Curtis Granderson: NLCS thoughts, Pujols as manager, Volpe’s surgery

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Back on foul territory with Kratz. Go ahead, do it? Did you announce me?

00:00:08
Speaker 2: Brandy Man? Look at that tooth too, with his teeth all nice and yeah, see it's all better if you look back to NLCS. Grandy slid in like nine minutes before his wedding, and he slid into slid into second base, and his helmet came off, hit the base, came back, chipped his tooth. What an amazing story, beautiful man.

00:00:30
Speaker 3: Still good dentist to have. That was the big thing.

00:00:34
Speaker 4: And you know what it is if you notice now a lot of players when they're swinging, their helmets are falling off. So I don't know if it was this new helmet that they were trying to implement, but my helmet has never fallen off when I slid and then all of a sudden that one pops off, hits the base and bam right into the tooth, chipped it. And the funny thing is it was justin turner and I looking for it on the ground at the second.

00:00:58
Speaker 3: Base, couldn't find it.

00:01:00
Speaker 4: My lips all swollen up the next day, so I'm at the dentist. I go by any chances in my lip and they go, let's X ray it. And look, if I didn't say anything, I'd still have a piece of tooth in my lip right now, right, It's true story.

00:01:14
Speaker 1: That is crazy. That's how we kick off a conversation.

00:01:17
Speaker 5: Well, still one of the best smiles in baseball, long time, big Leier, and you can hear them on all of Turner's coverage of the postseason right now. So, Grandy, what do you think of the series that you're covering?

00:01:27
Speaker 3: Man, it's been crazy.

00:01:28
Speaker 4: You know, Cratzy, you got a chance to be there when we were there in eighteen. I mean, that place can rock up in Milwaukee. The fans are excited, they're looking forward to it. They had just knocked off the Cubs and then boom, here come the Dodgers and they have been non stop. You know, Dave Roberts, I got a chance to cover that series when it was Dodgers Phillies, right when the Phillies clinched during the regular season, and you do the pre manager interviews and Dave Roberts said, Hey, I feel like we're lined up as best as we've ever been to have four actual starters for the playoffs. Last year, it was all bullpenned for us, and we threw anybody at any time and it worked. But this year we're gonna be almost traditional slash New Wave unconventional because we actually have starters, and we have multiple of them, and not only do they have them, they have been delivering. I mean, Blake Snell looked like he wasn't even sweating, like he was just playing catch and then got one up by Yamamoto. I thought, just the pitching staff has done an amazing job for the Dodgers, more so than the Brewers have not performed. I think when sometimes you're just getting beat up, you just got to give credit where credits due, and that pitching staff for those two performances in game one. In Game two, they sucked all the wind out of what is it called American something field, It's not called Millon. Yeah, we'll call the Brewers' home stadium. They sucked it all out of them, and they've done an amazing job of doing that. And we'll see if they can keep it going for Game three in LA. But it's going to be a tough hill to climb for the Brewers to try to get one, let alone try to even this thing.

00:03:10
Speaker 2: Out before we hit anything specific with this team. These two teams pull yourself back like seventeen you played for the Dodgers, eighteen you played for the Brewers, and the Curtis Granderson effect. Both teams have been in the postseason all but one season. The Brewers missed it. Where do they where do they align? And where are you? Like? Whoa? They are two separate ways of getting to the exact same spot.

00:03:40
Speaker 4: I think the I think the biggest thing is the money first and foremost. You know, you have the Dodgers and how much they spend and Mark Walter over there, he's gonna spend it. He's gonna open his pockets up, He's going to keep going. But he spends it because he has it. He has the amount of money to be able to do it. It's arguably one of the biggest media markets in the world. They have people that know about it from the far East to the west, to central north and south. There's Dodger fans just to and through.

00:04:07
Speaker 3: The Brewers.

00:04:08
Speaker 4: On the other hand, they're not that they are the smallest media market in baseball.

00:04:13
Speaker 3: They're in Milwaukee, they're in the state of Wisconsin.

00:04:16
Speaker 4: A lot of fans may not have been to this ballpark yet they may not know much about this team, but I think the things that both of them do well, and you both were all talking about it before I came on. They make sure that their organizations is the systems are in place to allow what they have to be the best that they can be. I never felt like, going from the Dodgers to the Brewers that one organization was lacking, like, oh, we don't have this or we don't have that.

