Ian Anderson Trade and 2025 Hot Takes

00:00:21
Speaker 1: Welcome one noll to the Hammer Territory Podcast. My name is Sean Coleman. Hope, wherever you are and wherever you are listening, you are having a great start to your week. It is a wonderful time on the sports calendar. Of course, March Madness is here. Hope for those in the Hammer Territory Attorney bracket. Hope those who are fans of various teams in the NCAA Tournament. If your team's still alive, congratulations, If they're not, congrats on a great season. Hope your bracket is not too busted so far. But more importantly, when it comes to this podcast, Steven Talbert, We've been talking about waiting for this moment for nearly five and a half months. We're going to start the season where last season ended for the Braves. Seventy two hours from now, the Braves will have completed their first game of the season. And I am so excited that it's here and excited to talk Braves baseball with you for another season.

00:01:12
Speaker 2: Sir. Yeah, what's up, buddy.

00:01:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is the absolute best time of year. I mean just absolute best time of year. The you know, tournament is in full full Go now, you know, we're down of the Sweet sixteen. On Thursday, all four of our teams are still in which is kind of awesome. But like you said, more importantly for this podcast, opening Day, opening Day is Thursday.

00:01:35
Speaker 2: It's to me it's the opening day.

00:01:37
Speaker 3: I know, technically the season already started with the Cubs and the Dodgers. I don't count that. You know, opening Day deserves more respect than a five am game on a Tuesday morning. Thursday is opening Day when all the teams play. Usually they do like a there's a game at noon, there's a game at one, there's a game at two. You can watch baseball all day long. I don't know that. I'm assuming they're doing the same thing this year.

00:01:58
Speaker 2: I don't know.

00:01:59
Speaker 3: I know MLBN E or not really friends anymore. So we'll see what happens. But yeah, I can't wait. I'm so excited. It was a long offseason. I mean, we did our best to cover damn near six months worth of the worth of airtime with not much to talk about. The Braves didn't do us a lot of favors, basically making one big move this offseason, so we had a lot of we had a lot of time. We had to cover, and you know, we were able to do it. But now we don't have to worry about it. Now we got games, Now, we got walk offs.

00:02:28
Speaker 2: Now we got you.

00:02:28
Speaker 3: Know, big performances, we got injuries, we got you know, league wide stuff. We were gonna have content out the eyeballs and I just can't wait.

00:02:36
Speaker 2: All kicks off on Thursday.

00:02:38
Speaker 3: I'm just it's an incredible time of year.

00:02:40
Speaker 2: I'm so excited.

00:02:41
Speaker 1: It absolutely is, and we're gonna have you covered all week long previews, reviews, looking at matchups, breakdowns, all this different stuff. This is your one stop shop when it comes to covering all things Brave, especially with the season in told. But as you mentioned, Steven, you know, we spent the past five and a half months talking about the lack of moves, lack of moves, moves, and then over the past week we've basically had eighty percent of our offseason moves occur, and of course one of the more notable ones occurred. We basically had a notable move that seems like every day over the past week, but yesterday was one that was definitely interesting. I don't think it was all that surprising if you've been following Spring training, you know pretty closely throughout the past month and a half. Of course, what I'm speaking of is Ian Anderson traded from the Braves to Lumbehold, Surprise, surprise, ear the Angels for left hander Jose Suarez. Now, of course, Ian Anderson, you know that, being a name that has been you know, very you know, familiar to Braves fan for years. You look at him being traded and you're like, he was traded for another struggling pitcher. I never would have thought that, But when you really look at kind of the struggles Ian Anderson has had over the past few years, it should not come as a surprise. Basically, the simple truth is this, Ian Anderson was traded before he was going to be designated for assignment. At the end of the day, him being traded in a trade like this truly suggested that his time in Atlanta was going to come to an end one way or another.

00:04:08
Speaker 4: It wasn't the end that.

00:04:08
Speaker 1: Anybody had really hoped for with all the struggles that he's had over the past couple of years. Stevens, but not only have we seen Alex and Thoppols do this with pitchers before who had been in the Brays organization for a while who just could not get to the same level of contribution. But it just it makes sense. With Ian Anderson being out of options, this was a move that made sinse even if it was not the best ending to what have been a pretty notable career in Atlanta.

00:04:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean hopefully nobody was too surprised.

