Tight NL Wild Card race, AL All-Star shortstop debate & Dodgers-Yankees preview | Fair Territory

[Music] welcome to the Thursday edition of fair territory I'm Ken Rosenthal here with Alana Rizzo Alana a busy time in the game of baseball right now we've got a lot to discuss including the NL playoff picture the allstar ballot which was released this week and yes a big series between the Dodgers and Yankees coming up this weekend hi Ken it's always good to be with you on Fair territory appreciate it at all don't forget you guys we want you to be involved in the show it's a lot more fun when you guys participate so load up those questions for Grill and Ken Ken Rosenthal the opportunity to Ask Ken some questions uh it's awesome yeah you're talking about so much to do Ken and let's get right into the lead and it's such a tight playoff picture as far as the national league is concerned I mean there's only four teams right now in the senior circuit Ken that are above 500 that's right Alana and when you look at the wild card standings in particular it jumps out at you that all but two teams in the National League all but two are within three and a half games of a playoff birth so when we talk about buyers and sellers and you can look at the standings right here this is the Wild Card Chasers these are not the Wild Card teams right now those are the Braves the Padres and the Cubs but beyond that we've got the Cardinals Giants Pirates Diamondbacks Reds Nationals and Mets all within three and a half games and when you go on a little bit of a hot run here like the Mets are right now you're all of a sudden thinking playoffs and this is what the expanded postseason brings and if you recall last year Alana I'm sure you do on August 14th the Diamondbacks were below 500 and they made the playoffs so when we talk about the deadline which is still almost two months away when we talk about who might be buyers and sellers pretty tough to sell when you've got a chance to make the playoffs as all what two teams in the National League do right now there might be some separation by the deadline I understand that but just look at the Diamondbacks last year that's the example all teams are looking at right now and saying that can be us Ken what does that tell you though when there's only four teams that have a winning record in the National League so many other teams it's really a crapshoot as to who gets in are these teams is it okay to not try to win is it okay to try to not have big off Seasons when you know you know what we could still be below 500 and still make the postseason picture actually a number of these teams are trying to win a lot they're just not playing particularly well that situation in my opinion has improved in recent years we still have a couple of teams that are to use Tony Clark's famous phrase racing to the bottom the Marlins in particular stand out in that regard you have some teams in the American League as well the Athletics of course that aren't exactly going all out but you look at the Reds the Pirates some of these teams they are trying it's just that right now we have a lot of mediocrity especially in the National League the American League it's basically similar except the Gap is a little bit wider between the bottom teams so the way I see it it's not a question of teams not trying as hard I do think that they've tried as hard even though not as much money was spent last winter it's more that nobody is that good right now in the National League yeah a lot of uh parody if you will when it comes to the teams that are still fighting for that that playoff spot all right the All-Star ballot opened up yesterday you can get your votes in for your favorite player your favorite players on your favorite team get them to Texas Arlington of course is hosting the All-Star Game this year home of the Texas Rangers World Series champions and really when you look at it Ken the short stop position I think is the most interesting as far as the the starting position is concerned for the All-Star Game the American League for sure and it's going to be fascinating to see how this vote turns out because the game is in Arlington as you're just mentioned Alana Cory Seager was the World Series MVP for the Texas Rangers who play in Arlington last year Cory seager's been hot he had an injury situation come up last night with his hamstring but even though he's been hot he is not the guy in the American League at shortstop right now the guy is either Bobby Whit Jr or gunar Henderson and let's take a look at how these two compare they are two of the best players in the league right now not just two of the best Short Stops you see that Henderson has more power Bobby Whitmore stolen bases Ops is almost identical Gunner is at 948 Bobby is at 935 Bobby Wht Jr rates the slight Edge in fangraph's version of War but basically it's flip a coin my hope Alana is that one of these two is elected I'm not sure I care which one they're both great I just don't want to see this Ballot Box getting stuffed with Corey Seager votes when in this particular season he is not the most deserving guy at that position