00:04:43
Speaker 3: But you hear these stories over and over.

00:04:45
Speaker 4: And it's amazing that with thirty clubs and the amount of money that's put into the payroll that some teams have and some teams do not, I don't see that so much with the Dodgers and the Brewers. Now, the Dodgers do have a lot of great, shiny things, some of which you can say, hey, we need some of it.

00:05:03
Speaker 3: We don't necessarily need, but it's good to have. On the flip.

00:05:06
Speaker 4: When you go to the Brewers, I didn't feel like there were things that, oh, man, we're missing these things. Why don't we have these things? So from that standpoint, I think they're both even. But I think you work with what you have. Over there, they've been able to develop from within. That's the Brewers. That is, they've been able to get buy in from everybody to understand their roles and know that there's gonna be some flexibility and moving pieces around. Whereas the Dodgers say, Hey, we're gonna roll out three MVPs to start this thing, and then we're gonna get some cy Young's on the mound, and then we're gonna throw some money into them. And not only that, they're also gonna buy in the communication with Dave Roberts to their team, I think is all There so a lot of similarities, but the big glaring one is the money and the superstars.

00:05:50
Speaker 6: Have you. So there's a lot of managerial jobs open right now. Have you ever thought about dabbling into being a manager or is that just something that you're not really interested?

00:06:01
Speaker 4: You know, it's crazy, it's how you know, towards the end of our careers. The one big thing that made this a ninety nine point nine percent no for me is I'm in Atlanta with the Mets, and I got our manager Terry Collins, and Dick Scott, our bench coach, and Ricky Bonus one of our bullpen coaches, and I'm leaving the hotel to go get something to eat, and it's about eleven thirty ish or something like that. So I finally come back. It's about twelve fifteen. I just went and grabbed something and came back and they're all in the elevator. I think they're going to get something to eat. They're going to the ballpark. So I get confused. I'm like, isn't the game at seven o'clock tonight? They said, yeah, but we got to get there early. We got to do our reports. We're gonna get a workout in, we got to meet with the GM. We gotta do all this stuff. I said, you gotta do that before every game. And you know we're not getting out there until the game's gonna finish at ten o'clock. The bus is gonna be at eleven o'clock. I said, So for twelve hours a day from February fifteenth to call it October fifteenth, this is your schedule.

00:07:07
Speaker 3: They said, yep. I said, I'm not. That is too much to be committing that much time. Now.

00:07:13
Speaker 4: I do love being around the game and trying to find ways to impact it and help and be there to guide individuals on doing great things. But you know, you look at right now, what do we have eight managerial openings right now in Major League Baseball? I feel like it's a very tough place to have success. You know, you look at the Yankees right now, and everyone's calling for Boone's head, And my question is, well, who you want to replace them with? Who could come in there and handle that media and handle that team and be able to not only have the success from a winning percentage standpoint, but do everything else you have and oh yeah, deal with the media day in and day out.

00:07:50
Speaker 3: There's only a handful of people that can do it.

00:07:52
Speaker 4: And I think Aaron Boone's been doing an amazing job with that team in that situation, with all those other distractions. That's a job that, Yeah, it's a great one to have, But I don't necessarily think you want to do it. Aging like the president and Aging as the Yankees manager, I think are up there hand in hand in terms of stress.

00:08:11
Speaker 3: So that's the big reason why I'm looking at it going.

00:08:14
Speaker 4: You know what, if I can impact the game in a number of other ways without having to be in the dugout and be a manager, I'm gonna try to lean towards that.

00:08:24
Speaker 5: This is for everyone listening right now. What are you wearing right now? And why isn't it me on Deese Kratz. It is time for everyone to upgrade and get that super Soft micro Modal glory so good that you don't want to take it off.

00:08:41
Speaker 2: The reason I'm stone facing you is because that's how soft they are. It's ridiculous, Like I don't even understand what kind of material it is. It's got to be something space age for.

00:08:52
Speaker 5: Your butt signature super Soft micro Modal fabric, breathable, stretchy, unbelieveably cozy, and now you can even get glow in the Dark part of the Halloween line. Right now as a listener of FT, you can get cozy and spooky for less with deals up to fifty percent off at me undies dot com slash foul enter promo code foul. That's meundies dot com slash foul promo code foul for up to fifty percent off me Undie's Comfort that's made for fall.