00:04:37
Speaker 3: I mean we've talked about this as a possibility for i mean two months now. And listen the way Ian pitched in the spring in spring training, with so many walks, so few strikeouts, it just was not inspiring any confidence from anybody that he could he could be a starting pitcher on a major league staff or even a relief a reliever on a major league staff. And he didn't have any options. And you know, that's a lot of it. You know, when you no longer have the ability to be sent down to Gwinnette, you lose a lot of value unless you've secured a roster spot. And Ian had done nothing to secure.

00:05:14
Speaker 2: A roster spot.

00:05:14
Speaker 3: And so yeah, I mean this was basically a DFA. I mean, the Angels were gonna DFA Suarez, the Braids were gonna DFA Anderson. Basically they got together and said Hey, instead of DFA and these two guys, let's just go and trade for him. You know, it's it's kind of the classic change of scenery. They weren't gonna make the team. We had no other option but to trade him or DFA, and so I know, I saw Brads fans who were upset about the return because Suarez is not good. I'm not gonna blow smoke. You know, Suarez is not good. He was probably gonna be DFA by the Angels, who are not good. He's had like a six era the last two years out of their bullpen.

00:05:53
Speaker 2: He's not good.

00:05:53
Speaker 3: But Ian Anderson is not good either, So like that's kind of what you get when you trade a guy like that. So you know, the Braves will probably hold on the sore as we'll see. I mean, they can make another move tomorrow. By the time you're listening to this, they can make another move. But there's a good chance for us. It is probably gonna be the long man in the bullpen until Kimberl is ready. It might only be like a week. So I don't think this is a guy that's going to be around the Braves, you know, long term or anything.

00:06:18
Speaker 2: But it was just time.

00:06:20
Speaker 3: It was just like we talked about it so much like Ian just did not look good. He did not look like a major league pitcher. We said, there's a very good chance they could either DFA m or trade him. You know, they basically kind of did a combination of the two where they basically did a DFA trade where they, you know, two guys who were going to get DFA get trade for each other.

00:06:38
Speaker 2: So, you know, it sucks.

00:06:40
Speaker 3: Ian was obviously a massive part of the World Series run. It was a massive part of the World Series itself. You know, I was at the one World Series game I went to that year was the game that Ian Anderson pitched. It was the first game in Atlanta. He pitched Game three, and I was at that game, and I'll never forget. It's literally a memory of a lifetime for me. And so I'll always appreciate what Ian did here. But sentiment aside, you had to look at it objectively about what he was going to be able to contribute to the twenty twenty five team, and it just wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to justify a twenty six man roster spot. It probably wasn't enough to justify a forty man roster spot to be honest, so.

00:07:19
Speaker 2: I get it.

00:07:19
Speaker 3: I know people were upset about him being treated at all or about the return, but I totally get it. It was not a surprise to me at all. I expected it that our DFA. I just felt it was coming any day. So it sucks, but it was the right move in my opinion.

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00:08:55
Speaker 4: Good change up.

00:08:56
Speaker 1: But even though you know, it was multiple years of disappointment in his time in Atlanta, Stephen, as you pointed out, I don't think anybody would question he had a successful time in Atlanta, especially when it came to you know, he never was really able to put it together as being you know, a top tier pitcher like you know a few other braves have shown that they could do coming out of the farm system, but the numbers didn't lie when it came to his historical production at a young age in the playoffs, and to your point again, he played a critical significant role in helping us deliver a world series to it and helping the braisliveral world series to Atlanta. So I think that that's what needs to you know, it's one of those two truth scenarios. The one truth is his overall time in Atlanta was successful. When he was healthy, when he was effective, he contributed, and he contributed on the big stage. It's just unfortunately it had been too long since that time had occurred. He was nowhere near the same picture. Lack of control, lack of velocity, just overall lack of reliable stuff during spring training, to be honest, even last year coming back from his surgery, it just was not there anymore for Ian Anderson. So the time was right for the Braves to move on. But the other thing that stands out to me Stephen, and we talked about this, you know at Lenk before the podcast, is that we talk about this offseason, and you know, two storylines that come to play are the fact that you know, hey, the lack of overall notable moves that you know didn't occur until you know, the past week, and even at that point there have not really been significant moves. But the other thing is is that it's been an end of an era in multiple perspectives. So many long term Braves have left the organization. You know, not just in term of the Braves that contributed to the twenty twenty one World Series, but also some Braves that at one time were part of a historical group of pitching prospects. But in time, especially here recently, we've seen Mike Soroka, We've seen Kyle Wright, we've seen Jared Schuster, now we've seen Ian Anderson, among others who have departed the organization. When I talk about end of an era, when you go back over the past decade and you look at how many top flight prospects in terms of arms the Braves had, and then you look at just how few of them became clear long term contributors for the Braves, and also the fact that the Braves really didn't get anything of value via trade or what have you from those players, it is kind it's really eye opening how much success the Braves have had despite the fact they've gotten so little from what once again was a historical proper pitching prospects.