that is such a good point where is your take or what is your take on getting this in based on popularity versus getting in based on Merit it's always a great question right Alana and we all have our opinions on it it's difficult because you don't want to reward simply a half season and you don't want players in the game who aren't stars and who are just having a great half the difference with Bobby Whit Jr and Gunner Henderson is that they are stars gunar Henderson was rookie of the year last year Bobby Wht I believe was second the year before these guys are at the top of their games right now they don't play in the largest markets they might not have gotten as much attention as a Corey Seager but they certainly are worthy now let's look at another aspect of this the national league Outfield Alana and that is interesting in another regard I could be in there Ken as far as National League outfielder is concerned nobody sticks out nobody sticks out at all and the problem is if it's a problem you want to call it that mie bets is playing shortstop Bryce Harper is playing first base Corbin Carol is having a down year he was a brilliant performer for the Diamondbacks last year so those players proar and Winker and conforto and Spencer seir those are the leaders in Ops in the Outfield I didn't do War when we put that list together it really wouldn't be much of a difference I don't think it's going to be a little bit different this year no question in the National League with regard to the Outfield we'll see who's elected because who's elected might not be the same and of course I forgot to even mention Ronald aunia Jr being hurt he wasn't having the greatest of years of course but he just underwent knee surgery he's out for the year and he of course would have been there so it's one of those years with regard to the National League Outfield doesn't make it a bad thing we'll see some new faces I just don't know that we'll see the biggest stars in the world yeah my only my only request of the All-Star game is that they go back to wearing their respective team everybody should go back and wear the jersey of your team I loved when they do that I understand from a monetary perspective and and having an opportunity to have more jersey sales but go back to the days of when everyone wears their their own team jersey I loved that and by the way if you want to go and get uh tickets to the all-star game how about you do it through SeatGeek they're a new partner of ours we're happy to have them here of course on Fair territory and again you know Ken when you think about the the weekend series coming up because there's still a lot of really good series um to be played before uh we even get to the AL star game I think everybody has Yankees and Dodgers circled maybe that's because I'm a Dodger fan I don't know what about you this Series has been circled by a lot of people for a long time and it's the game I'll be at this weekend on Saturday for Fox it's a series that might not have quite the same luster because of the way the Dodgers are playing right now just had that difficult Series in Pittsburgh the Yankees of course are playing out of their minds and have been all season judge and SoDo that combination has been ridiculous but the sheer amount of star power on the field is what is going to make this thing go Alana it's going to be Otani bets and Freeman it's going to be SoDo and judge and Beyond those guys a lot of other really good players as well that's what will make it fun yeah by the way Dodgers territory is coming up after foul territory today and Dodgers territory uh listen and and leave five stars for us on Apple Spotify wherever you get your podcast head to YouTube and like subscribe and share Dodgers territory live on Mondays and Thursdays at 12:00 p.m. as you know Ken Pacific Dodgers territory with Clint pus and myself part of the foul territory family and SE geek is part of the foul territory family as well it is Alana and if you want to go to the games this weekend at Yankee Stadium seek is the official ticket Marketplace of Major League Baseball they have you covered for all of your ticket needs with over 28 million downloads they're the number one rated ticketing app so baseball season is in full swing obviously and you don't want to miss out SeatGeek has your tickets to every game and of course concerts festivals and more every ticket is backed by their buyer guarantee and SeatGeek is the only site that lets you return your tickets ahead of the event with swaps so use our code fair f aiir for $20 off tickets at sgeek that's $20 off your first purchase with promo code F air make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and honestly just from personal experience having used a lot of different ticket marketplaces seat geek I feel is uh one of the most Trust worthy so welcome to the foul territory family time now for Gill and Ken let's get the questions in as Ken take advantage of the fact that you can ask Ken rosenthala question the first one Ken is a Yankees pitcher Carlos rodon who seems to have seemingly put 2023 behind him that Yankee starting rotation has