00:09:24
Speaker 2: Well, I'm gonna tell him I'm ana text Booneye right now and tell him it looks like he's agent a lot quote look like this agent just for men. Okay, Yeah, I ain't got it. There ain't nothing for the just for men to stick to up here, Grandy.

00:09:38
Speaker 3: But hey, they got all the man pieces now you can glue it up there they do, Grandy.

00:09:43
Speaker 2: If you buy me a man piece, I will wear that John and it will look I was so confident. I'll be confident.

00:09:50
Speaker 3: Let's do it. Just can't sweat in it though, That's the only thing.

00:09:53
Speaker 2: Okay, no chance, And I'm sweating. I sweat all the time. You know what I sweat like. But my question to you then about Matt on topic Albert pulhosts. You see a superstar, think of all the Hall of Famers you've played with, superstars jumping right in to be a manager. What is the biggest hurdle? But also what's the biggest strength that he would bring to that job?

00:10:16
Speaker 4: You know, I was fortunate to get a chance to work alongside Albert Pujols with our TBS broadcast last season, and he came in and did an amazing job.

00:10:25
Speaker 3: Talks the game like the best of him. Of course, he's one of the best to ever do it.

00:10:29
Speaker 4: But then his inside analysis of how the game processes and how it works and things you see, and you got that sense right there that how involved he wants to stay with the game. He then goes and I think he's managing in winter ball and wins a championship in the Winter League. And for those of you watching this that have never experienced Winter League baseball, you got to add it to your bucket list if you are a baseball fan. It's intense from game one and the stress level might be as high as the Yankees. For example, the team I played for, Lease, which is in the capital of Santa Domingo. That team has made it to the championships multiple years. In the time, their championship round I think is nine game series, not seven.

00:11:16
Speaker 3: So keep this in mind.

00:11:18
Speaker 4: The manager recently of that team makes it to the Winner Ball Championship, they lose the first two games and they fire him.

00:11:26
Speaker 3: He is out.

00:11:28
Speaker 4: So this is the manager that gets his team to the postseason, to the championship, but you lose those first two games get up out of there. So that's the stress level that is there. And I know Albert Pujols has been there and has had some success there. So from that standpoint, I got no question that he'll be able to handle all the different things. And of course he's played in World Series and one, so he'll be able to do that. I think the biggest challenge for any former recent player coming back to manage and or coach is to be able to speak and understand the language of not only the front office, but of the current younger players. There's a difference in just how communication has to happen, certain lingos, certain things that may have worked, but how you deliver it. For example, I've heard a lot of younger players talk now as one of the biggest things they look at and you hear it in the broadcast when they announce a home run, they give you exit below, and they give you the launch angle, and then of course tell you how far it went. The generation where I've played, similar to you know, Pohos, similar to you both there we were looking at distance and did you get the home run? Like wow, that had to be four hundred and fifty feet. Either you got it or you didn't get it. On the flip, these younger players looking at it saying well, if I did the launch angle and I got the exit below, that should have resulted in a home run.

00:12:51
Speaker 3: Why did it? Why did it not?

00:12:53
Speaker 4: And you have to be able to bridge the gap of understanding why that conversation is happening.

00:12:58
Speaker 3: We looked at it and said, it's Wendy.

00:13:00
Speaker 4: You know, the sun just went down, the air got heavier, you know, all those different things. They don't see it that way, and you have to be able to understand it. I can't come in there and say your way is wrong. Don't think about it that way.

00:13:12
Speaker 3: Back in my.

00:13:12
Speaker 4: Day, this is how we did it, and you have to do it like that. If you come in there with that mindset, you are done. So I think having the ability to adapt and know, Okay, this is what is working for them. This is how you communicate with them. Same thing with the front office. This is how they communicate. And I also have to let them know how I communicate and hopefully we can all work well together. And I think that's going to be the biggest challenge for any recent former player stepping into this. But I think Albert, who else, is going to do a great job. People love him, respect him, and he wants to work. He wants to get better. He's always trying to find ways to improve.

