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Episode 8: Duke Disaster + The Long Awaited AL PREVIEW
20 Plays2 months ago
The boys relive the final moments of UConn's legendary Elite Eight upset over Duke. Was it the greatest ending to a basketball game of all time? We think so! And after much anticipation, it is time for the American League preview. Hear who to keep an eye on, who to ignore, and what to expect in the American League this year.
Also, the latest in the NCAA Men's Basketball coaching carousel, legal cases defining the future of college sports, the regular season debut of the ABS system, and the WNBA returning to Houston in 2027.
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Transcript
Introduction to Coastal Launch Sports Talk
00:00:01
Cody Atkinson
Hello and welcome to the Coastal Launch Sports Talk. I'm Cody, coming to you from the bayous of Houston, Texas.
00:00:09
justin_daulton
And I'm Justin coming to you from the magic of Orlando, Florida.
00:00:13
Cody Atkinson
We are your premier destination for the sports stories that move the needle. From the national stage to the grit of the Southeast, we're bridging the gap between our two space cities and bringing you the sports stories that matter most to you. And today we are delivering the much delayed, but much anticipated, AL preview. I think this is week three of promising it and we're delivering it.
March Madness Highlights and Predictions
00:00:35
Cody Atkinson
The and MLB season has officially kicked off and we are here to let you know what to look out for in the American League.
00:00:40
Cody Atkinson
Plus, the second week of March Madness brought us some huge moments, maybe one of the biggest moments in tournament history. So we will make sure to relive those as well.
00:00:51
Cody Atkinson
ah With our trajectory set, it's time to sit back, lock in, and get started with the rundown. This is the Coastal Launch, and we are ready for liftoff here on Episode
00:01:03
justin_daulton
Alright man, welcome to episode 8 man, where we're we're moving and grooving here, two weeks till our video debut, um I think we can comfortably say that now to the to the the dozens of fans that I think that we have listening to the show. um um That we're two weeks away from from video um officially here on the Colesalon Sports Talk, which will kick off with our WrestleMania preview um with potentially a special guest to help carry that a little bit um to to help educate you over there.
00:01:33
justin_daulton
um But excited to get the rundown going, man. Busy week in sports. um Let's talk March Madness recap. um ah Ultimately, the final four is now set as of last night.
00:01:45
justin_daulton
UConn versus Illinois and then Michigan versus Arizona. um I think to my knowledge, I think I have two of those picks. You as well have two.
00:01:56
Cody Atkinson
Um, that's a good question. i don't, I know I don't have Yukon or Illinois. I do have Arizona. I don't know if I have Michigan. I might have Michigan and Arizona. Uh, but I, I don't know specifically in, uh, in, in what we'll call the coastal launch bracket.
00:02:11
Cody Atkinson
I have numerous other brackets trying to, trying to diversify and spread out risk, you know?
00:02:18
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:02:18
Cody Atkinson
ah But no, it's it's an it's an exciting Final Four for sure.
00:02:19
justin_daulton
ah
00:02:21
Cody Atkinson
UConn, Illinois is the kind of the Cinderella side, a two seed and a three seed, so nothing dramatic, but still two teams that have had um incredibly exciting runs to get there.
00:02:31
Cody Atkinson
And then you got the favorites, the Juggernauts and Michigan-Arizona on the other side.
00:02:35
justin_daulton
Yeah, absolutely. um it's you know It's been ah an insane tournament. Obviously, we're about to kind of recap out this past weekend. But when you talk about from where we were at when we built the brackets to now, man, like I don't think anyone would have predicted this is the Final Four going into it. Not even the you know the pundits that try to like say they're professionals and break this down.
00:02:54
justin_daulton
No one I saw had this be the Final Four. Outside of the course, the Michigan-Arizona being the one seats from their respective sections of the bracket. Yeah.
00:03:03
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, that's that's the chalk right there. UConn was pretty slept on. I mean, that was my talking point. um And in the bracket that I was doing was the kind of the UConn. UConn is overrated this year and UCLA was hot. So I had UConn lose in round two. um Man, do we just want to did you watch UConn Duke?
00:03:23
Cody Atkinson
Like, do we just need to get into this?
00:03:24
justin_daulton
I watched, the I watched, the I rewatched um pretty much the last like four minutes.
00:03:25
Cody Atkinson
Did you see this live? Did you rewatch it?
00:03:31
justin_daulton
I didn't have time to sit back and watch the entire game back again. But I did get to watch just the, the, the comeback and the kind of shifting in and momentum and then ultimately getting into the last, you know, 30 seconds where, of course, it's typical basketball foul here, foul there, you know, try to drain out the clock and all that stuff.
00:03:47
justin_daulton
So, but I'll i'll kick it to you, man. Like, go ahead and break this, this insanity down for us.
00:03:52
Cody Atkinson
This was quite possibly the best ending to a basketball game that I have ever seen. And I might be prisoner of the moment in that, but if that's okay, if if that's if that's me being prisoner of the moment, then I like being prisoner of the moment. This is where I want to stay. like So I watched this ending. i was I wasn't watching the whole game super closely. and I was taking a little bit of a break from from sports, but I checked back in with like three minutes left.
00:04:20
Cody Atkinson
um the last 10 seconds of this game i watched it it's one of the first times in years that ah an ending has actually made me jump up off the couch like i was watching it and i just threw my hands up in the air like no way jumped off the couch i have no dog in this fight whatsoever but it was so cool and then i made sure they they played through the timeout the last point three ticks off I rewind it back to the free throws at 10 seconds. I go upstairs and I say, Amanda, you've been enjoying this tournament so much, but you didn't watch this game.
00:04:52
Cody Atkinson
Go downstairs and see this miraculous ending for yourself because you will want to experience this. And then I brought her downstairs to watch it and she lost her mind attitude. It was, it was incredible. um that So painting the picture, Yukon down,
00:05:11
Cody Atkinson
I guess it would have been three down three gets fouled with 10 seconds left. ah Two free throws misses the first one. ah You're running through all the options. Do you miss the second on purpose? Try to get the rebound, shoot a three to tie it.
00:05:27
Cody Atkinson
Do you make the first one foul immediately? What's the play here? Makes the second one. down to Duke inbounds it. UConn does not foul immediately. yeah Duke passes it to one guy, then do ah passes it from the first guy to the second guy, then to a third guy who panic throws it or right into the hands of a UConn defender, tips it up, catches it, pass back and forth, hits up Dang near half court three, a smooth half court three swish with 0.3 left.
00:05:58
Cody Atkinson
I think it maybe changed to 0.4 after the fact ah to end it. And the UConn 73, Duke 72. It was unreal because there's there's a point where they're taking free throws, right?
00:06:09
Cody Atkinson
He misses the first one and you think to yourself, well, this was fun, but it's a shame that it's a shame that we've got chalk, right?
00:06:12
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:06:15
Cody Atkinson
You're like Duke's going to be, you you're like you're at Duke, Illinois, Michigan, Arizona. This isn't super exciting. But at least UConn made it fun. And never in a million years did I think that. I think it was one of the Boozer twins. I think it was Caden Boozer might be his name.
00:06:32
Cody Atkinson
um I'll double check that while i'm talking. um he's he Never in a million years I think that he was going to pass that and turn it over. there There were 10 seconds left. you you can't If you take a 10-second backcourt violation, the game's over anyways.
00:06:50
Cody Atkinson
So he doesn't need to advance the ball. If you get fouled, you just have to make one Of the two and the game's basically over, you make both, the game is over, and
College Basketball Coaching Changes and Ethics
00:06:59
Cody Atkinson
he throws it straight to the hands of UConn and hit they hit the silkiest three-pointer of all time. they were um ah they were They started the game one of 18 from three. I think at that point they were five of 23 after he made that one. That guy was one of five from three. That was that was the only one he made all day, Braylon Mullins, one of five from three. He was 0 for four going into that. is
00:07:23
Cody Atkinson
It was crazy, dude. I have a soft spot for Duke for Yukon. um And like all of America, i have the opposite of a soft spot for Duke where you just enjoy there. You just enjoy a good Duke face plant.
00:07:32
justin_daulton
You.
00:07:35
Cody Atkinson
um So let me hit you with a couple stats here. Number one seeds when leading by 15 at the half, 134 and 0. That is now 134 and 1.
00:07:44
Cody Atkinson
that's now one thirty four and one Duke had a lead of 19 at one point um in the second half. And if we if we take this back to last year,
00:07:57
Cody Atkinson
And the years prior, John Shire, head coach of Duke, has a choking problem. um There's a choke to UConn this year. They choked to Houston in the Final Four last year. That game was over.
00:08:09
Cody Atkinson
I was at the game. Houston fans were silent. They were heading for the exit. And then you just don't really know what happened. You look up and Houston's in the weed and you're like, how did this happen? How did Duke forget how to score?
00:08:20
Cody Atkinson
um That was a choke. The year before, they lost to the 11-seed NC State that went on the final four run. um And then the year before that, Coach K's final game was a loss to rival UNC in the tourney. It has been a rough four years for Duke, and man, that was incredible.
00:08:40
justin_daulton
Yeah, I don't know if there's anything else to really say, man. You definitely nailed it on a lot of that there, right? But it's, you know... And
00:08:46
Cody Atkinson
I've been taking it in all day. Okay. ah good
00:08:49
justin_daulton
and for and for good reason, right? like It was probably the most exciting game of the Elite Eight in full transparency. um So definitely something to to be said of like when you...
00:09:00
justin_daulton
When you end the game like that, you're going to have that excitement, or or at least in the way that it did end, right? But I think the part that, and you hit the nail on the head for me, right, where it's if if they just held on to the ball and they didn't try to make it to the to the front court, the game doesn't end that way.
00:09:17
justin_daulton
Like that if they just hold onto the ball, you know, same way that you see in like soccer, right?
00:09:18
Cody Atkinson
yeah
00:09:22
justin_daulton
When you go to the corner, you know, hold off the defender. If they, if they hit it, they it goes out of bounds. Same type of mentality, right? That if you just turn your back to them, you know, protect the ball. And as long as it doesn't go out of bounds, you're, you're winning the game.
00:09:37
justin_daulton
You're going to, you're going to what Indianapolis next weekend for the final four.
00:09:41
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, for the Final Four.
00:09:41
justin_daulton
Like, like that. and And that's what, and that's what you're talking about here. Right. So to me, it's just, it's,
00:09:45
Cody Atkinson
You know, to c create the craziest thing the the craziest thing is with how little time there was on the clock, if he took that ball and threw it straight up in the air as high as he could possibly throw it, by the time it came down, the game would have been over.
00:09:47
justin_daulton
No, go ahead.
00:09:59
Cody Atkinson
You're talking about it like hold it, dribble, throw it straight up in the air.
00:09:59
justin_daulton
Yeah. So, mean, there's just... Yeah.
00:10:05
Cody Atkinson
Throw it under, ah like between the legs anywhere other than where you threw it and Duke's onto the final four.
00:10:09
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:10:12
justin_daulton
hell roll it down the court. you By the time I would have made it, made it anywhere, you'd be fine.
00:10:13
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:10:16
justin_daulton
So yeah, there's just so many, like to me, it just comes to, it comes down to poor coaching, honestly, at that point, right.
00:10:17
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, pull it.
00:10:23
justin_daulton
That you're, you're guys aren't coached up that way or well enough to do it. Right. And it's easy that, you know, we're going sit here play, you know, Monday morning quarterback, you know, armchair quarterback, whatever you want to say. Right. But at the end of the day, like that comes back to the coach and, you know, you don't coach your guys up to, to sustain pressure and, you know,
00:10:39
justin_daulton
you you mentioned the, the boozer brother that didn't put get his hand up there at the end, right? Like there was no defense whatsoever on that, on that half court shot.
00:10:47
Cody Atkinson
Oh, that was Isaiah Evans.
00:10:50
justin_daulton
Isaiah Evans. Thank you. Um, He doesn't even get a hand up to to defend the shot. It doesn't do anything. Duke looked ducletptite they were just the chosen ones and they were to waltz their way through and they just don't do anything to, you know, to to back up that that claim.
00:11:04
justin_daulton
So, yeah, it's it's crazy. And, i you know, I didn't even know the the how bad the choking has really been over the last couple of years until and so I saw the notes today that it really is, like, since Coach K has left, and it's just not been it's not been good and and in Duke.
00:11:15
Cody Atkinson
it's, it's a trend. And it's not even since he left, it's his last couple of years there too. Like he obviously you get close to retirement, you fall off a little bit, right? Like that doesn't taint his legacy by any means, but, But they they they trailed off a little bit. And then Shire, it's hard to say too much negative about him, right? Like, at the end of the day, he's coached this team for, what, two or three years. And he said they've been a one seed every tourney. Like, he's he's losing ah two games a year. but
00:11:48
Cody Atkinson
he's got a problem with closing out with with closing out must like almost certain victories, right? Like the 90-plus percent win percentages. And I think it was something like Duke lost four games this year, and all four games they had at least a 96% win percentage at some point during that game.