been absolutely tremendous so our first question in Grill and Ken is about the Yankees Lefty as we get to that here um Dr Anarchy 69 Carlos rodan's ER is much lower than his FIP does Ken believe that means rodon is due for a regression explain first of all Kenny what Dr Anarchy is asking you and then you can answer the question okay fif is Fielding independent pitching and that is a statistic a metric that is really pretty much exactly what I just said it is a measure of a pitcher independent of his Fielding you take away things that the pitcher cannot control so Carlos rodon based on what Dr Anarchy 69 is saying is probably due for regression yes but I will will say this about rodon in a more General sense because this is the important point with him we have seen over the years various Yankees pitchers arabu anthy Hawkins I can name a bunch of them even Sunny gray not succeed in New York kind of melt in New York all of those guys had those issues to varying degrees Carlos rodon seemed like he was heading in that direction last year right he was hurt a lot he didn't pitch well he showed up Matt Blake turning his back to him in his last start all of these things happened and yet he came back this year and he is back to being something close to the old Carlos rhan that is the most important thing going on with him yes he might be due for some regression okay all this will balance out over the course of a season but cheers to Rodan for doing what he did for coming out of it not everybody does not everybody comes out of a hole in New York and succeeds he has done that and it looks like Garrett K Ken is imminent for his return some say you know what give him one more Rehab start let's protect the bullpen a little bit more you have guys obviously that uh can do the job they've done it so well in his absence do you think he should make one more Rehab start or you think it's best for Garett Cole to get back into that starting rotation well the plan is for him to make at least one more and I would expect if he comes out of this next one okay you put him back in the major leagues why waste bullets in the minors I understand the need to build up that's important and it has to happen and maybe it does take two more starts Maybe it takes three more but my guess is if you can get him to 65 70 pitches put him in the big leagues let him build up the rest of the way in the majors and get the best of garri Cole while you can all right can continue with the questions for Grill and Ken we have another one in the Super Chat here we always appreciate you guys participating in that and being a part of fair territory Daniel has this to say thoughts on the pirate so far got to give um Bailey some love yeah I can't see I'm so blind Bailey alter some love he has been a nice surprise also I really like Connor Joe I do too I liked him when he was a rocky obviously he's a cancer survivor he is doing well what is your your takeaway I obviously they won the first two games against the Dodgers great pitching from two rookies and Jones and skin what's your biggest takeaway from the Bucko so far those two guys that's the biggest takeaway and the difference that they have made they've transformed the team in many ways and Nick Gonzalez has come up and done a good job at second base as well I remember writing with Steven Nesbit before the season started kind of a detailed analysis and a critical one of the Pirates and how they have not developed all that well and of course how they will not spend money it seems now as Ben sharington said in that article that some of their prospects are coming up and they're going to be contributing not just this year but for the period beyond that Henry Davis is back in the majors as well I kind of like where they are O'Neal Cruz is healthy that helps as well at the same time you want to see more you want to see them keep going you want to see them add at the deadline and stop acting like Bob nutting's little play thing start acting like a competitive team that's the test for them they signed some free agents on the winner but their free agent spending is always at the bottom and here they are they have a chance they have a unique situation here with skin and Jared Jones these guys are probably not going to be 200 in guys right you have to supplement what you have you have to get more offense you maybe have to go get a starter all these things are in play for them or should be in play that to me is the test for the Pirates good for them for getting to this point they're getting better there's no question and they might get better still but they have to try to supplement what they have and wasn't that the point too of signing Brian Reynolds to that long-term extension is that we're we are we're going to try to compete we're not going to sign you to this long-term deal and you be the only piece that matters I mean wasn't that the point of him agreeing to stay there is that they were going to make an effort Mitch Keller too he signed an extension recently as well and yes but it's one thing to sign players to below Market extensions and it's another thing to add payroll