00:13:51
Speaker 2: All right, Well, it's actually a Dominicans opening day today, So I was an Aguiluco I played for the Aguilast. You really say, you guys are like you're the little brother of the arguments boss. But anyway, so I love the Dominican I love winter ball, everything about it. I think everybody should experience it. I completely agree with you. Let's go to another younger player, Anthony Volpi. The season that he had, it's obviously coming out in his shoulder surgery. The season offensively that he had defensively, My argument was I think he still should be the starting shortstop for the Yankees moving forward. But Scott brought up a great point that maybe he shouldn't have played down the stretch. Maybe it should have been Cabairo, who's not a everyday starting shortstop, but he would have been their best choice out there at shortstop for the playoffs. What do you think about that?

00:14:44
Speaker 4: You know, again, we talked about Aaron Boone being the manager of the Yankees and the challenges that brings.

00:14:48
Speaker 3: Well.

00:14:49
Speaker 4: That shortstop position, because of a man named Derek Jeter, is one of the most historic positions in all of the games. So he set the bar so high that anyone else that comes in underneath, it's going to be some big shoes to fill and especially when you're on the big stage in the postseason.

00:15:06
Speaker 3: Now, like you said, we just saw that he had an injury.

00:15:08
Speaker 4: Who knows how much that was affecting not only his fielding, his throwing, his hitting, his mind, all those different things. When you're playing with an injury, it's just something else that you're thinking about in addition to trying to hit the baseball, field the baseball and help your team out. But the previous year got a chance to interview Aaron Boone before one of their games, before a broadcast, and he just kept ranting and raving about just defensively, how solid Anthony Bolpi is. And he said that he's not going to get a lot of attention because his throat doesn't come out.

00:15:40
Speaker 3: And light up the radar gun. But it's always there.

00:15:42
Speaker 4: It's always a market, and he's able to make the plays that you assume he's going to make. And I think that's the biggest thing. As long as you make the routine plays, that's what you want to have. All the exceptional and superstar plays like those happen, but make the routine ones. We don't want to give up extra out. So I think from that standpoint, I think he looks at the season and goes, hey, I need to improve. I need to find areas where I can improve. I did the same thing when I was with the Yankees my first year in twenty ten. I went to Kevin Long and said, I feel like I can be hitting better. So we had to start making some adjustments. And it started at the end of that season, throughout the whole offseason, into the twenty eleven season and beyond. So you have to look at yourself and say, is this the player that I think I can be or can I be better?

00:16:29
Speaker 3: And I think the team in an organization has to look at that.

00:16:31
Speaker 4: Then you go, okay, if they get better and he improves, boom, this is your spot to lose. If not, we also got to see what other options we have. You can't just stay and keep going in the same spot hoping that things are gonna change. But at the same time, competition is always a good thing. Derek Jeter said it best. He was always looking over his shoulders because someone was trying to take his job, and that's what kept pushing him forward to get better and better year after year and made him the player that he is who knows what the ceiling is gonna be for BOPI. But I think as long as he continues to push himself, understands the things he needs to work on, and the organization continues to push behind.

00:17:09
Speaker 3: Him, I think that could be an option for him.

00:17:11
Speaker 4: If not, then hey, you got to turn the page and everybody moves on. There's twenty nine other ball clubs that you can play with. I got drafted with Detroit and played for six other groups, and you both all there have played with some other teams too.

00:17:22
Speaker 3: You want to be in the big leagues.

00:17:24
Speaker 4: You don't care who it's with, but you have to do everything you can to allow yourself to be in the big leagues and be as good of a player as you can be.

00:17:32
Speaker 6: Well said, Well said, I couldn't. No, I don't think anybody here could have said it better ourselves. But yeah, for for sure, he needs, you know, he just needs maybe a little kick in the rear round, you know, something to get him going. He's a Jersey guy, so he's got it in his blood, so hopefully he can figure it out. My question, I'm gonna go back to the playoffs here. Both teams down too. Well, do you see any of these teams coming back and finding a way, you know, to make this a series so we can watch a little more baseball before the World Cheries starts.

00:18:01
Speaker 4: Well, we definitely want to get some more games in. I mean, this is our time of the year, it's October. We want those games. But here's one thing that I hope didn't happen, and it may be starting to show itself. You have the Blue Jays knock off the Yankees, Like we were just talking about, just iconic organization.

00:18:21
Speaker 3: This is an amazing moment. People wrote them off.