00:12:06
justin_daulton
Yeah, the stat that I saw today of the four games that Duke lost this season, it was a combined total of nine points.
00:12:07
Cody Atkinson
So he has ah he has a weak spot.
00:12:15
justin_daulton
Like, that was the difference.
00:12:16
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. And in all of them, they had a significant lead.
00:12:17
justin_daulton
So...
00:12:20
justin_daulton
Yeah. So at the end of the man, it's just like you got to coach to win the game and you got to coach those guys to to win down the stretch and withstand pressure.
00:12:21
Cody Atkinson
I
00:12:29
justin_daulton
and As of right now, I've got no confidence in Duke to do that. I think both of us ended up having Duke lose anyway on our bracket at some point.
00:12:36
Cody Atkinson
i had them one round earlier, I think.
00:12:37
justin_daulton
um Yeah, I had him in the... I think I had him in the final four losing to my eventual what I would have picked to be the winner was Michigan State. um
00:12:46
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm. Oh, that would have been this round then.
00:12:47
justin_daulton
So it's just like...
00:12:49
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:12:49
justin_daulton
Yeah, to win this round. Yeah. So it, yeah.
00:12:51
Cody Atkinson
You just had the wrong opponent.
00:12:54
justin_daulton
um So it's just like, yeah, it's, you know, they got figure out up there, man. And if not, the game's going keep passing them by the same way that, you know, you look at some of these other perennial powerhouses in college basketball, right?
00:13:05
justin_daulton
Like, when was the last time we talked about Kentucky making a serious run? You know, was the last time we talked about UNC actually making a serious run?
00:13:09
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:13:13
justin_daulton
Even Kansas to an extent, right? Like these juggernauts that have been known to make
00:13:15
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:13:17
justin_daulton
deep runs, you know, and, you know, maybe we need to start talking about these new bloods coming up, you know, we, you know, you and I in our bracket selection talked about the Arkansas's of the world, you know, Alabama from the last couple of years, right?
00:13:28
justin_daulton
Like Houston coming up the last couple of years, right?
00:13:30
Cody Atkinson
Well, UConn is the the perennial New Blood.
00:13:31
justin_daulton
So, I mean, yeah, you,
00:13:33
Cody Atkinson
They are as new blood as New Blood gets. I think it's five championships in all of them in this like in this millennia, or however you say that, like,
00:13:40
justin_daulton
Yeah, shout out to the Big East. um So, you know, there's this, you know, maybe we need to start shifting our focus and maybe you stop talking about these bluebloods that have been running college basketball and maybe actually you start talking about these these teams that are actually making waves and are trying to play new age basketball.
00:13:55
Cody Atkinson
yeah
00:13:57
justin_daulton
Like maybe there is, you know, a Bucky McMillan in college station or maybe it is you know, like I said, Arkansas, Alabama, Houston, UConn, right? Even Florida to to an extent, right? You know, these these collection of teams that are are trying to play basketball a little different way rather than just rely on name brand all on its own.
00:14:07
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm. Florida.
00:14:15
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. I mean, you do think it Almost certainly Duke and John Shire will figure this out because he's not a bad coach, right? like They have been the most talented team two years in a row and they've lived up to it for all but you know one game at some point in the tournament. So like you do think that Shire specifically and Duke will figure this out, but God, until they do, it's going to be fun.
00:14:37
Cody Atkinson
like Like, I can't wait to see how they how they how they match this next year. Right. Like last year was bad. This year was worse. Can you give me even worse next year? Like, what can you top it, please? Because like at this point, like I'm an addict and my tolerance is building up. I need something better next year
00:14:55
justin_daulton
Oh, man.
00:14:55
Cody Atkinson
But you talk about the you talk about the New Bloods. The other story of the the kind of the tournament up to this point is Iowa ah with their Elite Eight Their win over Nebraska. they were um They weren't down by a lot, but they were down pretty much the whole game until like three minutes left, tied 65-65.
00:15:15
Cody Atkinson
um Come out to win, ultimately lose to to Illinois. But what a run. at Ben McCollum is a guy that I think might be one of those next up. I put some stats in here for you. He only coached a Drake for one year, ah but he was 31 and four and they made it to the round of 32, eventually losing to Texas tech.
00:15:35
Cody Atkinson
And then in his first year at Iowa, a lot of the same players, a massive jump in competition from, I think Drake is like Missouri Valley conference. um You know, up to the big 10, Iowa goes 24, 13, get gardeners, a nine seed and makes a run at the sweet 16. Like,
00:15:53
Cody Atkinson
He might be one of those next up mentality, kind of look at this guy for, you know, whoever the next, you know, major university is where their coach retires and sails off into the sunset. Like Ben McCullough might be your guy.
00:16:08
justin_daulton
Yeah, I mean, you start talking about that Big Ten kind of aspect or the aspect, right, of it all, right? You know, a couple weeks or, you know, a couple months ago, we talked about Kurt Signetti, right? You know, up in Indiana, right? that the The culture coming in from a new coach that's proven and he wins, right? You know, obviously Signetti having the the the infamous, you know,
00:16:28
justin_daulton
welcoming so ceremony for him. Maybe you are talking about that with Ben McCollum, right? Can he continue to recruit?
00:16:32
Cody Atkinson
Feast week.
00:16:33
justin_daulton
Can he continue to bring in this and bring bring in these guys reload, right? Obviously, as the year goes on, well obviously we're going to talk about can Indiana, you know, repeat, can they reload and do what they need to do to be successful going forward?
00:16:45
justin_daulton
You know, maybe it is something we need to look at Iowa as the, as we get around to, you know, next October, November, when, when we start talking about those, those wacky tournaments that put that happen in college basketball before the season happens, know,
00:16:55
Cody Atkinson
feast weekek
00:16:57
justin_daulton
Yeah, and and really get into all that. And maybe we do need to look at Iowa as we get into it. you know, I didn't know too much about Iowa until they went on this run, right? That, you know, I pi could go back and look at my bracket.
00:17:06
Cody Atkinson
I
00:17:07
justin_daulton
I'm pretty sure I had them losing in the first round. so i mean So, I mean, it's, you know, something to think about, something to keep in the back of our minds as we get into to next season and start thinking about, you know, what is what does Iowa have?
00:17:10
Cody Atkinson
did.
00:17:21
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, and it's just it's a thing to keep an eye on for Iowa, but also just for kind of coaching carousels in general, which we if you want, we can use that as a transition to the next topic. But ah just to keep an eye out, because I think he's a name that you will see. search I don't think he's going anywhere this year, but I think he's a name you'll see circulated every year until he takes the next job.
00:17:43
justin_daulton
or he signs a long-term extension with Iowa, one of the two.
00:17:45
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, or or that. Yeah, I think he's already said he's staying at Iowa. He doesn't plan on leaving after one year, but I personally can't imagine that he's not going to take something bigger and better um than than that. I don't know what their NIL situation is, but I feel like a better offer is going to come his way.
00:18:03
justin_daulton
Yeah, i don't think there's any big boosters out of Iowa. could be wrong, but i don't I don't think there's a lot of big names and not out of Iowa that's giving bags of money to the basketball program.
00:18:06
Cody Atkinson
yeah
00:18:11
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I mean, they're just not they're not known as a big spending school. So I feel like the big spending school comes along or ah just a basketball heritage type brand, you know, um I could see him him swinging for for one of those.
00:18:20
justin_daulton
yeah
00:18:24
justin_daulton
Yeah, absolutely. But yeah, I think you already alluded to man. Take it over to to the coaching carousel in men's basketball.
00:18:31
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I think there's there's a couple things I wanted to point and I'll fly through this a little bit because we're not, I mean, we're not experts of the basketball game, so I don't want to talk like an expert here, but there's a couple things I wanted to to bring up to you, man. LSU.
00:18:46
Cody Atkinson
um So I don't know how familiar you are, but Will Wade was the the basketball coach at LSU, fired in 2022 for recruiting violations, ah paying playing paint players, things of that nature. ah Left LSU, I think had to take a year off, coached at McNeese State, um got him to the tournament, takes a job at NC State this past year before leaving after only one season to come back to the school.
00:19:12
Cody Atkinson
that he was fired from for recruiting violations. So ah my my question to you, as you can see here, is is is that is that is that slimy LSU or is that just fair game because he's continued to to take teams to the tournament since he left?
00:19:29
justin_daulton
I mean, i mean i'm not super well-versed in what his path was, right? That it truly was, you know, that he had to take the year off and he you know he paid his time and all that stuff, right? um I think it's...
00:19:39
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I guess the... from ah From a foot, I'll give it to you since you're not well-versed on the details. Like coach fired, does his time brought back eventually to original school that he was fired from. Is that like a fair game or or like once you're fired for whatever violations and you do your time, you just have to go make a living elsewhere?
00:20:01
justin_daulton
I think to me, and once again, this is surface level for me, going to call fair game, right? That, you know, any any school could have stepped up and be like, all right, you know, I've seen you have success at NC State.
00:20:06
Cody Atkinson
Okay. Okay.
00:20:13
justin_daulton
seen you have a success at McNeese State. You know, why didn't, you know, UNC, a Duke, or a Kentucky, whatever it is, any of them could have stepped up in those absences and been like, all right, like, I've seen this guy's potential.
00:20:26
justin_daulton
the The violations that he had are now legal. So like, yes, you know, this, right, correct.
00:20:32
Cody Atkinson
Presumably.
00:20:33
Cody Atkinson
and don't i don't know all of them.
00:20:33
justin_daulton
I mean, I don't know how, right.
00:20:35
justin_daulton
But I mean, if it if if it truly is paying players, paying players is legal now as long as you're playing within the confines of what the n NIL rules are, which, as you and you and I have talked about, not on the podcast, but um how just there is no governing body over NIL.
00:20:43
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:20:50
justin_daulton
So, you know, basically no rules. Just kind of do what you got to do, right? um so I'm going to call fair game because he could have been hired by anyone. And, like, this isn't LSU's fault, right? LSU fired him when the investigation came up.
00:21:05
justin_daulton
the guy went out you know if he did serve his time by taking a year off and then he's been successful with these other two programs maybe state was also uh you know successful this year made it into the run right or made it into the dance so i mean i'm gonna call fair game i can see where you know people that may be more into this can say slimy um just because lsu's track record as of late but i think it's fair game man you know you
00:21:05
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:21:31
justin_daulton
NC State isn't that popular of a program when it comes to basketball. They're more of a baseball team. um So, i mean, eventually you've got figure if this guy's going to be winning, he's not going to be with your program for much longer. or So I'm to call fair game.
00:21:46
Cody Atkinson
Okay. I definitely lean slimy. It's a little bit of the LSU reputation um mixed with a, you know, NC State hired him one year ago. So he bounces after one year. that always feels a little slimy, especially when it's like you're bouncing one year to go back to a place you knew. Like, did you always know you were coming back?
00:22:07
Cody Atkinson
in a year um and you just did a one stop somewhere else to get a little to get to get a higher salary for a year. I don't know. um It feels slimy to me, but it but it could also be fair game to your point. um Here's a fun fact on LSU for you though.
00:22:20
Cody Atkinson
um LSU is spending nearly $200 million dollars related to hiring Lane Kiffin and Will Wade. So that's Lane Kiffin's a negotiated contract, seven years, 91 million.
00:22:34
Cody Atkinson
They also paid a $54 million buyout to Brian Kelly. um Will Wade, they had to pay $3 million to NC State to buy him out. Plus... ah His contract is seven years, 30 million, and then an $8 million dollars buyout to former LSU basketball coach Matt McMahon. So $200 million dollars LSU is spending to correct some coaching hire mistakes. And we'll see how that pays off for him. And that is a risky, a risky yeah strategy there. And they're,
00:23:07
Cody Atkinson
That's ah the state that's not known to have a lot of money. So um we'll see if they're good for it. I feel like they could really get themselves back into a corner because this doesn't include any of the NIL going out.
00:23:18
Cody Atkinson
They're paying the top baseball coach, top women's basketball coach. There's a lot of a lot of money being spent there. And at one point, the conversation was that they couldn't afford to buy out Brian Kelly. So I don't know where it's coming from.
00:23:31
justin_daulton
ah Yeah, I mean, LSU is always going to be a topic of the conversation for you and I for, you know, for as long as we do this show, right? That, you know, A&M and LSU are gonna are rivals now, you know, connected at the hip.