00:11:25
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:11:26
Speaker 3: So, like if you remember, and most people remember, you know, in twenty fourteen, the Braves had a disappointing year. They fired Frank Wren and they brought in couple Ela John Coppola, John Hart to run the organization, and those guys immediately started.

00:11:38
Speaker 2: To rebuild, right.

00:11:39
Speaker 3: They traded everybody. They traded Hayward, they traded you know, justin Upton, they traded bj Upton, they traded Gaddis, they traded Kimberl, they traded Angleton. They basically traded everybody but Freddie Freeman. And what they brought back mostly was pitching prospects, right they I mean, you remember the names. Everybody remembers the names Soroka, you know, Kyle Right, Ian Anderson, you know, took you to so Luis Garza, Sean Nuko and Mike Foltonevich like just a million of them, Kolby Allard, you know, Joey Wentz, you know, Kyle Mueller, you could keep going, Tuki Tussan. I mean, there was so many of them, and that was kind of the basis that the Braves were gonna build their next great you know, their next great run off of was you know, trying to hit on some of these pitching prospects. And it is funny looking back now that really Max Fried is the only one that really hit like and stayed like. You know, Soroka had one good year in twenty nineteen, Kyl Wright had one good year. Ian Anderson had like a year and a half of being solid, But like Max Freed was the only one that was consistently good. Consistently an Ace made it all the way to free agency, got a two hundred million ar like, he was objectively successful. But he's kind of the only one. And like you said, the Braves don't have a lot to show for any of those guys as we sit here today. To be honest, most of their success has actually been built on the offensive side of the ball, know by you know, getting Acuna, by getting Ozzie, drafting, Austin Riley, you know, Olsen, Michael Harris.

00:13:07
Speaker 2: Like if you look at what.

00:13:09
Speaker 3: This new regime has done, it's been it's been built more on offense and then building the pitching staff out of out of veterans, you know, Chris Slee, Ronaldo Lopez, Charlie Morton.

00:13:19
Speaker 2: Stuff like that.

00:13:20
Speaker 3: So it is funny, it is I mean, it is that it's it's an end of an era. You know, we had all these years of all these pitching prospects, and now, you know, after Ian Anderson and Max Free both left this offseason, we don't have any more. We don't have any more of those guys that are left now the Braves have still have pitching prospects, but all guys that were drafted by the current regime.

00:13:38
Speaker 2: So it is the end of air. It's kind of sad.

00:13:41
Speaker 3: It was a fun time, even though the Braves sucked during the rebuild, like being able to follow all the pitching prospects, that's kind of what we all did. And so, yeah, you're right, it is the indivent air. It's it's it's a little sad to see it go. But you know, the Braves have a new a new class of young players, a new corps of you know, veteran players, and they're still really good. And that's really kind of all you can ask for.

00:14:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and and and at the end of the day, you know, that's the sign of a good organization. If you know, you put so many you put so many eggs in one basket that you wind up dropping that basket. And nothing really comes out of it. You find another way to cook the omelet of success.

00:14:18
Speaker 5: Man.

00:14:20
Speaker 4: Man, that was a good analogy. I've got.

00:14:22
Speaker 2: You pulled that on. Yeah, there's no way that, no way.