00:18:24
Speaker 4: You know, are they gonna get caught by the Yankees in the regular season. I even thought the Yankees might catch them, with you know, Bashett going down towards the end of the stretch, that they might pass them. Well, not only did they not pass them, then they come and bring it to the Yankees and out score them out, hit them out, pitch them out, do everything to them.

00:18:42
Speaker 3: They're amped up, they're excited. Was that their World Series? I hope not.

00:18:48
Speaker 4: On the flip this Brewers and Dodgers series, you got the big brother Little brother conversation. You got Wrigleyville North up in Milwaukee. It's Milwaukee. It's not the Cubs. Not gonna beat us in Boom. Not only do we take it to them, but we beat the Cubs and then we hang up the l flag in our team picture. Was that their World Series And I'm hoping for both of their situations they didn't peak too soon thinking that was the big moment, and that could be why both of these teams are down now two. The good thing is it's not over. You have to reset. There was an off day yesterday in the American League. There's an off day today in the National League. Can they come back and do what just happened to them, go to their ballpark and take it from them, because that's what those two teams just did. They just came in your house and beat you up. Now you gotta go back and get your stuff back. They got all your stuff. You gotta go get it back.

00:19:45
Speaker 1: Now.

00:19:46
Speaker 3: It's gonna be a challenge, though.

00:19:47
Speaker 4: I think one of the best situations though, is the Toronto Seattle Series. I got a chance to play for the Blue Jays in twenty eighteen before getting traded to the Brewers, and when we played in Seattle, so I did not realize how many Blue Jays.

00:20:03
Speaker 3: Fans there were in that area and I was.

00:20:05
Speaker 4: Told it's the one time of the year where the Western Canadians can come down and see their team and support. And not only did they come down and support, they took over the city, they took over the stadium. They had four people running on the field throughout the game. I'm not encouraging that, but that's how crazy and they say these fans were, And I think if they can bring that energy and the Blue Jays can match that energy, we can see them pick up a game, possibly even this series, sooner than you could see with the Brewers going to the Dodgers and trying to do the same thing. They're not gonna have a bunch of Brewer fans out there at Dodger Stadium. Their fans aren't just in massive growths from Wisconsin coming out to LA to takeover Dodger Stadium. That is not going to happen. However, sometimes getting out of your element, getting into a space, having your back against the wall and everybody's saying it's over, could be exactly what you need. And I think Pat Murphy's gonna get those boys excited and give them the best chance possible to go out there and try to get Game three which I think is more important for the Brewers than it is for the Blue Jays.

00:21:15
Speaker 5: This episode of Foul Territory is brought to you by Fox one. Fox one is now live stream all of your Fox favorites together in one place, from MLB postseason games to the NFL on Fox to Big Noon Saturdays. With Fox one, you get it all live. Start your seven day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. We have the website in the description of this episode.

00:21:44
Speaker 1: It's Fox one.

00:21:46
Speaker 5: It's streaming now for the baseball fans here on fteen.

00:21:50
Speaker 1: We know you love baseball. If you're listening to the show. You get LCS games.

00:21:56
Speaker 5: Right and the entire World Series every year is on Fox. So if you don't have normal cable or you can't get the channel, Fox one is the solution for you. Now, the app that solves it all again. Go to Fox one and start a seven day free trial to see for yourself how money it is.

00:22:18
Speaker 2: All right? I got one last one here for you. You had mentioned k Long you making an adjustment, you wanted to be a better Big league hitter. Is he still the guy for the job? In Philly because I've always said I think he's one of the best, if not the best hitting coaches in the big leagues at helping guys make adjustments. But this is a lineup who is a veteran crew that hasn't made the adjustment in the last two and a half postseasons combined.

00:22:44
Speaker 4: You know what, I think, Kevin Long is the most confident and optimistic hitting coach I've ever had. He makes you feel like you can hit against anybody, no matter what the situation is going.

00:22:55
Speaker 3: At the same time, these players have to.

00:22:57
Speaker 4: Continue to have that confidence in themselves and believe it for them When you get to the postseason, you know, there's been all these stories about, like you mentioned, can that offense show up, what's gonna happen with the bullpen? And then you start thinking, all right, are we starting to read into that a little bit more? Is it happening again? This is what we saw happen last time. Okay, we got to stop this before it gets going. And all those different things make it very difficult to hit. When you get back to the basics and just try to simplify it and focus on one pitch won it bad one game at a time. That's where things get easy, and Kevin Long has done a great job of doing that for as long as I can remember, just thinking, Hey, the big things. I would always ask him before every game, does this picture throw strikes?