00:23:38
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:23:44
justin_daulton
So, I mean, it's, you know, it's interesting to see them take this approach that they want to win at every level, you know, at every program. um over there in baton rouge so i mean it's it's interesting to see you know money doesn't always win championships and we we've seen that as of late right you know kurt signetti's contract up until the extension he signed this off season was very low right he didn't he wasn't you know in the top 10 in that in salary um going into it even if you look at it you know I guess you could go back to Jimbo with A&M, right, was the last time that we really saw a big name contract come in and that to that extent, right?
00:24:20
justin_daulton
You know, of of luring him away from Florida State to sign the, i don't even remember what the contract was now, but going and signing the extension after year one, you know, after the success that he had and then ultimately A&M getting into, what was it, almost a $90 million dollars hole to get Jimbo out of College Station after four years.
00:24:21
Cody Atkinson
Yeah,
00:24:37
Cody Atkinson
yeah it was a lot.
00:24:39
justin_daulton
and we're still paying a gym but we're we're paying we're paying jumbo to make guest appearances on it on espn you know so it it's going to be interesting to see what happens with lsu obviously we know their their baseball program is is elite you know they're they're always in the conversation top 25 and sometimes top 15 top 10.
00:24:39
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, it was it was an absurd hole.
00:24:57
justin_daulton
so it's you know lsu baseball is always going to be there i don't think lsu basketball when you when we talk about lsu i really only think of of baseball and football so it's going to be interesting to see you know obviously the the only names are really that comes to mind is shack right is is the only prominent basketball player there and i'm sure the comments can correct me there that there's i'm sure there's another name that came through lsu and you know was big there but and okay
00:25:21
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, they had beent they had Ben Simmons was another big one who didn't do anything in the NBA, but he was he was big in a big recruit.
00:25:29
justin_daulton
yeah so i mean at the end of the day like i just don't see You know, in the in the day and age of n NIL, I don't see how you're going to convince these names to come to LSU over UNC, over Duke, over even Florida, right? And Gainesville being close to to beaches and everything and being spring break and all that, right?
00:25:49
justin_daulton
You know, I don't think that way when it comes to LSU. So it's going to be very interesting to see what it looks like um in the coming years. So way too...
00:25:58
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, we'll see. I have to assume that there will be some level of success because he did it at McNeese State and he did it at NC State. so and he And he was having success at LSU before. So I feel like LSU basketball is going to bounce back ah a good bit. But there is the question to your point of like how high can they really bounce back?
00:26:17
justin_daulton
Yeah, what's what's the ceiling? I think it's the better question.
00:26:21
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, certainly.
00:26:22
justin_daulton
Cool.
00:26:22
Cody Atkinson
and And they spent a lot of money to try to find the ceiling. um I got a couple more points for you for you here before we so switch off to the next one. um we We talked about it a little bit with Ben McCollum. What's the next big job opening that's going to come? North Carolina fires Hubert Davis um on the the heels of his 19-point goal.
00:26:42
Cody Atkinson
um collapse to ah VCU. ah They were up 19, ended up losing that game. Very similar to Duke. um Two peas in a pod. So Hubert Davis fired, opens the the North Carolina job, which 90% of ah acting coaches would happily leave for, it feels like.
00:27:04
Cody Atkinson
um And because of that and ripple effects that can come from that, Texas A&M extends Bucky McMillan after only one season. I know we had slightly differing opinions on this.
00:27:15
Cody Atkinson
um It is only a one year extension. So he's just getting back the year that he just worked and he's getting kind of a market correction Very similar to a Cignetti type where he was he was underpaid because he was he was on a a little bit of a prove-it deal. He proved it in year one and they they recorrected his salary to be in line with with other coaches in the SEC. A bigger buyout, try to make sure that he doesn't.
00:27:39
Cody Atkinson
Leave because one of the biggest names for North Carolina is Nate Oates out of Alabama. And that is Bucky McMillan's favorite school growing up. So ah there was always the chance Nate Oates goes to UNC, Alabama comes calling, and you wanted to hedge that off as quickly as you can. I'm a big fan of it. I know your knee jerk was that it was too soon.
00:27:58
justin_daulton
Yeah, I think, ah and as I just referenced in the previous conversation, right like we've been down this road before with A&M Athletics. right we We gave Jimbo the extension after a very brief success, and then we all know what happened there, that the players in the locker room turned on Jimbo and no one wanted to play for him after that.
00:28:15
justin_daulton
couldn't get the recruits in couldn't do all that not saying that bucky is jimbo here i think we've seen that already the culture that bucky brings is vastly different than what jimbo did with the football program um and obviously in the you know you've talked about it to to to an extreme level at this point uh what he was able to recruit in you know a 24-hour time window basically with the portal last year so i think it
00:28:36
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:28:37
justin_daulton
two very different situations. But it's tough to not allow like my battered Aggie syndrome to come into play here and be like, man, I've done i've done this before. I don't want to do it again. um
00:28:47
Cody Atkinson
yeah
00:28:48
justin_daulton
i do i do appreciate the reality check you kind of gave me of like, hey, like there's a ripple effect. And as as i'm you know I've said on here that I'm not you know too well versed in the college basketball so environment.
00:28:59
justin_daulton
So I didn't know that there was a ripple effect off of UNC. And c and you know it could be an Alabama move. It could be these things. so i can I can respect A&M trying to get ahead of the ripple effect.
00:29:10
justin_daulton
um I'm also glad to see that it didn't put him into like the upper echelon of of contracts, which is what we had with Jimbo. And you know what I don't want to see with A&M is that we get You know, two, three seasons on the road, we realize that Bucky is not the guy.
00:29:25
justin_daulton
I hope that's not where we're heading. But like if we do, I don't want us to be in a position where we can't be competitive in and basketball because we spend so much money on i'm Bucky. um But, you know, only time will tell. You know, we have we we have our guy. So let's see what our guy can do with a full offseason and build the program the right way.
00:29:43
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it to your point, it's it's hard not to have a little bit of that BAS, a little bit of that heartburn when it comes to contract extensions at Texas A&M. But the new regime um is is doing things in a lot a more...
00:29:59
Cody Atkinson
to in In a better manner. they're They're doing things the right way. like This is ah is a market correction. They knew he was underpaid and they wanted to get ahead of that. And it's only a one-year ad.
00:30:11
Cody Atkinson
So you're you're not on the hook for any more years than you were at this time last year. So if he is a flash-in-the-pan guy, then you know it shouldn't cut you off at the knees. But also, like I don't think anyone here thinks he's a flash-in-the-pan guy. So I'm just excited.
00:30:26
Cody Atkinson
um Maybe it's the Kool-Aid, but I'm excited to see what he can do and I'm excited to have that feeling of like he's he's sticking around and he he can make a name for himself here we're not worried about where else he might be going
00:30:38
justin_daulton
Yeah, no, that makes sense to me. The last thought you had on that before we shift over. All
00:30:44
Cody Atkinson
yeah that's all I got on the coaching carousel
00:30:47
justin_daulton
right. Something that popped up ah halfway through this week that I immediately sent you a text on. um Trinidad Chambliss over in Mississippi, obviously quarterback for Ole Miss last year, um has now been world eligible to play once again for Ole Miss in the twenty twenty six twenty twenty seven season.
NCAA Eligibility and Legal Influence
00:31:05
justin_daulton
um I think you and i have talked a little bit about it, nothing to to the extent on the pod here. NIL and Transfer Portal and COVID years, whatever it is that you want to call it, you know these guys getting sixth, seventh, even some of these guys getting eighth years to play college football, obviously making a crap ton of money to do so more than they probably make in the NFL. Yeah.
00:31:29
justin_daulton
you know what You know, what is the ripple effect for this? Because now we're getting to the point where the NCAA has no power. The fact that we're having state judges rule on cases and they're the reason why that turnout checklist is going to be starting again and it's not the NCAA.
00:31:45
justin_daulton
So what what's your what were your knee jerk reactions when this when this all happened?
00:31:51
Cody Atkinson
So it's a little bit nuanced here. Like in this specific instance, I feel like he was right that he deserved another year based on what they've been handing out to other players. Like Diego Pavia got another year because he got his.
00:32:08
Cody Atkinson
Junior college wiped off. And I think Trinidad was just applying for like a ah medical red shirt and the NCAA was trying to deny it. So in his specific case, based on the environment that we're seeing, I think he should have won his case.
00:32:26
Cody Atkinson
Moving on from that, this whole thing sucks. like
00:32:29
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:32:29
Cody Atkinson
um Because it kids to your point, like we do have – I'm just reading a little bit of the AI overview right now. like This is going to be his sixth college football season. i know there's a Texas basketball player playing in his sixth season this year.
00:32:44
Cody Atkinson
um It's just getting out – these guys are getting too old. It's getting too out of hand. Now that now you have the Betty Yako instance from college basketball this year trying to come back from the G League.
00:32:55
Cody Atkinson
um we we need to reign it in i've heard a lot of people say five to play five like this new concept where you know right now we have you know you have four eligibility years and there's a lot of wiggle room on how to maneuver that if you get a medical red shirt you can get a great shirt you can do a non-medical red shirt you can junior college doesn't count but just looking at like ah a five to play five so if you want to play five seasons You got five seasons to do it If something happens to you year one and you need a red shirt, well, you've got four left.
00:33:26
Cody Atkinson
And if if you're injured, if you're not ready, whatever, you got four left, you got three left, you got two left, you got one left. And if you're hurt for five years, then like, sorry, life life gives you lemons sometimes.
00:33:38
Cody Atkinson
um And it it just is what it is. um I lean towards that. Like, let's simplify this because there's too many loopholes and there's too much money in this sport for those loopholes to not be ripped wide open. Like,
00:33:51
Cody Atkinson
If you if you leave the slightest opportunity, even with the right intent of like, let's do right by guys, injuries happens, happen. And we don't want that to ruin their entire career.
00:34:03
Cody Atkinson
But like now the schools are ripping those open and getting six years and seven years. Yeah, like one red shirt, two red shirts, three red shirts, four. It's it's getting out of hand. um and And like you said, it's the NCAA's powerlessness, too, is at the center of it because it's not them handing these out. Like, they're just losing legal battles, and that sets the new precedent.
00:34:26
Cody Atkinson
um No, it's it's not fun at all. It's it's bad for – I mean – It's hard to deny it's good for the product on the field because you're getting better players to play more. um So we are benefiting in that sense. But it's also just like these high schoolers got nowhere to go.
00:34:42
Cody Atkinson
there's You go to a school, you wait your year, your two years.
00:34:42
justin_daulton
Yeah. Yeah.
00:34:46
Cody Atkinson
ah and And then you're ready to take over and the guy in front of you wins a court case and now you got to transfer before your eligibility is up because the guy in front of you has eligibility lasted longer than yours. You're like, this is crazy.
00:34:58
Cody Atkinson
um No, i'm I'm tired of it, man. I don't i don't like i don't like talking courts and in football.
00:35:05
justin_daulton
I don't like talking legal in any sport if we can, if we can avoid it um But yeah, I'm with you. It's just, you know, I'm glad that the COVID year stuff is done right. Then you can cash in your COVID years and all that.
00:35:16
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:35:16
justin_daulton
um I agree to this sense of, I think the Juco year should count, right? You're, you're playing a completely different league at this point, right? The, you know the the days of you know the the fbs the fcs division one division two whatever you want to call it at this point it is the college football division at this point and then everyone else right whether it's d2 you know formerly football championship series whatever whatever the hell you want to call these things right these these these leagues right you know we're getting to the point and i think
00:35:48
justin_daulton
um i would love to do a full-blown topic with you maybe sometime in the off season right but uh between now and august of you know what can we do to fix college football i'm not saying that college football is broken but i would like to see you know what what can we do to make it you know do we start leaning into the fact that maybe it is a minor league system for the nfl you know while it's still being education for for these young for these young men that need to still get an education in their lives um but also is there you know what can we do with the transfer portal because i think the transfer portal to the same way that this eligibility stuff is there's so many loopholes and there's so many things that happen within transfer portal that like we're losing what makes college football special um obviously obviously once we get the product on the field like we get we still get those moments out you know we get the a in the notre dame game that ends on the on a back shoulder throw to the tight end like you still get
00:36:29
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:36:40
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:36:41
justin_daulton
you know, the the darling story in Indiana right over two seasons. So you can still get those moments once we get the product on the field, but we got to do something about the off the field antics that are just,
00:36:53
justin_daulton
potentially ruining the sport so i mean there's definitely i'd love to do a full-blown you know large topic um of this later on down the road because i think there's a lot that can be said in terms of what we can do going forward with it all um but to you know to your credit there's another note in here aiden holloway um cleared to leave the state and travel without balea basketball
00:37:03
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:37:14
justin_daulton
um teams despite being arrested for two pounds of marijuana um did not end up traveling with the team but was cleared by a judge once again we're we're talking about just legal getting in the way of things and i mean my guy you know we we talk about this with georgia football players all the time right they're the legal system is a joke when it comes to a lot of these things right they're like like we're all all it takes is for kirby smart to go walk up on the door and be like hey let me get out of jail real quick so we can so we can go play georgia tech this weekend right
00:37:33
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:37:40
Cody Atkinson
yeah
00:37:43
Cody Atkinson
Well, it's like these these judges are like fans of the team. They're they're is in cases donors to the university and they're making these impartial decisions.