the deadline and to go out and get actual real free agents in the winter they got guys like Martin Perez and Aroldis Chapman and Rowdy Tes these are complimentary pieces at Best they need to be more of an impactful player than they have been in the past hey look at the Royals and what they did this last off season they're not in a much better financial position or Revenue position than the Pirates are they went out they got lug Lugo and Waka to head their rotation it's made a world of difference Seth luga has been ridiculous this year and Michael W has been a nice piece as well continuing the questions here on grill and Ken on foul territory we have a question regarding the men the Mariners Jetty engineer says do you think that the M can keep the division into September do they need to do anything to keep it I think they need to get some bats I think they have the pitching I think their offense is weak and my fair in saying that you are in complete fairness in saying that Alana and it's the thing with the Mariners that has to be taken care of and their owner told the Seattle Times Howard Lincoln told the Seattle Times this week they will have flexibility at the deadline we shall see they didn't have much flexibility in the off season they have right now A starting rotation and arguably a bullpen though it's taken some hits with injuries that you have to take advantage of you have a rotation this good you have to go all out to win your window is right now with this group can't wait can't wait for next year can't plan for the F no no no go get it now and yes they could use a bat in a big way probably multiple bats pet Alonzo on that team they were talking about it on foul territory yesterday that would be a heck of a piece I don't know if that can happen but they like the Pirates need to be aggressive at the deadline that would be incredible to see Pete Alonzo uh in Seattle I tell you what in Jerry depoto there's nobody that loves making trades and Acquisitions more than that guy so we we'll see what happens there as far as the Seattle Mariners are concerned Garrett crochet Ken probably the only bright spot of the Chicago White Socks Justin yamas wants or llamas wants to know hey Ken who gets him I don't know who gets him and it's always impossible to predict that I reported with Dennis Lynn this week that the Padres have been the most aggressive in a way that's not news the Padres are always the most aggressive unavailable talent and then I added something today in the windup which is the athletic free daily baseball newsletter just mentioning that the White Sox are going to Value crochet as a number one starter as they should he's pitching like a number one starter problem is he already is at his career high for Innings 69 and 23 he is probably not going to be a viable starter all season now you can stick him in the bullpen and the Padre's are a team that could do that and hey he'd be a pretty good weapon there and then you have him for two more years you can build him up as a starter again nexton season but it's going to be interesting because teams are going to want crochet at a price and the White Sox price might be entirely higher than those teams are thinking because the way they look at him is hey we have got a top of the rotation piece here maybe not for the rest of the season but for 25 and 26 you have to pay accordingly and can you imagine what the white socks fan base would do if they got rid of Garrett crochet considering everybody else on that team is has kind of underperforming maybe they think hey this guy's part of our future what are we doing here so I don't know that they'd be that excited I don't know maybe am I wrong in that I don't think you're wrong necessarily Alana but the way they are they've lost 13 straight now they're 15 and 47 if they trade anyone on their roster I don't know is that bad 10 I don't know 13 pretty bad I don't know if anyone anybody in their fan base will be too offended I think everyone in Chicago who roots for the white socks understands that a flushing is necessary all right and flush uh in the Southside not necessarily in New York all right we were talking about a you know the American League shortstop spot and how it is so crowded when it comes to the all-star game where do you put vulpi in there Harry Wagner I fourth wants to know vulpi is an interesting guy in this discussion so a few weeks ago Alana I wrote about this and I included vuli vulpi sorry in the threee headed monster in the American League for Short Stops and fans in the comments just took me to task VY is not Henderson or Whit Jr you just put him in the article for clicks no I put him in the article because Anthony vulpi is a really good player really good player maybe an All-Star I just don't see him right now in the same conversation as Whit Jr and Henderson those two guys are at this level vulp is a little bit below still an outstanding player I like what I've seen this year for him especially he started the slump in May and kind of came out of it again now he's hot he's got this on base streak he's just an outstanding young player but gunar Henderson