00:23:44
Speaker 3: Is he in the zone? And what pitches does he have?

00:23:46
Speaker 4: Like those are the main things, Like we don't even think too complicated, and sometimes when you're struggling, you add a lot more to it and it starts to become even more over complicated. Okay, in this pitch in this county's gonna throw with this much spin on this part of the and if I get this swing down, I can do this and I got to hit it to this side of the field.

00:24:04
Speaker 3: That's tough when you're facing all these pitchers.

00:24:06
Speaker 4: Now I'm not saying that's what the Phillies lineup is doing, but when you start to scuffle and you start to struggle, a lot more things start to enter your mind. But I do think Kevin Long is the one of the best out there to do it. I think he's still one of the best options for that job. I don't think they need to switch anything from that because you still had a regular season where this was one of the most potent offenses in Major League Baseball, But when you get to a three game series or a five game series, bats can go cold, arms can go cold, defense can start to leak in and make mistakes. It never made at any point in time of the season. So somehow you just got to find a way to continue to peak and stay hot at the right time. Even when we look at this Dodgers and Blue Jays series, would you expect that show hal Tani is going to be having the offense that he's having, And I wouldn't necessarily put that on the hitting coach. I think there could be something He's just, Hey, I want to get the big hits.

00:25:00
Speaker 3: I've been trying to do it. I've been doing it.

00:25:02
Speaker 4: Let me continue to be this and then when it's not going your way, and it's not going your way, okay, now you start to search a little bit. But that bottom side of the lineup six, seven, eight, nine has been coming through left and right, left and right, and all it takes is one swing, one swing of the bat. And we thought we had it with the Phillies at Dodger Stadium when they got to Yamamoto, but then they got neutralized again. So credit where credit is due with that Dodger pitching staff pitching as well as they did.

00:25:30
Speaker 3: But all in all, I think Kevin Long is still the man for the job.

00:25:34
Speaker 4: He is always going to be in the casion, always getting them amped up, and I think he gives them the best shot as of today with the line of the way it's constructed with the Phillies granted.

00:25:46
Speaker 1: Great insight man. We loved having you on here.

00:25:48
Speaker 5: We love and watching your insight analysis on TBS. Keep it up, enjoy the finish line here, and we'll get you on again down the road.

00:25:56
Speaker 3: All right, hey, thank you and you all keep doing an amazing job.

00:25:59
Speaker 4: Big fans of it. Thank you for having me on crazy. I know you and I have been trying our best to schedule this. We finally made it work.

00:26:06
Speaker 1: It was.

00:26:06
Speaker 3: It was better than I expected. So good to see you.

00:26:08
Speaker 2: It was worth it.

00:26:10
Speaker 3: Let's hope we get some seven games here.

00:26:12
Speaker 5: Fingers cross, Yes, yes, fingers cross, it was well worth it.

00:26:15
Speaker 1: Thanks Curtits great to see you.

00:26:17
Speaker 3: Bob say here, y'all have a goin.

00:26:22
Speaker 1: O corner.

00:26:22
Speaker 5: Let's let's hit some news outside of the postseason, just for a few minutes here. Since we learned a lot about the Yankees in the past twenty four hours. Let's start with Anthony Wolpee. He had a rough season, a brutal Division series, but he did have surgery performed on his left shoulder this week. What's today Wednesday? So on Tuesday day ago, and I would say he might be the I don't say most controversial, but most talked about player, especially in this area over the past year, because he was a super prospect and hasn't been a star okay the first couple of years and had a really rough year. Is the shoulder a legit excuse for why it was mostly a disaster?

00:27:08
Speaker 2: I would say yes.