00:37:51
justin_daulton
Mm-hmm.
00:37:53
Cody Atkinson
And it's like it's it's it's insane. Like he would not have been granted the ability to travel out of state if he wasn't with the team. great Thankfully, his suspension from the tournament was separate from that.
00:38:06
Cody Atkinson
like There was a ah different case altogether where he still ended up being ineligible to play. For but for a brief moment, it seemed like he might find a way back into this tournament, as I predicted on our on our ah preview show, that he would find a way back because that's what Alabama does. um But it's just disgusting.
00:38:22
Cody Atkinson
like There's not a ton to say there because it didn't end up happening, but the fact that this was a note at all, like the fact that this was a tweet that went out that stirred the pot for two days or or one day or whatever it was, it like it's still too much.
00:38:29
justin_daulton
yeah
00:38:35
Cody Atkinson
We don't need that. Just go to jail.
00:38:37
justin_daulton
yeah agreed
00:38:38
Cody Atkinson
Don't do it. Don't go to jail. Do it. It just is what it is.
00:38:42
justin_daulton
Correct. um Cool. that but Let's shift over to the last topic so that way we can get to the and potatoes of this episode as we are approaching the 40-minute mark already just in the rundown.
00:38:52
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:38:54
justin_daulton
Obviously, opening weekend in baseball happened. we know We spent a lot of time last week talking about our teams going into this this regular season.
Baseball Innovations and Season Predictions
00:39:01
justin_daulton
But I want to talk about something that we talked a little bit about in spring training um is ABS, man. It's been the talk of the town this weekend for multiple teams, honestly.
00:39:10
justin_daulton
um But something that I immediately saw, and I'm glad you made a note on it, was the Reds and Boston Red Sox. series over the weekend, specifically the Saturday game, with CB Buckner having six pix pitches overturned, including back-to-back pitches where he had ah initially rung up Suarez for a strikeout, only to have it overturned um and beat balls.
00:39:36
justin_daulton
Ultimately, Suarez ended rounding out and being out at first, no no impact on the game ultimately. um but to the credit of a lot of the recaps i watched whether it was john boy or whoever it is whichever recap person you or reacts person you watch for sports um the the momentum shifted for the reds right like the pop in the crowd was insane when when suarez overturned those calls um
00:39:56
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:40:00
justin_daulton
But this is highlighting an issue in baseball that the end result, I think, is something that neither one of us wants that we're heading towards. um And it's something that I've seen a lot of people talking about over the weekend is we're going towards robot umpires being a full-time thing in baseball.
00:40:17
Cody Atkinson
It's a shame. we have the We literally right now in this moment as of Thursday or Wednesday night at 7 p.m., whatever, we have the perfect system now.
00:40:28
Cody Atkinson
Like ABS is so fun.
00:40:31
justin_daulton
Yep.
00:40:31
Cody Atkinson
like if if the if the strike zone's electronic you don't get that pop in the stadium at an overturned call that keeps the at-bat alive you don't get cb buckner looking visibly frustrated that they keep challenging all of his calls he lost six challenges that came out of the eight eight challenge calls he lost six of them like but it's a it's electric man like what a moment and then we We didn't move on to this one yet too, but there was the twins manager getting ejected for arguing about how quickly tap on the hat was made.
00:41:02
justin_daulton
or not Or not quickly.
00:41:04
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, yeah, how how long it took.
00:41:04
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:41:07
Cody Atkinson
And in on both instances, it's just, it's electric. And why would you want to take that out for a robot bump? Like, we need, there to be a human element of the game.
00:41:18
Cody Atkinson
That's what sport is. It's humans versus humans. It's skill versus skill. One skill is tricking an umpire. Like that is a skill of the game today.
00:41:26
justin_daulton
Sure.
00:41:26
Cody Atkinson
And being an umpire is harder than it's ever been. So we do need to give these guys a little bit of slack when they're messing up. Cause like the the pitches are more deceiving than ever. The framing is more deceiving than ever.
00:41:37
Cody Atkinson
The, you know, it, it's difficult, like give, give them little slack, but now we have an ability to challenge. and And if you use it early and you lose it and you get screwed later in the game, that's on you because you didn't have good strategy. So it's ah it's another element of the game. it's an element of strategy and it's an element of electricity. And i love it. And I think it's perfect. don't No notes. Don't change it. Keep it forever.
00:41:58
justin_daulton
I think you're on the wrong side of history there, unfortunately, that I i don't see it being that way full-time. Like, i where we're only... The more that these things occur...
00:42:09
justin_daulton
Because I think the stat, and I encourage a lot of you, to go watch the John Boy react video, because he also broke down, like, the positioning of the the umpire, of of Buckner, in relation to where the catcher was lining up and, like, why he wasn't getting the right angle for the pitch that was coming in and everything.
00:42:18
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:42:24
justin_daulton
um Very detailed. Obviously, you know, he he has a really good... you know, breakdowns always, always when it comes to especially baseball reactions. um But, you know, seeing the stats, right, that it's six missed calls.
00:42:37
justin_daulton
I think on that breakdown, it was, there was 25 actual calls that CB Buckner needed to make. He missed 20%. Sure.
00:42:44
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I mean, my point doesn't ignore the fact that CB Buckner is one ah it is one of, if not the worst umpire in baseball. And and so something like ABS existing should highlight that to America. And quite frankly, there should be more um accountability for the umpires. Like if you're as bad as CB Buckner is, like maybe make room for somebody else.
00:43:08
Cody Atkinson
But i use my general opinion is that the more you go towards automation, like we can get there and everyone's going to realize they wish we hadn't gone there because it's going to be lifeless.
00:43:19
justin_daulton
Sure.
00:43:21
Cody Atkinson
So like, don't take the life out of the sport, find a way to to do what we have now, a, have a challenge system, have strategy, have electricity, have suspense um and enjoy it.
00:43:21
justin_daulton
Yeah, no, I...
00:43:33
Cody Atkinson
Because if you go towards this, this perfect system and structure, like it's going to, it's going to be a lifeless version of what we have now. and like, I see why people want it, right? Because it's the most like equitable. It's most fair. It's perfect it's perfect every time.
00:43:49
Cody Atkinson
But like do we really – I think we think we want that until we get it and we're like, this kind of sucks. I have nothing to be mad about.
00:43:55
justin_daulton
yeah i i can see where you're coming from i will also the only counterpoint that i'll give to you is um i don't know which day it was but go look up the alejandro kirk game um where he was framing pitches so well that even the hitters didn't know if they should challenge and they didn't so like i think they're but that's what yeah yeah that's what that's my counterpoint
00:44:13
Cody Atkinson
But that's a skill. That's point. like That's good for the sport. Yeah.
00:44:18
justin_daulton
that's and That's my counterpoint to even both of us right now.
00:44:21
Cody Atkinson
yeah
00:44:22
justin_daulton
I think the defensive catchers, you know we talked about Will Smith during the during the World Baseball Classic, right that he's so good at that defensive side of being a catcher that you know we're going to see...
00:44:34
justin_daulton
can we get these defensive minded catchers that are going to do this and not allow ABS to take control? Maybe, maybe we see the return of that instead of a Cal Riley, you know, or, you know, even several of Perez, you know, all these guys that
00:44:47
Cody Atkinson
Just an offensive first guy.
00:44:49
justin_daulton
oops Correct. And maybe you're going to go back to these frame job catchers to maybe to to prove ABS wrong allow and not allow ABS to take over the sport. So it'll be interesting. You know, that'd be my only counterpoint to it that would that would prevent ABS um being full time going forward.
00:45:07
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I just i like the the level of strategy that ABS adds. To your point, it's not only in-game strategy, but it's roster construction strategy and how you approach the catcher position. It gives you it highlights multiple ways that you can approach the catcher position.
00:45:22
Cody Atkinson
I think that's awesome. um and And I think losing that will hurt more than some people think that it will hurt.
00:45:30
justin_daulton
Yeah. Only time will tell. We'll see what side of history we land on when it comes to it for sure.
00:45:34
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:45:35
justin_daulton
All right. Well, that wraps up the the rundown. Let's get into the wrap up for
NHL Playoffs Preview
00:45:39
justin_daulton
the week. mail Let's talk about our, our rooting interest teams. um that I'll kick it off. The Tampa Bay lightning um are, they go at other three and one this week wins against the wild senators and predators.
00:45:51
justin_daulton
um When the one loss comes to the crack in, it is in overtime. was still coming away with a point there. Um, uh, Standings update for you because I know you're not super in the weeds when it comes to it.
00:46:04
justin_daulton
Nine games left on the season. um And I know last week we talked about being a couple of points behind but ah Buffalo. We're not tied with Buffalo. They took a couple losses this week. um Still one game less played than Buffalo. So we still have a technically we are not the lead because of that.
00:46:20
justin_daulton
um And then for an outlook until the next week, we play the Canadians tomorrow night. Then Penguins, Bruins, that's all at home. So we have a nice little three-game home stretch right here for this week.
00:46:31
Cody Atkinson
Nice.
00:46:32
justin_daulton
um Then we go on the road to play Buffalo while we record the pod next week. And as I talked about...
00:46:37
Cody Atkinson
So you'll be distracted.
00:46:39
justin_daulton
yeah Just a little bit. um But as we talked about last week, that's probably the game that's going to determine the the winner of the division and potentially the the team that has the number one seed going into the playoffs on the Eastern Conference side of things.
00:46:54
justin_daulton
As of right now, it is the Lightning because the the Avalanche and I believe it's the Stars out west that are fighting for the number one seed um out there.
00:47:02
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:47:02
justin_daulton
um So you know it's very important these next nine games to probably track to be you know, maybe a six and three with maybe an overtime loss in there, whatever it may be um to end the season in the right, in the right, you know, space. I don't see us going nine and O. would be nice to go nine and O and then, you know, you know, end it on the right way and not allow Buffalo to even have a chance at it all.
00:47:24
justin_daulton
That's unrealistic for me as a fan to expect that. um But I will say in something that, We talked about a couple weeks ago that I wasn't necessarily ready to break the glass and, you know, eject out of the season and be like, well, we're done.
00:47:36
justin_daulton
But I did raise the the alarm a little bit like, hey, um I'm worried about this team. This team is starting to look like they did pre-international break where their scoring goals and defense is starting to step back up. Vasilevsky has knocked off that rush from the international break.
00:47:51
justin_daulton
um Kucherov is still ah an insane man with the puck and scoring goals like crazy. um So the only concerning part to this is that Victor Hedman took a personal leave of absence and there wasn't any information outside of that with no potential return date. um A lot of people saying that this is just kind of him and his body. It's just kind of not been able to recover the right way. He's had a lot of injuries this season, um obviously going in from four nations last year to playing playoff hockey last year to play now almost 60 plus games this season, going into the international break with the Olympics.
00:48:24
justin_daulton
um He just hasn't had a chance to really kind of recapture his mind and body going into all of it. And he's also getting a little bit older. So like you know maybe this is for him to go home, take a little bit of time to figure out, you know can he still play at the level that he expects? Can he still be you know who he wants to be with this team? And a team that's getting that has been getting younger the last couple of seasons, with obviously him, Vazzy, and Kucherov really being the old heads in tampa now because we've gotten a lot younger um so im i'm interested to see what happens if he does come back for the playoffs i mean obviously this team is destined for the playoffs at this point so does he come back to the playoffs is this team you know tell him to take as much time as he needs and you know but you know be the supportive organization that they've always been um
00:49:10
justin_daulton
Regardless, there's hope and down there on Channel's side um with the Lightning right now going into the playoffs. But obviously, always worried when your captain isn't isn't on the team. So to head into that to that that time period of the season.
00:49:23
Cody Atkinson
Hey, look at that.
00:49:25
justin_daulton
Um, and the only other one that I got, obviously we talked a little bit about opening weekend. Uh, the Tampa Bay Rays going one and two playing the St. Louis Cardinals. Um, as of recording the, the, we've, uh, moved a little bit over, um, over to, uh, Milwaukee. Ah, we're up now. We're three to two.
00:49:39
justin_daulton
Um, so the, look at, we turned it around. Um, we took the last game of the series against the Cardinals. Um, so now looking to maybe go on a two game win streak. Look out. Um, you know, uh, The only note that I really have for you from the weekend is this lineup can hit, man. 41 hits over a three-game series of the St. Louis Cardinals.