00:14:26
Speaker 1: You plan that pull pulled that one right off the skillet, skillet and served it successfully with the side of okay AnyWho. The other thing though, that I think is notable from yesterday, Steven, is that you know, we kind of we got a turner one eighty. We talk about you know, a pitcher who has been with the Braves for you know, since the star of his career for nearly a decade, has had good law success with the Braves on the biggest stage to going back to a player who's now forty one years old, is in his seventh stint with the Braves, also won a World Series. But I do think that it is no that the Braves once again welcomed, welcomed uncle Jesse. Jesse Chobbs is back with the organization, and Steven, I want to get your thoughts in general, not necessarily breaking down what Jesse chobb Is is going to bring me. If you follow the Braves for years, you know what Jesse chobb Is brings But the point that I'm getting at is is that what do you think of these depth move for the Braves? Are you a fan of the fact that when you look at James McCann, when you look at Craig Kimber, when you look at Jesse chabb As, Alex Radugo, so on and so forth, the Braves are going to the well of trying to get veterans who will come in and potentially rekindle some of their value instead of potentially going out and getting higher upside type players per depth that they may be able to extract unforeseen value from. What do you think about the Braves overall philosophy and an off season when we were begging for moves. They've made four or five editions over the past week. But again we're talking about veterans whose peaks are you know, they're not necessarily past their prime in terms go their best days are behind them as of right now. What do you think about the Braves to go on that route to add depth in order to potentially get some pieces that, you know, if injuries occur, could see significant time in Atlanta.

00:16:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, so depth is never bad. It's not like no one's ever said man we've got so much depth. I wish they'd stopped making move Like no one says that right.

00:16:22
Speaker 2: Depth is never bad.

00:16:24
Speaker 3: Now, if you ask me, would you rather go get high end talent or go get a bunch of older veterans and hope you hit lightning in a bottle, I would always rather have the talent. Like I said this on our last show, I think you know, I'll take Tanner Scott over all these guys. But in lieu of that, you know it is at least the Braves are doing this. Like, yes, I wanted them, and we said it all off season. I wanted them to go add I thought they needed another starter, and I thought they needed another reliever. And I don't I don't mean like a minor league signing. I meant like a legitimate, like free agent signing high level pitchers.

00:16:58
Speaker 2: And they didn't do that.

00:17:00
Speaker 3: They went kind of the other way where they just signed this army of minor league guys and older guys and Hector Nerris and Craig Kimberrel and you know, Dela Santos and Buck Farmer and Jake Diekman and the list goes on and on and on and just trying to hit on a couple of them, and so you know, I've said this before, the proof will be in the pudding about how good of an idea this was and how well it was executed. I'm still worried about the bullpen. And that's kind of the other way you can look at these moves is depth is always good, but there is another side that says pretty clearly they're not overly thrilled with the construction of their especially their bullpen, like they keep tinkering with it. They keep adding these signings, Like I think the Braves got to the end of camp and we're like, we probably need more.

00:17:47
Speaker 2: And of course all of us were at that spot three.

00:17:51
Speaker 3: Months ago, and so it's a little worrisome that you're still tinkering with your bullpen this late, and you know you're probably gonna have three or four minor league signing guys in your bullpen at some point. Again, kind of worrying, but they could be awesome, and the brain it might not matter at all. So it's kind of it is kind of a I see.

00:18:15
Speaker 2: It both ways.

00:18:16
Speaker 3: Depth is good, but it's not great that the Braves are tinkering like this this late in the offseason. And still, you know, Snit talked about the other day like there's still two or three spots, like they're still talking about Like I don't I don't actually love that like I would. We talked about it before, like you'd rather have more answers than questions. I still think the Braids have a lot of questions at some key spots. It might not matter. They might be so good at the top end of the roster it doesn't matter.

00:18:41
Speaker 2: But I see it both ways.

00:18:44
Speaker 3: Depth is good, but they're clearly still tinkering with the roster because they don't love where the roster sits at the moment.

00:18:54
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And that's that's what you That's always what you look to see when it comes to you know, a member, a member basically a general manager like Alexanthopolis, who consistently is someone who you know is looking to tinker. He's that master on the margins. He's always looking to improve. And this could be a theme that we see for this season is that there could be if the moves that we thought were gonna happen, if the level of moves that we thought were going to happen in the off season did not occur, could we see a bit more active approach when it comes to the season. But speaking of that, Speaking of that, if you listen to yesterday's podcast, both Brad and Scott gave their bold predictions for any members of the Braves going into the two thousand and twenty five season. Well, we're gonna do our Me and Steven are gonna do.

00:19:37
Speaker 4: Our own spin on that.