00:27:09
Speaker 6: I would say an injury like that your front shoulder, how you swing, you saw like some of his swings like he held it with two hands. Because when you swing in one hand and all of a sudden you let the extension go, that's gonna put pain and discomfort to your to your arm and shoulder. I feel and a lot of people might not agree, but I feel like this is a reasonable excuse of why he struggled. He's a great ballplayer, he's a good infielder, and never struggles on both sides. When you have pain and you can't go through with a lot of things. Guess what it's gonna be on your mind. You're gonna favor one side over the next. Yeah, he could add a bet of your ear. But guess what, I praise him for this. He played through it all and guess what, didn't say anything bad. He kept going, didn't say, oh man, I'm injured this and that. I give him praise and I you know, I respect him a little bit more for an understanding. The dude needs to get shoulder surgery. So he played through that and thought through that. Yeah, maybe there was a couple of days they could have gave him, you know, a day or two off to help him out with it all. But the way they were going, they needed him. Then he did.

00:28:08
Speaker 1: He struggled.

00:28:09
Speaker 6: We're not saying he did, but with a shoulder problem to end up getting surgery yesterday. Yeah, commendable.

00:28:15
Speaker 5: I have two follow up questions for you. Number one, his overall offensive production was almost identical to the.

00:28:22
Speaker 1: First two years. Defense took a massive step back. I'm with you.

00:28:25
Speaker 5: You could see that, right. But offense ops plus one hundreds league average year one eighty one, year two, eighty six, year three, eighty three, right. I mean the batting average was way down, but the slugging was up a little bit. Many fans are looking at his offensive production being like it was essentially the same. So should he be the guy going forward? You give him a chance at a short stop position for a team that is very demanding of its players and of its success and is falling short.

00:28:58
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:28:58
Speaker 6: I want to go back to one little point and then I'll get that an answer.

00:29:01
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:29:01
Speaker 6: I think the problem with this year his lows were so low, and I think, you know, his highs weren't is hot, you know what I'm saying. So he was you know, for that stint he was like one for thirty or forty. Oh, he had like eighteen strikeouts, whatever the numbers were. The strikeouts were really high. Then he'd do okay, and then boom he'd fall off again. I think that's where the struggle came for all fans the Sea, they're like, man, when this guy is struggling, it is.

00:29:25
Speaker 1: Like bought rock bottom.

00:29:27
Speaker 6: And I think that's that's the problem. I think they give another shot.

00:29:31
Speaker 3: I do.

00:29:31
Speaker 6: I think they do.

00:29:32
Speaker 3: Now.

00:29:32
Speaker 6: I'm not saying they can't go out and shop somebody else. To put a little pressure on or you know, have one of the younger guys come up. I just don't see it right now. I feel like they'd have to go out and get somebody. But yes, he deserves to get another shot there at shortstop. He's young, he's quick, he's fast, He's shown a lot of potential. But New York's a different ballgame. What have you done for me lately? Attitude?

00:29:53
Speaker 2: That's New York.

00:29:55
Speaker 5: Sorry, Yeah, you got to be an above average performer at the position for first division team when you're the shortstop. I mean, I guess you don't have to, but they would prefer that.

00:30:05
Speaker 2: Can I give you a comp? Can I give you a shortstop comp? Who would lend to me saying I want Volpi to get another year? You guys ever heard of Dansby Swanson? Go look up his first three years. Yeah, his first cup of coffee in the big leagues, he did well. You had a like a ops plus of like one p fifteen and like one hundred and summ at bat. So he was hot for a little bit. His next three years. We're all actually under collectively what Anthony Volpi's done. So if he did the exact same offensive production based on OPS plus, which is a good standard. While he was hurt, maybe there is a little bit of maybe there is a little progression, Maybe there is a a you know, he's starting to learn a little bit more and is he maybe would have had a better year had his shoulder not been bothering. But I know for a fact, because I talk to people that are involved with this much to that shoulder, even though it was his left shoulder bug his defense. Think about third base, you don't have as much lateral movement. It was really bugging him when he would go laterally we go to his glove side, that extra extension glove slide glove side was tough for him. Anytime that he had to make a quick turn spin that front side was really bothering him. And I guess, you know, people don't really understand that. You know, it's like, oh, well, if your right arm doesn't hurt you, why would your left arm hurt defense. It hindered his mobility to be able to get to the spot and then be able to make the throw. So I know that for a fact that it was bothering him. He'll never come out and say it, but this was from somebody else telling me that he said it was bothering him, and so to me, I give him another shot. He does have a gold glove in his bag if he struggles next year, or maybe the offense doesn't tick up, because that's when dansby Sponson's ticked up and he was technically a year old in Volpe's a year behind him. I tend to give him another shot. And maybe that's me as a player saying all players can improve. I just see enough in him that I would say, yes, I give him another chance.