00:50:00
justin_daulton
um The worrisome thing, and I hopped into some comment sections over the weekend, is, man, this bullpen has got the entire fan base shaking up. And it's something you and I talked about in the breakdown last week that there's a lot of names in that bullpen that not a lot of people know.
00:50:09
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:50:15
justin_daulton
There's obviously some, but not enough for you to be like, yes, I locked in on what the Tampa Bay Rays can do down the stretch and and through the dog days of summer and everything. um we'll see what happens over the next couple of months with the Rays if we can win more games than not maybe we come but become buyers and we make we make some moves towards the you know towards the trade deadline and maybe we sure up the bullpen um and we'll see if the lineup can keep going um But as was right now, that's really the only notes I got for you.
00:50:43
justin_daulton
But the the big thing is tomorrow night, Shane McClanahan is going to make his first Major League Baseball start since August 2, 2023, when he faced the New York Yankees and went out with right forearm um soreness, which ended up being Tommy John surgery.
00:50:58
Cody Atkinson
It always is.
00:50:58
justin_daulton
um Yep, correct. um So very excited, man, that he's going back on the mound tomorrow night. I don't expect to see him go four or five innings. I expect this to be you know three, maybe a fourth if he's got the stuff.
00:51:11
justin_daulton
um But this was always meant to be that first kind of check-in and see where he's at He's passed all the tests. We had a scare last week. I don't know if you caught the scare um where he took a line drive to ah to the body, and it looked like he was going to go straight back to the IL.
00:51:26
justin_daulton
But he got back up, dusted himself off, and and got back out there. um It finishes simulated anything that he needed to do that was the final check for Kevin Cash. So very excited that he's been back on the mound. This is something that the Rays have needed. We needed that one-two punch. We have it with Rasmussen.
00:51:43
justin_daulton
um So if we can get McClanahan healthy, stretched out, ready to go, um man, it's only going to be an electric one-two punch for the Tampa Bay Rays once we can get him back to where he was a couple seasons ago where we we were talking. You know, we said it last week,
00:51:57
justin_daulton
you know, potential Cy Young winner there and in 2022, 2023. So, Rays fans have something to be hopeful for there in the row in the starting rotation, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it tomorrow night to see what McClanahan can do.
00:52:12
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, for sure. Good thing is come come trade deadline season, bullpen pieces are typically the cheaper option of what you can go get if you know you're in contention and you you need to fill a hole.
00:52:24
Cody Atkinson
So I'd rather fill something in the bullpen than then you don't have a starting rotation spot that needs to be taken up. So um yeah, dude excited race, all looking to go looking to move to two and two today.
00:52:33
justin_daulton
Absolutely.
00:52:35
Cody Atkinson
And we'll see if they can hold out this lead over Milwaukee. ah
MLB Early Season Highlights
00:52:39
justin_daulton
absolutely
00:52:39
Cody Atkinson
on my On my side of things, we've got Texas A&M baseball this weekend.
00:52:43
Cody Atkinson
ah This week in general ah swept the week 4-0, got the midweek win over Houston Christian and a road sweep at Missouri. um We had talked about last week the the the kind of ah the theory for SEC baseball is, you know,
00:53:00
Cody Atkinson
Don't get swept on the road and win your home series. But I said this road series at Missouri is the one that you have to circle and say not getting swept isn't good enough. You have to win this series ah because Missouri is a bottom dweller in the SEC. You needed to win this series and get the momentum. And they and they go out and they they sweep Missouri.
00:53:20
Cody Atkinson
um Offense was huge, double digits every game. um Shout out Gavin Grochovic has his hands stepped on. He gets his hands spiked in game one, doesn't miss game two or three, and in fact goes two home runs on Saturday in game two and two home runs on Sunday in game three. So he got he got he got spiked and gained a superpower.
00:53:40
Cody Atkinson
And it was great to see. But the... Concern of a and baseball remains pitching. um I've got some some stats for you here, Justin, where ah you know starting pitchers on Friday, you get four and two-thirds innings, seven runs.
00:53:55
Cody Atkinson
um oh Saturday, you get three and two-thirds innings, four runs. And then Sunday, the best start of the weekend, you get five and a third, three runs. That's just really hard to work around. It's a lot of bullpen.
00:54:08
Cody Atkinson
innings to get eaten up and you're still waiting for somebody to step up in the bullpen and take over um the workload of Josh Stewart who got hurt in the first SEC series.
00:54:19
Cody Atkinson
ah One arm that looks like he might be stepping up is Grant Cunningham. He gave you three and a third one earned run um on Saturday to kind of almost a piggyback of Weston Moss's start on Saturday.
00:54:33
Cody Atkinson
um So that's ah that's a name that I'm keeping an eye on. Obviously, we have we have the front-end bullpen names that I'm not mentioning because their roles remain the same. But this is a guy that's looking like he can step up and really eat quality innings for you on a weekend, which...
00:54:48
Cody Atkinson
In a win or a loss, eating innings and saving the top end of the bullpen is just having a guy that can do that alone would be huge. So big, ah big, big sweep this week for A&M. Feel a lot better going forward, but you still got the same um kind of lingering issues you're keeping an eye on. This week they've got Sam Houston on Tuesday, I believe, and then Vanderbilt comes to town. So that'll be a big one to watch.
00:55:15
Cody Atkinson
um Astros, the other one that I'm looking at here, Astros are two and two on the season so far. As we record, they're up six to one on the Red Sox. Lance McCullers threw seven innings of one run baseball in his first start of the season. So if Lance McCullers is back, incredible stuff. If Lance McCullers is back, like schedule a parade. We're getting caught up in the hype of Lance McCullers being back if he's back. um I'll say this weekend,
00:55:43
justin_daulton
Go ahead and get me go and give me that ah that City Connector of a Lance McCullers.
00:55:46
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. Yeah, honestly. I mean, we've waited so long for Lance McCullers to come back. He's such a key piece to this team, and everyone just forgot about that. um He tried to come back last year. He wasn't quite right. His velocity wasn't back. He couldn't throw the fastball, and they were sitting curveball every time he went up there.
00:56:03
Cody Atkinson
um If he's back, that I think I'm glad that he's back, not only for the team, but also for him to just remind the city of of who he is and make sure that like whenever his – see whenever his career does come to an end, that that people remember him for how great he was and not for the fact that he struggled to stay healthy. It's not his fault. He was trying his hardest to come back. He's just a guy that throws a lot of a lot of spin, and spin is bad for the elbow.
00:56:29
Cody Atkinson
um And that's just all there is. But I'm stoked to see him come back seven innings in the opening day start – or oh his first start of the season is is incredible to see. um I'll say – From my preview last year, the offense looks like it could be better than I anticipated, and that is because i think Joe Spada, who I have been very hard on, um it managed so much better than I could have expected. there was it I believe this is game five. I think there's been a different lineup in all five games, which is something that you have to do with the way this roster is constructed with your infield surplus. You have to keep guys in the lineup. You have to keep them fresh. You have to keep them...
00:57:10
Cody Atkinson
playing and we saw the things I didn't think we would see. We saw Jordan play a game in left field. We saw Esau Paredes play a game in second base and we saw them find ways to get everyone in the game.
00:57:22
Cody Atkinson
um and And you saw from the performance, the offense was much better than expected. um However, the the pitching staff was ah was a little bit rough. um I think Mike Burrows and Tatsuya Imai are two names that I really threw out in that preview.
00:57:35
Cody Atkinson
They both really struggled in their um Astros debut. So it was what I what i classified it as is a sober reminder that it will take time for the pitching staff to come together because Tatsuya Imae has never pitched in the MLB. It's a different ball. It's a different vibe. It's a different pressure than what he's used to, ah but along with all the cultural things he has to get used to in his life outside of the park, getting comfortable just living in America. And then Mike Burrows is the guy who only had 19 career starts. So...
00:58:05
Cody Atkinson
coming into this. So just, it was a reminder that as high as we got on the hype of spring training, to be patient with the pitchers. I still believe in them to come around, but it was a rough opening weekend for um And that's the wrap up for me. i think um I think we're all excited for the much delayed and much anticipated AL primer. We're going to take it division by division. Justin, you've got two divisions for us today. I've got one by AL West.
00:58:32
Cody Atkinson
And I think you're going to get us started off here with the AL Central. Let us know what we need to be looking for um in the AL Central this year.
00:58:38
justin_daulton
Yeah.
AL Central Race and Predictions
00:58:41
justin_daulton
Real quick for you, just ah just a reminder as we come off of the 2025 season, the Cleveland Guardians won this division last season um at 88-74.
00:58:51
justin_daulton
I don't remember, or I don't know how much you remember of the down the stretch when we came to the AL Central where the Detroit Tigers went on an insane winning streak last season, only to be outdone by another insane winning streak that came from the Cleveland Guardians.
00:58:58
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:59:04
justin_daulton
um The Tigers ended ending the season 87-75 and getting the wildcard spot out of the Central. So just a nice reminder for you, kind of how the Central went last season. um The Central will obviously ended up becoming...
00:59:18
justin_daulton
basically a basement for the major for major league baseball last year outside of the the top two that i just mentioned um this season as we get into where we are for right now after our opening weekend the tigers sit at the top at two and one the royals sit at two and two the guardians at two and two the twins at one and three and the white socks at one and three um the white socks as right now i have the worst uh the second worst run differential at minus 14.
00:59:43
justin_daulton
Um, so it definitely, it definitely seems like another, really bad season there, um, in the Windy City for, for the White Sox.
00:59:44
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:59:52
justin_daulton
Um, but for me, um, when it comes to this, this division and entirely, um, as we kind of, as I alluded to a little bit for you before we logged into the show today, um, that I really see it still being a two horse race, um, with the, with the Tigers and the Guardians, um,
01:00:09
justin_daulton
And I think where you wanted to counterplay me when I said that earlier was the Royals. um I do think the Royals are the third place team here, but I don't think it's close. I don't think there's enough talent long-term with the Royals um to get them through the dog days, get them through August and September to compete with the Tigers and the Guardians, as a right now at least, right? Because obviously if the Royals are still in the hunt when we get to to late June, early July, right, when we get closer to the all-star break-ins
01:00:40
justin_daulton
in the trade deadline, maybe you see the Royals try to upgrade in a couple spots. Obviously, we talked about Bobby Wood Jr., probably the best shortstop in Major League Baseball right now, playing in Kansas City. Salvador Perez, I believe, is going on a retirement tour this year, where I think he's talking about it's either this year or next year is is the end of his career there in Kansas City.
01:00:58
justin_daulton
um Obviously, the only guy that think that's still left from that World Series win from which feels like 100 years ago when the Royals won the World Series. um But I think that's your middle of the pack team. And you know maybe they can make a leap forward.
01:01:13
justin_daulton
I definitely think it's an upgrade from where they were at last season. um They have a lot of youthful pieces. We talked about that half the Royals team was playing in the World Baseball Classic. this for for those couple of weeks.
01:01:21
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
01:01:24
justin_daulton
So there's obviously talent there. just don't think it's enough to compete with the rotation of the Tigers, a bill obviously headlined by Tariq Skubal. And then the Guardians are led by one of the, probably the best third baseman in all of baseball with with J-Ram out there.
01:01:40
justin_daulton
Dude hits for power every single plate appearance. The dude is electric. One of the main players that I always try to get when I play him will be the show. um because the dude is just that good.
01:01:51
justin_daulton
um And just unfortunately, plays in the same league with Aaron Judge and probably should have won MVP, but but you play in the same league as Aaron Judge and the voters are always going to vote for Aaron Judge, unfortunately.
01:02:02
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:02:02
justin_daulton
um Go ahead. you want You got a counterpoint in there?
01:02:05
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, no, I think just to circle back to that that Royals point real quick, I think my only pushback on on the Royals ah largely is the idea that like it felt like half of Team Italy was the Royals, or at least had played with the Royals at one point.
01:02:19
justin_daulton
Mm-hmm.
01:02:21
Cody Atkinson
I think a couple of those guys are no longer on the Royals, which I didn't know at the time. But um yeah, I think it comes down to like World Baseball Classic-type performances, like Vinny Pasquantino,
01:02:32
Cody Atkinson
um Bobby Witt Jr., as you mentioned, Salvador Perez. I am a huge fan of Jack Caglione being one of the the big up-and-comers of the future, just as far as MLB superstars go, or so stars, superstars, however you want to say it. like I think he's got a bright, bright future in the MLB.
01:02:52
Cody Atkinson
um And so there's that kind of that young juice they have to him. Or if a team if they get hot, they might be a team that doesn't that that plays better than they are supposed to because they don't know that they're supposed to play worse.