and Bobby wit Jr right now are ahead of him right now those guys are superstars yeah it's a completely different tier not that vulp is not a good player but they're certainly not gunar Henderson or Bobby wit Jr all right we're gonna be back after a quick word from our foul territory friends Scott Braun and Eric Katz here from Ft I wasn't feeling as focused as I wanted to be and heard some Buzz about ag1 since 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ownership of your health it starts with ag1 try ag1 and get a free one-year supply of vitamin D3 K2 and five free ag1 travel packs with your first purchase at drink a1.com that's drink a1.com go check it out and Kenny they're not fibbing because they're actually in Vegas both Eric Katz and Scott Brun are in Vegas foul territory follows us and they're doing a show from there so check them out and thanks for ag1 to be for being part of the program time now for dude and dork of the week this is uh one of our standout performers from the past week so Ken I'm going to let you go first who is your dude my dude of the week is a guy who would never ask for such an award a guy who is really underrated even though he's been around for a few years now and I'm talking about Philly's manager Rob Thompson Rob Thompson as a manager in his third season remember the first year he came in and replaced Joe gerardi took the Phillies to the World Series last year again had a great year and then this year they are one of the best teams in baseball if not the best right now look at his winning percentage among active active managers it's amazing Dave Roberts is the leader I know Dodger fans might be surprised to hear this Dave Rob is that amazing they always want him to get fired and Dave Roberts the got leader an active winning percentage I know this is the regular season you don't have to remind me Aaron Boone is second Rob Thompson right behind him in third he's done a brilliant job with this team they are playing out of their minds again a lot of credit goes to the players they have a single tough-mindedness about them that to me is a little bit unique in the game today but Thompson holds this whole thing together under Joe gerardi they weren't the same team they weren't the team that they are now yeah and two uh years ago about a couple days ago is when uh Rob Thompson took over for Joe dard he had just had his two-year anniversary as being the Phillies manager my dude of the week it's actually a fan base um and it's Rob Thompson's fan base if you will the Philadelphia Phillies is giving ree Hoskins Who thought he was going to get booed in his reception returning to Citizens Bank Park this time of course as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers and the fans were awesome theres Hoskins obviously a big part of what the Phillies have been able to accomplish over the last couple of Seasons they gave him a standing ovation JT Rao of course doing the right thing taking his time so reys Hoskins could tip his cap to the fans and then he hits a home run and some of the fans of course are like well damn it he's not on our team anymore but you got to love what ree Hoskins did so kudos to the Phillies but I asked you Ken Rosenthal a man that is from the East Coast what has happened to the Phillies fans remember they they gave Trey Turner a standing ovation when he was in the slump and now they're welcoming back former players they had a four you know a four billion minute uh Standing Ovation when Chase Utley went back as a member of the Dodgers what's going on Alana I say this with loving respect but the Phillies fans have gone soft Philly fans fans in general softer remember the Knicks fans came down and dominated them in the NBA playoffs I remember back a long time ago Alana when I was in college in Philadelphia I was from New York I drove my orange Ford Granada with New York plates into the vet for a Giants Eagles game a big one and people were throwing rocks at my car that is the Philly I remember I'm not saying it's a better version of Philly this is a better version of Philly but things sure have changed yeah I tell you what obviously it's very well known I'm a Dodgers fan but my second National League team right now is the Phillies I'm obsessed with this club and I'm obsessed with their fan base all right your dork of the week who is it actually it's more than one guy oh it's five guys it's the Five Guys who were suspended by Major League Baseball this week for betting on baseball now if there is one rule that every player should know one that's posted on the clubhouse in every major league park in every Clubhouse visiting and home it's rule 21 the one that forbids you from gambling on baseball these guys were doing it and they not only were doing it they were doing it with a bookmaker that tracks everything quite diligently that bookmaker illegal one reported it to Major League Baseball and hence they were suspended Michael Kelly A's pitcher was suspended for betting less than $100 these guys put their careers in Jeopardy took aeta Marcano of course is banned for life because he bet on his own team it's a shame