00:19:38
Speaker 1: It is Sean and Stevens Hot Lanta Hot Takes. Now, I don't know if I'm showing my age. Hot Lanta may have gone out of the window when I was back in high school back in twenty eighteen. I'm lying through my teeth right now. My point is is this is hot Takes for Hot Lanta. Stephen, you're shaking your head just because.

00:19:58
Speaker 3: You'll get you'll get run over by somebody in Atlanta. If you ever say Hotlanta in Atlanta, just let you know, don't say that in the in the city limits.

00:20:08
Speaker 2: They hate it. The locals do not like it.

00:20:12
Speaker 3: And also and also it sounds like you're an old man.

00:20:15
Speaker 1: So that's another reason I'm approaching that. So I'm not in the Atlanta city limits, so hot Takes not from Hotlanta Hot Takes. Concerning the Atlanta Braves Steven three hot takes from each of us. I will give you the floors, sir. When it comes to the twenty twenty five Atlanta Braves, what is your first hot take?

00:20:37
Speaker 3: So I don't know this is I don't know if this is considered a positive or negative. It could be spun as either. I think Aaron Bummer will be the best reliever on the team this year, and I both mean. I think Aaron Bummer is going to elevate his game to a level where he is an elite reliever, one of the best relievers in baseball. But I also think Rossio Iglesias is probably gonna regress a little bit. You know, I love Iglesias. He's been unbelievable since he came over, but he's got some troubling peripherals. The last couple of years, his strikeout rate has really vomitted is too strong a word, but it's it's come down a lot pretty consistently. The last couple of years. He kind of outperformed his peripheral or yeah, he outperformed his peripherals last year. I just could see a scenario where he's not as good. And I think Aaron Bummer is really good, and I you know, we spent all year trying to convince people Aaron Bummer was good last year even though opponents were running like a four hundred babbit against him.

00:21:35
Speaker 2: You know, he did not have the greatest.

00:21:37
Speaker 3: Bat at ball lock last year. I think he's awesome. I think when we get to the end of the twenty twenty five we will look back and say the best reliever on the team, because I think if you asked everybody today who the best reliever on the team, I think everybody would say Rossie oglaci Is. I do not think that's going to be the case. I think Aaron Bummer is going to be the best reliever on the twenty twenty five Braves.

00:22:00
Speaker 1: If that works out, that will definitely be a great development, especially for a bullpen that needs all the good developments that we can see it happen. My hot take, my first hot take for Atlanta will be that this team will have a top five season in franchise history when it comes to hitting home runs. What I mean by that is this, I feel they're going to bounce back. I don't feel they're going to come close to three hundred and seven home runs like we saw in twenty twenty three. But I do feel that they can be to the point to where last year they finished fourth in baseball with two hundred and thirteen home runs, to be top five in franchise history. That would be two hundred and thirty five home runs from this team. I feel that health is going to be a little bit more on their side. I feel that some players are going to bounce back a bit and be available for the entire season. I predict that the Braves are going to hit two hundred and forty plus home runs that not only would likely put them top three in Major League Baseball in home runs, but that allow for them to have a top five season in franchise history four home runs as well. Don't think they're gonna get back to where they were in twenty twenty three. Think they'll get back to producing the long ball enough to where there'll be a top, top tier offense once again.

00:23:15
Speaker 2: Yeah. I like that. I could see that. Would you say, two two hundred and forty.

00:23:19
Speaker 4: Home runs forty?

00:23:20
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:23:20
Speaker 1: Last year, the LA Dodgers finished third in the majors. The LA Dodgers were third, the Atlanta Breys were fourth. LA had two hundred and thirty three home runs.

00:23:28
Speaker 4: Atlanta had two hundred and thirteen.

00:23:30
Speaker 1: I think that Atlanta can get to thirty two forty.

00:23:32
Speaker 4: I'll go with two forty, kay, I like that all right.