01:03:03
Cody Atkinson
Kind of one of those things, too too young to know they need to lose today kind of thing. um and And they get they have a good pitching staff. ah Cole Reagans is a guy I really like. ah Seth Lugo is the guy I wanted the Astros to trade for a couple of years ago. Instead, he got an extension.
01:03:18
Cody Atkinson
ah Michael Wacca towards the end of his career. i love Michael Wacca. He doesn't excite me as an MLB pitcher anymore, but still i not bad for back into the rotation. and And Chris, I don't know how to say his name, Bubich, I believe is, they have a strong rotation and they they have some youth that if the youth hits, they can shock you.
01:03:36
Cody Atkinson
But yeah, yeah To your point, I don't know that I would pick them higher than third, but like a part of me would want to.
01:03:43
justin_daulton
I think, I mean, it's a team that, like ah like I said, if they can if they can string some of these these months together and and be there in July, maybe you see them spend some money. you know They're in that position where they can do that. you know they're They don't have a big roster or a lot of money on the roster.
01:04:00
justin_daulton
So there's definitely potential for them to be buyers at the deadline um if they think that they're in a position to to move up. Yeah. But I do want to shift over to the Tigers, which, <unk>s spoilers for a little bit ahead, is my pick to win the Central this year.
01:04:18
justin_daulton
I think this young roster did a lot on the offseason. I mentioned some names to you that you're going to know um right off the rip. This guy named by the name of Justin Verlander is back in the rotation in Detroit.
01:04:28
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:04:29
justin_daulton
um Another...
01:04:30
Cody Atkinson
Heard of him before. Mm-hmm.
01:04:31
justin_daulton
Another name that you're going to know, Frambois Valdez, who's also now on the rotation there. um And of course, as I already mentioned, Therese Kugel. So mean, three out of your four guys, or out of your five guys, are names that are going to light up the board. They're going to throw a ton of strikes, they're going to win you a lot of games.
01:04:50
justin_daulton
I mean, and then you're back in that rotation, Jack Flattery, who is not a name to wince at. Like, that's another guy that's,
01:04:55
Cody Atkinson
not Yeah, not a name to scoff at for sure.
01:04:58
justin_daulton
your Your five guy is Emmanuel De Jesus, and I don't know him very well, so I do apologize to the Tigers fans.
01:05:02
Cody Atkinson
don't know how
01:05:04
justin_daulton
um But, I mean, your four out of five guys there like are going to give you quality starts every single time you go out there. um And then to get you into some other names, Gleyber Torres playing in the infield there. Spencer Torkelson um was a name that came up last year.
01:05:18
justin_daulton
um and then in the outfield, you got Javi Baez, which, granted, not as big as a name as what he was earlier in his career.
01:05:25
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:05:25
justin_daulton
but it's still got to to pay attention to. um I mean, and then managed by A.J. Hinch, who has experience leading a youthful lead roster into playoff runs and getting them to be successful.
01:05:38
justin_daulton
um Scandal or not, um he you know he's proven to win baseball games, right? Whether or not you agree with the managing style, which I think you and I can go back and forth on in terms of his managing style.
01:05:50
justin_daulton
um But in terms of what he's been able to do, it gets results. He, you know, he didn't get the second ring in Houston, but that's sort that same roster is one that he helped to construct in Houston that won that second championship in Houston.
01:06:03
justin_daulton
So, i mean, this is a team that's loaded top to bottom. um The, the downfall of the Tigers is going to come in that it's, I don't know if the youth is enough to outweigh the experience in the playoffs.
01:06:15
justin_daulton
And that's what's going to hurt them in the long run, right?
01:06:15
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:06:17
justin_daulton
Obviously, you have Verlander and Valdez who know what to do when you get into that playoff run. But the rest of that roster don't know what to do when they get into October. i You're playing juggernauts like you know Toronto, New York, um Boston if they find a way to sneak in um Houston if they sneak in, you know Seattle, you know all these other teams that have been playing playoff baseball the last...
01:06:40
justin_daulton
what feels like the last decade. um So ultimately, I don't think it's enough for them. um But man, it's going be a fun team to watch in Detroit, which is something to be said, because if you would have asked me a couple of years ago, would I buy stock in the and the Detroit Tigers? I would have been telling you, no, there's no way buy stock in the Detroit Tigers.
01:07:00
justin_daulton
But they're in a much better position than than where they were in the last couple of years. And they've so they very quietly have built A really good roster around what is easily probably top five pitchers in the game right now with three school.
01:07:14
Cody Atkinson
did top two, honestly, if you ask me at least. It's Geens and Skubal right there.
01:07:17
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:07:18
Cody Atkinson
I mean, back-to-back Cy Young, he's got a chance to do it again and go for the – the the trifecta. um Yeah, to your point, i think I think a lot of it to me feels like is the offense going to be enough to to to let the pitching shine, but the Tigers will be a great name to watch at the deadline as well. This is their last year of Scooble. They have not signed him. They did not handle him well in arbitration. He is not staying with the Tigers.
01:07:43
Cody Atkinson
um So if they're in a place where they feel like they can win it all, I personally would expect significant deadline investment to try to bring that together.
01:07:54
Cody Atkinson
um So definitely a team to keep an eye on there as well.
01:07:57
justin_daulton
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I'm to shift over to the Guardians and then we can kind of wrap up the central for you. um Not a lot of excitement in terms of, you know, obviously J-Ram, you know, Jose Ramirez being, like I said in the in the intro there, easily one the best third basements in baseball, at least from a hitting perspective. I think he also has a couple of gold gloves out there at third base.
01:08:21
justin_daulton
So one can fact check me on that. But... by They're where, you know, they just don't have a lot of names that are going you know, really impress you. Your rotation looks like a Gavin Williams, Peter Misik, Slay Sassoni, and Tanner Beebe.
01:08:42
justin_daulton
Beebe? Beebe? Something like that. um
01:08:43
Cody Atkinson
bi I don't know if it's Bibby or Bibi, but I'm familiar with the name with his work for sure. He's he he's he's quality.
01:08:48
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:08:51
justin_daulton
So not ah not a rotation that's going to at least impress you on a name basis. But at least it's from what I'm seeing is a lot of returning names to this team. They're bringing back the majority of their roster from last season.
01:09:03
justin_daulton
um Like i said, not a lot in the in terms of pitching. Do you have something?
01:09:10
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, was just going say the Guardians are a team that i category that I classify with the Astros and the Rays in that like when they have a rotation of names, I have to assume that these guys are next up.
01:09:24
Cody Atkinson
like yeah It feels like the Guardians have just pumped out name after name after name for so long um and just had a quality rotation.
01:09:25
justin_daulton
Sure.
01:09:33
Cody Atkinson
The names are escaping me at the moment. I probably should have done more. prep on that but they they they've had what feels like a great rotation for a long time so i have to assume in my mind that like although these aren't household names like these are dudes
01:09:49
justin_daulton
sure yeah absolutely um going into your position players um obviously going to offseason acquisition of austin hedges a catcher um bow nailer returns as well obviously bone ailer is going to be your starting guy um but getting austin hedges is a big get for you to back up bone nailer um but your first baseman is going to be david fry once again with Reese Hoskins being a really good backup for him there.
01:10:14
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:10:14
justin_daulton
And then going to Kyle Manzardo, someone that's you know come up and down between AAA and the main roster, still on the 26-man roster, but down there on the AAA side of things, you know could make a move up there depending on how Reese Hoskins plays as the backup guy, if they want to commit to Manzardo now or not.
01:10:34
justin_daulton
to bring him up and be the starting guy. But you got David Fry, you got you got Reese Hoskins. I don't see why you need to pull Manzaro yet and and ruin you know his his expectancy rate when it comes to being the you know playing 100-plus games in the season.
01:10:49
justin_daulton
um Your second baseman, a name that I don't recognize, and Daniel Scheman? Scheman? Scheman? No, S-C-H-N-E-E-M-A-N-N.
01:10:57
Cody Atkinson
Is it Schumann? Is it S-C-H-U-E?
01:10:59
justin_daulton
you know
01:11:00
Cody Atkinson
No.
01:11:01
justin_daulton
now s c h n e e m a n n
01:11:04
Cody Atkinson
Oh, Schneemann.
01:11:04
justin_daulton
one out she even um and then like it's name i don't remember i recognize gabriel reyes shortstop um we already talked a lot about jose ramirez gonna play 100 plus games this season is going to be in the m&b conversation um outfielders they have three outfielders on the 26 man roster so this is your this is your outfield for for for the for the
01:11:25
Cody Atkinson
Oh, Lord. Okay. They must have a utility guy that can do it all.
01:11:30
justin_daulton
There must be an infielder that can play in the outfield.
01:11:32
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, there's got to be.
01:11:34
justin_daulton
But your your outfield looks like this. Right field, you got Chase DeLauder, Steven Kwan in left field, and then Angel Martinez in center field.
01:11:43
Cody Atkinson
Get to know Chase DeLauter, Justin.
01:11:43
justin_daulton
So...
01:11:45
Cody Atkinson
He's got four home runs on the season already.
01:11:48
justin_daulton
Look at that. And then Stephen Kwan obviously is already a ah household name around MLB dugouts. So, you know, not not anything to stop at in terms of the roster composition there in in Cleveland.
AL Wild Card and Team Outlooks
01:12:00
justin_daulton
um My prediction for the Guardians is they take a small step back from where they were last season. which I think aligns them right above the Royals, um which is why i say the Royals could take that step up depending on if they want to buy at the deadline and move up and potentially take that second spot.
01:12:18
justin_daulton
um But to me, this is the Tigers division to lose. They obviously went out, they spent money, they got the the rest of the rotation shirt up.
01:12:22
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:12:27
justin_daulton
They have a lot of youth and in in the field to surround that that starting rotation. um Will it come down to the youth? Will it come down to the bullpen? Only time's going to tell. um I don't see them making a deep run into October.
01:12:39
justin_daulton
I think there's just too much powerhouse power, like around in the other divisions in the American League. And even the wildcard teams are going to come out. And my my prediction is that the wildcards come out of it the east and the west this year, um as opposed to the central and the east like it did last year.
01:12:55
justin_daulton
Um, so I have my, the way I see it lining up is that it's the tigers. And then I got guardians, Royals, um, twins, which I'm, we didn't touch a lot on the twins and the white socks. Um, but I don't think either of those two teams are going to really do a whole lot this year.
01:13:10
justin_daulton
Um, obviously Byron bucks is going to be someone who's going to be, you know, in silver slugger conversations for the twins and potentially MVP votes towards the end there. Um, and the white socks,
01:13:21
justin_daulton
You know, I think they get a lot of crap, you know, for where they're at right now as an organization. But they got a lot of youth up there. They got a lot of offseason acquisitions that are going to work for them long term.
01:13:31
justin_daulton
The names are escaping me. They they got an international player that that went yard yesterday.
01:13:35
Cody Atkinson
Munetaka Umberakami.
01:13:36
justin_daulton
Yeah, there you Thank you.
01:13:38
Cody Atkinson
He's going to be fun to watch.
01:13:38
justin_daulton
Yep. So, you know, that's something for them to look forward to. But, you know, starting your season after three games minus 14 run differential, your your outlook doesn't look great. The only other team has the worst run differential is the Phillies.
01:13:51
justin_daulton
So not great not great company to be in there, to be honest.
01:13:52
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:13:55
justin_daulton
So that's how i see the Central going out. um Easy Cy Young winner for the division is Therese Scoble. And then my MVP for the division is going to go J-Ram. I know it's a little bit of a chalky answer.
01:14:07
justin_daulton
Um, but I, I can't think of any other third baseman the American league that I'd rather go with. Maybe, you know, if Bregman was still in the American league that I would rather go with for, for best third baseman, but it's, it's J Ram until he, he proves to me that he's not J Ram anymore.
01:14:24
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, man, that's appreciate that. We can switch it over to the West now. So just as a little behind the scenes here, we're we're kind of finding our voices on these previews.
01:14:35
Cody Atkinson
So we're going to try a couple of different different styles um and we're going to see what sticks. And so um the preview for the West will ah be a little bit, I think a little less in depth probably than the than the preview for the central because we're i'm going to have a a little bit of fun with it i've got a class so we're playing.
01:14:46
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:14:52
Cody Atkinson
Dan oblivion today we're playing an rpg and we got I got I got to pick a class for each of these teams ah to exist in so we're we're going to start it off with the ah soon to be Las Vegas currently sacramento formerly oakland athletics.
01:15:08
Cody Atkinson
I've got Oakland as the sleeper. I think they're i very similar to how we discussed the Royals. um A lot of youth, a lot of promise, um a bright future, but it's not here yet.
