworldly to watch. But at the

8

Luke Jones 54:32
same time,

Nestor Aparicio 54:33
he’s not. I never

Luke Jones 54:34
really watched him at any point during his career and said, “Oh my gosh, that guy is a Hall of Famer. I

Nestor Aparicio 54:40
never looked at Andrew Jones or Carlos Beltran, and that’s okay. Jeff Kent for a minute, but you know what? A

Luke Jones 54:45
lot of people looked at Mike Messina and felt that way, right? And and and part and let me be clear, part of the five-year waiting period is for study and reflection and comparison and all that for the for the voters who treat this. As seriously as they should, that that’s part of the process. And and yeah, Andruw Jones. I might not have said that in the middle of his career, but I just defense really matters, especially in this day and age where you see what the game has become in so many, not just the Orioles, but a lot of teams where they just fundamentally defensively they’re just not what they need to be, and boy, you go watch his highlight reel. He he played center field as well as just about anyone in the history of the game. You know, maybe a couple guys you’d put above him, and that’s about it. So I was oh, I I was cool with that one. The other two, but Beltron, you know Beltron. It was more so the scandal that soured that as much as anything. So, it it is what it is. My my ending thought on is on it is, I probably have trended more towards becoming a more inclusive Hall of Fame than exclusive as I’ve gotten older. Take that for what it’s worth. I suppose. I guess I guess it’s one of those things that I don’t feel is worth getting so worked up over when you know for me it’s a celebration of the history of the game, good, bad, and indifferent.

Nestor Aparicio 56:11
30 years ago we did like week-long segments on all. Oh yeah. Now it happens. I didn’t realize it was happening until Burt Blyle and I didn’t either. My timeline and they were. I watch hats. I watch MLB that were good. The B look good. I like that hat. I like that hat. It’s fine, especially

Luke Jones 56:27
with the with the orange. And I liked it with

8

Nestor Aparicio 56:29
the orange. I did

Luke Jones 56:30
with the black on Saturday too. I thought I thought I thought it looked good with the alternates. Yeah, there’s your fashion tweet for you over the air.

Nestor Aparicio 56:36
There you go. We added that on. It’s nice. Something has value around here because the baseball doesn’t add up to much. Luke’s going to be in Owings Mills this week. Jesse Minter is going to be saying a lot of nothing, and the players are going to be doing a lot of calisthenics and moving around, and hopefully there are no injuries. Anything breaking news? Weapon first on the WNSD Tech Service. That is all brought to you by Cole Roofing and Gordian Energy, and of course we are at Costas on Thursday doing the Maryland Crab Cake Tour, that is presented by our friends at GBMC, as well as Farnan and Dermer, and of course I will have the new Ravens scratch offs, which I gave away a lucky batch at Pizza Johns on Friday as well. I am Nestor, he is Luke. It’s still baseball season here, I know, because mr. Rubenstein told me we’re WNSTA in 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking. Baltimore positive.