00:23:36
Speaker 3: My next one is I think this is the last season that we're going to automatically assume Ronald Lacuna Junior is the leadoff man. And I know that's that's spicy for a lot of people, but I think Drugs and Profile is gonna do such a good job. I think I think Profar is running like a four to ten on base percentage this spring. I think he's gonna love hitting in it. I think he's the absolute perfect hitter for this lineup. I think he's gonna do such an amazing job at leading off, and I think Ronald's gonna have to change his game a bit when it comes to the stolen bases that I think we're gonna eventually get to the point where Ronald being the number two hitter makes more sense than Ronald being the leadoff hitter. I could be wrong, and lineup construction doesn't matter a lot at all, but I could see a world where this is the lie because everybody just assumes when Ronald comes back, he's gonna be the leadoff hitter, and Profar will probably.

00:24:34
Speaker 2: Drop down to number two.

00:24:36
Speaker 3: I actually think I might prefer the alternative to that, where Profar stays at one and Ronald goes to two. So and I think we might get to that. So it's probably not gonna happen, but that's why these are hot takes. It's things that probably aren't gonna happen that I'm predicting. So I think we'll get to the point, either this season or in the offseason where it's no longer assumed that Ronald Kuna Junior is gonna be the leadoff for this team because Jerosen Profar does so well in that role.

00:25:06
Speaker 1: My second hot take is that I feel that the Braves are going to trade one of their top seven pitching prospects. Now, I'm not going to sit here and act like I'm a prospect guy, but I will say that the Braves will trade one of their top seven pitching prospects for a notable major league addition to the pitching staff, whether that's the bullpen, whether that's the starting rotation. You hope that it's certainly not because of injury. You hope that it's to bolster what turns out to be a surprising, once again good staff overall. But I feel that Alexanthopolis does have a move under it.

00:25:41
Speaker 4: It.

00:25:42
Speaker 1: It does have the ability to pull off a move.

00:25:44
Speaker 4: And maybe it's a JR.

00:25:45
Speaker 1: Ritchie, you know, you could it be a Waldrop possibly, you know, you could see a variety of different arms. I feel the Braves are going to trade one of their top arm prospects for a reliable arm option, hopefully they can control for multiple years. And the other thing is, I think that it could take place a bit earlier in the season than you made think.

00:26:04
Speaker 4: Now, I'm not.

00:26:04
Speaker 1: Speaking from any inside knowledge or anything like that. That's the reason these are hot takes, But I think that the Braves are going to trade a top pitching prospect for a reliable addition to this pitching staff at some point this season.

00:26:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's I think that's likely at this I mean, yeah, I agree with that.

00:26:23
Speaker 2: I think it's a good one.

00:26:24
Speaker 3: All right, My last one, and it's kind of in the same vein as the one I just had. But I think this is the last season where Spencer Swellenbach is not the consensus opening day starter. Chrisale's going to be the opening day starter this year because he won the cy Young last year.

00:26:41
Speaker 2: But listen, Chris.

00:26:42
Speaker 3: Sale's thirty six, thirty seven years old. I think this is the last year where Spencer swallow Back is not just That's how high I am on Spencer swallow Back. I think by next year he's going to be the opening day starter. It might be the opening day starter for a long time.

00:27:00
Speaker 2: You know.

00:27:00
Speaker 3: I know Scott had the prediction that he was gonna finish I think top three in the cy Young. I could see, I could see him winning it. I mean, I am that high on this guy. He makes every part of the game looks so easy. He gets so many swings and misses. I think he's just gonna have.

00:27:16
Speaker 2: An unbelievable year.

00:27:17
Speaker 3: And if Sale has any sort of injury stuff or or backs up at all in performance, it's not just gonna be automatic when we get to next year that that Sale is gonna be the opening starter. Now, Strider could have a lot to say about that, of course, and that might be a conversation we have where Spencer, Strider and Swallenbach are both in that conversation. And if it doesn't happen, and I think it'll be because of Strider, but I could see an absolutely see a world where starting next year, Spencer swallow Back is just the opening day starter for the He's just the best, considered the best pitcher on the team. And you know it's it's not likely. Again, this is a hot take. It's not likely to happen, but I think is a very in my personal opinion, I think there's a very good chance it happens. I think Spincer Swallenbach is that good and I think he will starting in twenty twenty.

00:28:07
Speaker 2: Six being a very.

00:28:09
Speaker 3: Real conversation as the opening day starter in the ace of the staff.

00:28:15
Speaker 4: My final bold prediction.