01:15:24
Cody Atkinson
So ah Nick Kurtz. Shea Langleyers, Jacob Wilson and Tyler Soderstrom are ah kind of a core of four really young guys. I think Kurtz and Wilson were rookies last year. Basically, I think they were one and two in rookie of the year voting for the AL.
01:15:41
Cody Atkinson
um And then Langoliers and Soderstrom have been around a little bit longer. But each of these players, just even from like a war perspective, provided three war seasons in 2025, and they're still on upward trajectories. um This could be a really fun lineup, um aided by playing in a minor league but ballpark where the ball flies a little more.
01:16:02
Cody Atkinson
um So keep that in mind. But this should be a really, really fun team to watch. um I do think they are hamstrung by pitching. Their pitching is headlined by Luis Severino, who I am a massive fan of. I think more highly of him than... than MLB as a whole, I think. um But they don't have enough after that. And and and largely, um that comes from like the bullpen as well. Just not a lot the bullpen. They used to have Mason Miller. Obviously, they they flipped him to the Padres at the deadline last year.
01:16:33
Cody Atkinson
um Don't ask me to explain that because why would you trade Mason Miller with four years of control left, um especially when you were on the up? But so be it. I think they'll be hamstrung by the pitching, but they're going to be really fun to watch. One of the more fun young offensive teams in the league. um And you could be looking at at ah at a kind of a turning point year. will they Will they go up from here? Will they stall out? Will they trade these guys? Because that's what the A's do. um But they also have they have some fun prospects. Jamie Arnold, I loved at Florida State. He's in the system.
01:17:06
Cody Atkinson
ah Tommy White from LSU was a guy i really loved that's in their system. And then they've got this shortstop that I know nothing about, Leo DeVries, but he was the big piece they got back in the Mason Miller trade. I think he's supposed to be ready pretty soon. So like if they add that name to this lineup, could could get...
01:17:24
Cody Atkinson
could get even more fun. So that's just a ah fun team to keep an eye on. The Angels are, we're putting them in the basement dweller class. um They are not to see the light of day ah because they have no hope in seeing the light of day. um I can't talk about the eight with the the Angels without mentioning how absurd it is that this organization had Shohei Otani and Mike Trout on the team for as long as they did still have Mike Trout on the team, and Mike Trout is back if you paid attention to opening weekend. He's he's in prime form so far this year.
01:18:00
Cody Atkinson
And they've done nothing with that. Absolutely nothing to show for Otani or Trout. um And they won't have anything to show this year. The lineup, I think, is fine. um Zach Netto is a young shortstop that is a lot of fun. he's like he's a He's a guy that if you don't root for the Angels, you hate him.
01:18:20
Cody Atkinson
because he crowds the plate and then if your pitcher throws one a little inside it hits him and he starts crying about it he tried to fight hunter brown and hunter brown told him to stop standing on top of the plate he won't get hit um so he's not a fun guy to root for him but he plays really good baseball um and obviously they might try on that lineup too but for as bad as they were last year they lost more than they got back this offseason um they lost taylor ward who was a premium piece on that offense and and kind of got back ah league average.
01:18:50
Cody Atkinson
Really? I've got Josh Lowe here and Adam Frazier. Yeah.
01:18:57
justin_daulton
I won't accept any slander of Josh Lowe in this household, though. ah
01:19:00
Cody Atkinson
That's all right. yeah
01:19:01
justin_daulton
um Yeah, I agree. like I don't know if it's going to the same...
01:19:04
Cody Atkinson
He's not taking the Angels anywhere.
01:19:06
justin_daulton
Correct, correct. But I will say that he will give you more offensive production than what you probably expect, and that's because he just played in Slymurder Field down in Tampa po for last season, and it was a down year for the Tampa Rays.
01:19:22
justin_daulton
um But he's someone that's going to give a lot of production for them, and he's a good utility player. plays like three or four different positions, so... The Angels have a utility piece, um which is something that they need because they always have injuries.
01:19:34
justin_daulton
So he's someone can pop up there when Mike Trout inevitably goes on the IR. And then you need someone in the outfield. so But I'll defer back to you.
01:19:41
Cody Atkinson
but okay All right. um I might be underselling some of these additions, but i don't think they did anything to be higher up than they were last year. ah But to your point, maybe maybe keep an eye on Josh Lowe on this team. The top end of the rotation is no joke. I really like Yusei Kikuchi. Jose Soriano saws off bats like there's no tomorrow.
01:20:02
Cody Atkinson
um That was him against the Astros on opening day was one of the worst offensive performances I have ever seen. And it's because he was pitching so good. But they lost three starters from last year. So they're moving Reid Detmers back from the bullpen to a starting pete starting spot, I believe.
01:20:18
Cody Atkinson
um ah Some of this I've looked at before the season started. I should probably have confirmed that it's still the same, but oh oh well. ah Ryan Johnson is a guy that ah played at DBU, Dallas Baptist. He's had a cup of coffee in the majors, but you're relying on ah on a rookie there.
01:20:34
Cody Atkinson
um And then Coach Chonawicks. I don't know say that. Had a really bad year last year and and did not have ah a great game against the Astros in his opening. so Their team, they were at the bottom of the league.
01:20:48
Cody Atkinson
Last year, and I think they got worse this year. um I'll skip past the Astros here because if you want a detailed breakdown of the Astros, um check out the preview we did last week. But I did classify them as the wild card. You'll know in my preview, I said they have the largest...
01:21:05
Cody Atkinson
um stretch of outcomes of any team in this division. I think they could they could win the division. um They could finish. they could They could be fighting for third, just depending on how the season goes. I think they have the largest outcome.
01:21:19
justin_daulton
ah Before you move into the next one, the only thing I want to talk about from the Angels is if this team truly is in the basement and they're, you know, let's say they're 20 and 40 at the break or whatever whatever you want to say, is this the year you move Trout?
01:21:39
Cody Atkinson
I mean, every year is the year you should have probably, um but they don't and they probably won't. I don't think he wants to get moved necessarily. and and if he doesn't want to, I don't think there's much you can do with that. And and with his injury history, I don't know that you can get.
01:21:55
Cody Atkinson
he would He would have to be healthy and playing at prime Mike Trout level, I think, for you to get for him what you would want to let him go, right?
01:22:05
justin_daulton
Yeah, let me let me hit you with some numbers real quick, and then we can then we can shift. Mike Trout originally, in 2019, signed a 12-year $426.5 million dollars contract extension that would run through 2030.
01:22:18
justin_daulton
So he still has three more seasons on this contract after this year. There's no opt-outs, so no no clubhouse or no player options on this contract. um And there's there isn't the trade clause in the in the contract. So if the Angels, for some reason, did want to move on from him, they could, and they don't need his blessing to do so.
01:22:38
justin_daulton
um Now, granted, on the flip side of that, I think to your credit, right, that he doesn't even stay healthy. He needs to be playing like Mike Trout did you know five years ago.
01:22:44
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:22:47
justin_daulton
um he's on a good pace with two hundred two home runs in daikin this weekend um so obviously he's there but someone also is going to have to take on a 35.45 million dollar uh annual average um and there's not a lot of teams that are going to be able to pay that type of price point um for my trout obviously the name value is there you're gonna have to dump your entire farm system to get on my trout especially even if he's playing at the prime level um But I mean, at some point, you're either going to start talking about, you know, do you get him to an actual contender to potentially win a World Series in the twilight of his career?
01:23:23
justin_daulton
Or he's going to be a Los Angeles Angel for the rest of his career. and He's going to go down as one of the wasted potential players in MLB history.
01:23:30
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, and it's probably the latter, honestly. I think, like you said, i think that's going to be a really tough contract to move um because he's only – do we know how old Mike Trout is at this point? 34. 34.
01:23:41
justin_daulton
Oh, I just had it. Hang on. got you. I got you. ah The contracts would run until age 38.
01:23:45
Cody Atkinson
thirty four
01:23:47
justin_daulton
So yeah, he's 34, going to be 35 this year.
01:23:49
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. So that's a lot of money to be paying for a guy who you're getting the twilight of his career at such a large annual value. I think it's going to tough contract to sell. He would have to be motivated to push the angels to move him.
01:24:04
Cody Atkinson
And he would have to be, I think, playing at, like you said, at 2019 or whatever form to get somebody to say, I'll i'll eat that contract. Um,
01:24:15
Cody Atkinson
and And obviously I think the angels would have to pay down part of the contract, but it's tough to move. So I don't think he gets moved. um But what I love it if he did. Absolutely. I would love to see my trout in the, on a playoff contender.
01:24:27
justin_daulton
Unless it's the Dodgers and then I hate baseball.
01:24:30
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, no, if it's the Dodgers, then we burn the whole thing to the ground, which they're going to do next year.
01:24:34
justin_daulton
ah
01:24:35
Cody Atkinson
Anyways. All
01:24:35
justin_daulton
Correct. When they signed three, it's good one in the offseason. Let me hit you with some numbers what real quick. and Just give me a quick yes or no on on Mike Trout here.
01:24:44
Cody Atkinson
right.
01:24:46
justin_daulton
Mike Trout career numbers, he is a... I just lost it. Where's his batting average? I know average, no one cares about averaging more, but he's a 294 career hitter.
01:24:55
Cody Atkinson
Jeez.
01:24:57
justin_daulton
He had 406 home runs and hits. He's at 1760. So about halfway to 3,000.
01:25:05
Cody Atkinson
ge
01:25:06
justin_daulton
Obviously, if he would have healthy, probably would have been in the 3,000 club. um Odds are, if he does play healthy for the next you know next four seasons, you know maybe it's obviously he'll get the don't think he gets the ah probably gonna be a five hundred home run hiter So the simple question I have for you and you probably already know what it is, is my trial to Hall of Famer.
01:25:27
Cody Atkinson
Yes, I did know that was a question. And yes, he is a Hall of Famer, in my opinion. um hamper His case is hampered by ah the amount of time that he missed. um And obviously that that hurts his counting stats.
01:25:42
Cody Atkinson
ah but But yes, there's not a doubt in my mind personally, because he was one of, if not the best player in baseball for a one, two, three, four, five, like,
01:25:54
Cody Atkinson
like eight years. um At his peak, he was one of, if not the best player in baseball for eight consecutive years. In my mind, he's a he's a first ballot.
01:26:01
justin_daulton
Yeah, from 2012 to... Yeah, from to Never played less than games.
01:26:08
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:26:10
justin_daulton
so yeah and one ah end right before the code here
01:26:12
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, and he was... his yeah His lowest result was fourth in MVP voting during that stretch, and that was the 114-game season.
01:26:22
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, no, he's he's he's a MVP.
01:26:22
justin_daulton
i guess my only mile only
01:26:25
Cody Atkinson
ors ah evp he's ah He's a Hall of Famer, no doubt, in my opinion.
01:26:28
justin_daulton
Yeah, I just don't think he gets first ballot, and it's going to be because the stats just aren't there. And the stats would have been balanced out if there was a ring in there. So maybe if he can go somewhere, you know, i could see him sliding into, like, a San Diego type of team, right?
01:26:42
justin_daulton
And he can be a DH for San Diego, not necessarily have to play in the field, so you limit the possibility of him getting hurt over the next couple of seasons.
01:26:48
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:26:50
justin_daulton
um Obviously, without really knowing where the Padres kind of sit right now, obviously, I know they're spending money to win. But I could see him in a situation like that where... San Diego wants to spend and they want to win.
01:27:01
justin_daulton
You know, if Trout gets a ring, that might change my opinion on the via first ballot. But I think he he gets in, but it's not first or i maybe not in the second, um especially because he doesn't have if he has 500 plus home runs that might help out his favor.
01:27:14
justin_daulton
But the less than 2000 hits is going to definitely hurt him in the long run.
01:27:19
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I mean, that's fair. i Yeah, I can see the argument. His counting stats are very hampered by his inability to stay healthy for the last five years. um And that's a shame.
01:27:30
Cody Atkinson
But yeah, I think he's incredible. Definitely Hall of Famer. I would have no problem first ballot. But i to your point, I don't know that he'll ah he'll get that for sure.
01:27:39
justin_daulton
Yeah. But the floor is back to you, the
AL West Competition
01:27:41
justin_daulton
Mariners.
01:27:41
Cody Atkinson
All right. Yeah, we're switching over to the Mariners. I have them classified as the favorite. um So they are the Tigers of the AL West. ah the my My main talking point for the Mariners is that they never run out of pitching.
01:27:54
Cody Atkinson
They draft pitching so well. ah They're starting with Bryce Miller on the IL, I believe, or at least... um When I originally put this together, he was projected to go on the aisle. um And despite that, they're going to have a starting rotation of Logan Gilbert, Brian Wu, Luis Castillo, and George Kirby. Anyone in baseball would take that as their four. They're likely fifth starter.