00:32:14
Speaker 5: Quick follow up if his shoulder was so messed up this year, A lot of fans want to know why he was playing, because he was more of a liability than a productive human being. I would rather al Sueriro, who's healthy, then Volpy with half a shoulder.

00:32:31
Speaker 6: I mean, I don't know. I look at him. It's hard guitar. I think I think was a better option.

00:32:43
Speaker 2: Okay, it's just it's the same argument that we always have with pictures. Why did they not keep the starting pitcher in? Well, they felt like the other guy was better. You're going to keep your starting pitcher in if you don't have somebody else to bring in, you're going to keep Anthony Vulpian if you feel like he is. To me, Anthony Volpi is a big league shortstop, and that is a statement that I make all the time on this show. What does that look like, Well, it looks like there's only really probably thirty five guys in the big leagues that can truly play shortstop day in and day out. Can Cabriiro play shortstop? Yes? Is he a big league shortstop? Maybe more of a big league utility player, just saying he can play shortstop in the big leagues, But I don't know if he's necessarily a big lea shortstop. I think Volpi is even a little compromised.

00:33:35
Speaker 5: Okay, Yeah, for me, I would have gone Cabairo down the stretch and not Cabairo as their starting shortstop long term, but agreed to disagree.

00:33:45
Speaker 1: Yankees coaching staff moves.

00:33:49
Speaker 5: Longtime bullpen coach Mike Harpy gon first base infield coach Travis Chapman, also not returning other roles being discussed. They feel like they have to do something. This is just the Yankees, as any team when they feel like they came up short.

00:34:03
Speaker 1: So they're like, uh, you your fault?

00:34:05
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, Harkey man, that's that's a tough one.

00:34:09
Speaker 2: Arecraft.

00:34:09
Speaker 6: You know him very well. He's been like he's been there since they started. It seems like this whole thing, great human being, he'll never forget you. He's always had a smile on his face. And uh, yeah, I didn't know Travis that well, but I'm sure he's a great guy. But seeing Harkey go, that's a tough one. So hopefully, hopefully it was mutual and we can go from there.

00:34:31
Speaker 2: I mean, I know Chappie real well. He was he was one of the infield coaches when I was in Triple A with the Yankees. There was a relentless worker. He's ready to go. And Harkey, geez, that one, that one I'm surprised about. I hope they because I thought he did a good job of complimenting Boonie's decisions, and Boonie definitely he would he would ask him, He would ask him a lot, and he had a good, good rapport with the guys in the bullpen. I hope they get somebody with experience to not somebody that says, geez, I wonder what the ipan says.

00:35:07
Speaker 5: We'll talk about the manager interviews because they're happening left and right, since half the league has an opening.

00:35:12
Speaker 1: Just kidding, it's only about a third.

00:35:13
Speaker 5: Andy Martinez reports the Orioles have interviewed Yankees third base coach and former Mets manager Luis Rojas for their opening. If he does not get a managerial job, the Yankees will want him back.

00:35:24
Speaker 1: Highly valued coach.

00:35:26
Speaker 6: He's one of my managers coming up with the Mets. The guy is just solid, dude. And first off, he's solid up here, and he's he's solid. He's brawn, you know, like he's he's an absolute stud of a guy. You know, he used to manage over in I forget that Venezuela or a Dominican, I forget where.

00:35:44
Speaker 1: Wherever he's from because he didn't have experience managing for that. But he took you over the Mets.

00:35:49
Speaker 6: No, no, no, but he did. He did the winner Leagues over there. But dr thank you Cratzy. He knows his stuff. He's an incredible guy. He's a great manager for guys, for players. He's soft spoken. He's not going to be that hoorah guy. That guy's going to be talking a lot. He's straight to the point. But he also wants the best out of people too as well. I could see him definitely filling that job and doing a really good job at it too.

00:36:14
Speaker 1: He's only forty four. Kratz.

00:36:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's definitely a guy who We had Joe Madden on yesterday talking about maybe you got to hit all your stops, maybe you got to you know, have a different He's bilingual, he has the respect of players, and clearly the Yankees still like him because they started getting rid of some coaches and they're like, if you don't get the job, we want you back. And I think it's important to have guys that can do different things on your staff. I think he'd be a great manager for the O's