00:28:18
Speaker 1: Five plus all Stars, two position starters. Michael Harris the second is the National League starting center fielder in the All Star Game, and it's because he'll be in the midst of a top ten MVP season. Yeah, just look at it. It should be written in the stars. He's the most He's there's a reason why people say he's the most obvious breakout candidate, probably the most one of the most obvious breakout candidates in baseball. You got the All Star Game happening in Atlanta, homegrown talent, wonderful connection with the fans.

00:28:50
Speaker 4: The Braves need it. The bread.

00:28:51
Speaker 1: If there's a time to happen, the Braves need it. Michael Harris, the second starting centerfielder for the National League in the All Star Game. Top ten MVP candidate.

00:29:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, I almost that was almost one of mine was just Michael Harris is gonna win MVP. The problem is Shoehetani exist and as long as that guy exists, picking anybody else to be MVP is feels like nonsense. But I like, I mean, you and I have talked about Michael Harris for a couple of years now, where we like, you know, depending on how a Kunya comes back from these knee injuries, like Michael Harris just might be the most talented player on the team, And like that's very real. His defensive ceiling is so high. He doesn't have to be elite offensively to be an MVP candidate. He just has to be good, you know. He just has to run like a three fifty on base percentage basically, and he's gonna get MVP votes.

00:29:39
Speaker 2: So yeah, I like that. I could see that.

00:29:43
Speaker 4: So then so then what did you give your third Yeah?

00:29:46
Speaker 2: I gave three I gave.

00:29:49
Speaker 3: I gave the relievers, I gave the uh uh yes lead off and the opening day starter.

00:29:56
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, yeah, my bad. I was like.

00:29:59
Speaker 1: Yet, but yeah, those are our three hot takes for Hot Lanta. Whether or not you use that anymore in terms of your lexicon, I don't care Hotland.

00:30:10
Speaker 4: It's fine. And you know, back in my era, that's that's how we did things.

00:30:13
Speaker 1: What era was that exactly, just what era was the early twenty twenties.

00:30:18
Speaker 3: Ok, yeah, that's sounds true.

00:30:21
Speaker 1: But the thing about it is this is whether or not you still consider Hot Lanta you know, to be in you know of today. The point is is that baseball is back. There's so many great things to talk about, and we are going to continue to talk about them in detail, giving you the latest analysis as well as opinions that matter when it comes to the Brave Stephen, do you have anything else? As we wrap up this edition to the Hammer Territory Podcast, No.

00:30:45
Speaker 3: Sean and I I think are doing a podcast on Wednesday before the season starts, So we'll do our you know, predictions for what's going to happen, you know, division, all that stuff.

00:30:57
Speaker 2: We'll save that for Wednesday.

00:30:59
Speaker 3: But if you're not subscribed again, it's a great time to do it. Obviously, we've been, you know, doing this all off season, and we did it all last season, but this season is literally kicking off in like forty eight hours, so we appreciate all the fans listen. The downloads we've been getting lately have been unbelievable. Really all off season, our numbers have just been unbelievable. I know fans wi't care about numbers, but we just want to give a big shout out to the fans. It's been really awesome and we just we're so excited. I mean, the season is gonna be so much fun, and we hope you come along. We hope you subscribe, you know, Apple, Spotify, Regulus, to podcast. We appreciate all the support and it's gonna be a fun season and we appreciate it.

00:31:40
Speaker 4: If you subscribe, I'll retire Hotlanta, I won't use it anymore.

00:31:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, that needs to happen.

00:31:47
Speaker 4: That's a lot. I'm gonna work it in every episode this season.

00:31:50
Speaker 1: All kidding aside. Can't thank you enough for listening to us. We appreciate the support, especially going through an off season that was let's be honest lacked a bit of the pizazz that we had. All You've stuck with us, You've supported us. We cannot thank you enough. As we enter our second and our first full season of Hammer Territoryary when it comes to twenty twenty five, covering the Braves under the Foul Territory family of podcasts. So many great podcasts out there talking about so many specific teams. Make sure you check out all the great content, and of course you know the parent show, Foul Territory itself. For Steven Toler, you can find him a Beaunder Square outliers on Twitter, myself at Stat's sac Hammer Territory, Territory across all forms of social media, Foul Territory across all forms of social media. We have one more podcast before the season starts, the series preview against the San Diego Padres. We will be live with you when that happens on Wednesday. Can't wait for it. Go Braves. We'll talk to you again soon here on the Hammer Territory Podcast