obviously but these guys had to be smarter too and sth Frank pitched in the World Series last year and he's banned for a year because of his activities it's not even the dollar amount it's just the idiocy of the whole process you know if you want to bet on basketball or football knock yourself out but you can't bet on your own sport uh my dork of the week it has to be the A's and I feel like again we should you know categorize this category as the A's dork of the week once again now they're going of course to Sacramento and now they have a bright idea that they want 10% of their home games to be away from their their own home field what are they trying to do here Ken it's already bad enough that you take them out of Oakland Oakland fans don't have any professional sports teams left for the most part and you're saying okay we're going to play in Sacramento now we're going to try to create this fan base before we go to Vegas if that's in fact even going to happen but 10% of our home games are going to be on the road they want the flexibility to do that I don't know that they would use all eight dates in that fashion okay that's fine but you're going into a new market a new market that I know this might shock the a people is not necessarily going to be receptive to their act so if you're doing that maybe you lowkey it a little bit maybe you don't ask for the maximum number of dates or an excessive number of neutral sight dates you say okay we'll do that over time but the A's as usual their ton deaf approach is quite something it is something that never ceases to amaze and while I don't know that this is an actual big deal it certainly comes off as a big deal and it's another misstep by an organization that seems to have missteps oh I don't know once a week or so I think that's the biggest point if another team does this you don't you don't give it as much Credence but when the A's continue to make these very peculiar choices it's just a pattern of of something where you're like why do they keep making these dumb mistakes these dumb choices I mean the fan base has got to be like enough already but again they're probably not surprised time now for a Super Chat regarding Jerry reinsdorf we're going to bring that up here as we continue with territory referee 583 thanks for being a part of this Ken what's your thoughts on White Sox owner obviously Jerry rinor he's killing his franchise and making fans hate the Chicago White Socks like the A's I hear this a lot and I hear it for understandable reasons and I wrote a column this week about Pedro grafal and how probably he is running out of time that's true but we all know the problem with the white socks doesn't start with the manager it doesn't even start with the new general manager though he was for director for a Time Chris SKS and is part of this organization it's Jerry reinsdorf and the way he has run this team and he routinely angers fans with the way he runs this team he's asking for a new stadium now which is kind of ging considering the way that they've been playing so yeah it starts at the top there's no doubt about that they've had a lot of things go wrong that are out of his control the injuries for example but it's just the way these teams have been put together it's the management that for whatever reason could not get it together before gats ran and Kenny Williams they just lost their way it seemed so yes reinsdorf is responsible there is no question about that and any fan frustration with him is entirely entirely understandable yeah entirely warranted is Jerry reinsdorf loyal to a fault sometimes keeping guys on too long Alana I'm glad you make that point because we have seen that time and time again with him and it's his great quality really his employees generally swear by him at the same time as with all of us your greatest quality and your greatest strength can be your greatest weakness as well and at times it has been a weakness the hiring rehiring of Tony larusa in retrospect was a mistake staying too long with Rick H and Kenny Williams probably a mistake even though those guys are not bad baseball people it's just a pattern here and it's not a good one they need I thought and AJ pres schem me at this point on foul territory at the time instead of Chris GS who might prove to be a very good GM they needed an outside voice bring in someone else with fresh ideas kind of start over now get is doing that in his own way and again he might prove very good but they promoted from within and at a time when they needed to seek outside help yeah I think the Colorado Rockies are a lot the same way they promote a lot from within and and are loyal to a fault that's it for us here on Fair territory of course Ken is back by himself with another episode of fair territory on Monday thanks everybody for watching and listening we always appreciate it welcome SeatGeek to the fans subscribe on YouTube Apple Spotify wherever you get your podcast join me and Clint pus on Dodgers territory oral Hershiser joining us today this afternoon at 3 pm Eastern and of course F territory is next from Vegas we'll see you then [Music] oh [Music]