01:28:15
Cody Atkinson
um Emerson Hancock is a former first round pick with tons of potential. They just haven't put it all together yet. But like, Still, he was a first-round pick for a reason. um And they have one of my favorite pitching prospects in all of baseball and Kate Anderson in the pipeline ready to go in you know however many years. through away he was a He was a college guy, so he'll but he'll have a quicker development.
01:28:40
Cody Atkinson
Probably not this year, but like a guy that you could see show up shortly and keep their run going. Yeah. They're the favorite. In my mind, they're the favorite because of pitching. I know a lot of people will point to the hitting led by Cal Raleigh, naturally.
01:28:55
Cody Atkinson
ah but But to me, it's the pitching. um I think their offense, if if one of the parts of the team holds them back, I think iss more likely to be the offense because can can Cal Raleigh really repeat what he did last year? I think that's going to be a major question. He played at such a high level last year. is that...
01:29:14
Cody Atkinson
going to be a sustainable thing for him or is that going to be a flash in the pan season and he returns to a sense of of normalcy this year. That's something that we're going to have to keep an eye on. But they they did lose Jorge Polanco, which I think hurts them quite a bit. And they lost Eugenio Suarez. But Eugenio Suarez but did not play well when he was with the Mariners. All of his stats last year were before the trade deadline.
01:29:35
Cody Atkinson
um And they they brought in Brendan Donovan, who's already having an impact on the team. I think it's very likely that Brendan Donovan does more for them than Suarez did for them, even though Suarez is the bigger name. So I think the Mariners are still ah the odds-on favorite here. But if the Astros hit on the top end of their wild card, it could be a ah really fun battle to watch between the Astros and the Mariners.
01:30:02
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, any thoughts on the Mariners before I move on?
01:30:05
justin_daulton
um my prediction is they take a step back i think this this division is more open than i think a lot of people would want to admit that it's open um you have a you have a houston team has retooled their their their roster we talked about them last week obviously um i as much as i love a rosarena you know as someone who's a former tampe ray um his production is so up and down throughout his career um he shows up when the lights are on but
01:30:07
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:30:31
justin_daulton
You know, for a one a full 162, he's never played a full 162 and been at an elite level. um To your credit, can Cal Riley repeat what he did last year? If I was a batting man, I would tell you no, because odds are you're not going to hit 50-plus home runs from a catcher position back-to-back years.
01:30:49
justin_daulton
And especially we talked about it at the top of the show, right?
01:30:49
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:30:52
justin_daulton
There is more value on a defensive-minded catcher than there is on an offensive-minded catcher. So, you know, where does the league go with that um as we kind of go into it? um But in terms of that, i this division is gonna be wide open. I'm not ready to put my bet on who's going to win it, but I think this division is more open than than most would like to to admit.
01:31:13
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I think you're getting at a point that that I was a little bit saving for the end here, but I have the Mariners as the favorite in this division, and it's not because I think they are some juggernaut or that they take some massive step forward.
01:31:25
Cody Atkinson
I just think this is a pretty mediocre division, if we're being honest. like
01:31:29
justin_daulton
Yeah, i mean I mean, you're talking about a you know a team in the Mariners that you know what came up, what, two games short of the World Series last year, right? Losing out to the to the Blue Jays.
01:31:40
justin_daulton
um yeah
01:31:43
Cody Atkinson
I think what lost what can get lost in that though is the Mariners, they were gifted the playoffs by, i believe, I think it was the Astros for sure and I think the Rangers at the time.
01:31:43
justin_daulton
Mediocre, i don't know. that
01:31:55
Cody Atkinson
None of none of those three teams could win. going down the stretch.
01:31:59
justin_daulton
Mm-hmm.
01:31:59
Cody Atkinson
like They all had months to pull away, and they all just leant into the flight like lint to the end of the season. And the Mariners won this division not because they had some great season last year.
01:32:12
Cody Atkinson
Obviously, they put it together in the playoffs to make some noise, and so you forget the end of the season. But they made it into the playoffs because all the other teams in the division were so hurt that they couldn't win a game to to to break away at the end there. There was losing stretch after losing stretch by every team in this division until the final day. um I think it can get lost a little bit in their playoff that they weren't they weren't a juggernaut last year. I don't think there'll be one this year, but I still think they can be the best of the mid-season.
01:32:45
justin_daulton
Yeah, we'll definitely see how it plays out. I mean, there's definitely there's uply some talking points for sure as we get through the season of you know where does everyone end up. But I see the Mariners taking a step back, which ultimately they do.
01:32:57
justin_daulton
That means it opens the door for the Astros to step in there and and take the division back, um which may end up being my prediction.
01:32:59
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:33:04
justin_daulton
But I want to hear what you have to say about the Rangers before I fully give what I would say is my prediction.
01:33:09
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I guess to your point on that, the Astros just closed out the Red Sox 8-1 today, and Jose Altuve had two home runs. So maybe they – I can be pessimistic about my my teams because I don't want to get hurt. So maybe I'm maybe i'm too low on the Astros. But ah the Rangers, I've classified them as the overhyped team in the division. um Everything I was looking at – Had the Rangers as basically the clear number two in this division behind the Mariners, which I was shocked to see.
01:33:37
Cody Atkinson
I don't know where they earned this this regard. um I don't see it. I don't see the vision. um I think they're incredibly overhyped. I think they're going to be battling with the A's. for three four in the division not for for two the the rotation is strong at the top same thing we said with the angels they have nathan eovaldi they have jacob de grom they have mackenzie gore that is an incredible one two three uh jacob de grom has already missed a start because he doesn't he doesn't stay healthy he never has i don't think we should view that he suddenly will um so that's strong at the top it's volatile all the same because that top might not stay together all season And then they're counting on Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker as their four and five. They were deadly one to Vanderbilt back in the day, but that neither one of them has sustained success at the NLB level to this point.
01:34:28
Cody Atkinson
Leiter better than Rocker, but neither one of them has had any sustained success. And it's yeah it's going to be hard to win and to, to, to make a run when you're kind of, you're you're kind of reliant on winning Every of all the DeGrom gore start because you don't know what you're going to get out of lighter or rocker.
01:34:47
Cody Atkinson
um And then when you look at the lineup, they're missing a Dulles Garcia and Marcus Simeon. That's two huge names um that they have to replace. They still have Corey Seager, who's a great centerpiece.
01:34:59
Cody Atkinson
and They have a bunch of young guys that can still step up. Wyatt Langford, Josh Young, Evan Carter. um Guys that can step up, but they didn't go out and replace Garcia and Simeon with juggernauts. They've got Andrew McCutcheon made the team.
01:35:13
Cody Atkinson
um That's a name for you there. that I think it was Brandon Nimmo. um And there's one other that I neglected to write down here, but um it's I don't see it. I don't see where they got better from a team last year that was a significant disappointment. So I don't know why they wouldn't be a disappointment again.
01:35:35
justin_daulton
Fair enough.
01:35:35
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, so so I've got Fangraph's projections here. They've got Mariners, and then they have the Rangers and Astros tied at two. ah Then A's,
AL East Dynamics and Predictions
01:35:45
Cody Atkinson
Angels. My Cody projects is Mariners one, Astros two.
01:35:49
Cody Atkinson
Give me the sleeper A's to make enough of a run to get third. Rangers fourth, Angels bottom dwelling at fifth.
01:35:58
justin_daulton
I like it. i think I think I'm going to go Astros. going probably lock it around the same. I go 87, 86 wins with the Mariners right behind them.
01:36:11
justin_daulton
um And think I'm going to agree with you. You've sold me on this rebuilt A's team, man. as a you know They're still two years away from their their permanent home in 2028 opening over there in Vegas.
01:36:21
justin_daulton
um but they're building something, man, and you convinced me. i like the I like the A's out there. um And that might also just be for my loathing that I have with the Dallas-Fort Worth area sports teams that i I wish for nothing but the worst when it comes to those teams.
01:36:31
Cody Atkinson
There
01:36:35
justin_daulton
um But yeah, and then um I'm with you. The Angels are, if it wasn't for the Phillies and the White Sox, would be the Lafayette Sox and Major League Baseball.
01:36:43
Cody Atkinson
you go. Yeah, absolutely. And with that, I'll kick it back to you. Let's wrap this thing up with the AL East. Your heart, the the division of your heart.
01:36:53
justin_daulton
Yeah, and still to this day, and we've talked about this for even before you and I were fan friends, right? The AL East is a stacked division in Major League Baseball.
01:37:02
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:37:04
justin_daulton
If you put, honestly, all five of these teams in a different division, whether NL or AL, odds are you could probably have a case for each one of them to win a division. And they're because they're just that good.
01:37:15
justin_daulton
Obviously, we talked about the Tampa Bay Rays last week. I fully set the Tampa Bay Rays to be five or four in the division this year just because of where we're at talent wise. And I just don't see us getting better in the pitching game, whether it's bullpen or the back half of the rotation.
01:37:34
justin_daulton
to see us make a run through you know july august and in the end of september um would i be surprised if the rays can swing it and get it to that third or or third or second spot in the division no i wouldn't be surprised because that's let's always have the tampa bay rays go um but going to sit here and tell you that the other team that's going to be down there with them is the boston red sox i made this claim last week i'm sticking with this claim they just lost again
01:37:57
Cody Atkinson
That is bold. They did lose 8-1 today.
01:38:03
justin_daulton
So um I will sit here and tell you that the amount of talent that they will lost in regards to the talent that they brought in is not enough for you to feel good about them winning enough baseball games this year.
01:38:15
justin_daulton
um Who's playing first base? That is the the question. Right now, ESPN has Wilson Contre. It's playing first a base for you. That's awful. Your third baseman is Caleb Durbin.
01:38:26
justin_daulton
You lost out on the Alex Bregman sweepstakes. um You have Trevor Story in there to place to play shortstop, um which is which is good enough, right? With Isaiah Kiner-Falefa being your backup.
01:38:39
justin_daulton
um And then you technically don't have a natural second baseman in there. So I imagine you're gonna see a combination of Isaiah Kiner-Falefa um And then Andrew Monastero probably playing second base is your.
01:38:54
justin_daulton
So once again, your middle of the of the infield, not great. um And then your outfield.
01:38:58
Cody Atkinson
So today, today they had Marcelo Meyer, which is, I know, one of their prospects. So he was playing second today.
01:39:05
justin_daulton
So he's a home third baseman.
01:39:06
Cody Atkinson
But I was going to say, to your point, not a natural second baseman. They're really, they're experimenting with that position, it looks like.
01:39:14
justin_daulton
Yeah. And then your outfield, ah you really what you got is Roman Anthony, which is great. He's probably one of the best outfield prospects in baseball. We obviously saw him in the World Baseball Classic lighting it up.
01:39:27
justin_daulton
Probably will be the the headlining story outside of Trevor's story on this roster. But outside of that, you you have Yoshida in the outfield. You have Duran as well.
01:39:38
justin_daulton
And then your center fielder is Rafaela. Yeah.
01:39:43
Cody Atkinson
i'm whole I'm on hold. Don't worry. You're going to say a name and I'm going to tell you not to disrespect them like you did earlier. You haven't said it yet.
01:39:49
justin_daulton
now like ah Is it um is a Weiler a Braille?
01:39:53
Cody Atkinson
It's, it's will you're brave? That guy.
01:39:54
Cody Atkinson
I love will you're brave. He was an original Astros farm system traded to the Red Sox and the Christian Vasquez trade. Huge fan.
01:39:55
justin_daulton
Will you?
01:40:05
justin_daulton
But once again, I just don't see enough, right? The rotation doesn't impress me. You have Ranger Suarez. You have Johan Oviedo. Sonny Gray is ah obviously at the very tail end of his career.
01:40:18
justin_daulton
ah Your headliner is Garrett Crochet. um So I just don't see it
01:40:23
Cody Atkinson
But he's...
01:40:25
justin_daulton
He's fine, but like he's not.
01:40:27
Cody Atkinson
I could see come together, but to your point, it might not come together.
01:40:28
justin_daulton
Yeah. sure
01:40:31
Cody Atkinson
Like, like I could see ah Crochet, Suarez, Bello being like a pretty solid one, two, three.
01:40:32
justin_daulton
yeah
01:40:40
Cody Atkinson
um i liked Suarez with the Phillies last year. yeah obviously He obviously, he is the one that got touched up today. ah So he's off to a rough start. i know he got touched up in the, either in the World Baseball Classic or at the end of spring training.
01:40:53
Cody Atkinson
um So so maybe maybe he falls off. To your point, I could see it either way, right? This could really come together or if they missed on a couple of these names, it could really fall apart.
01:41:04
justin_daulton
Yeah, I'm trying to make sure I get the name for you. um That way I don't misquote who the the first baseman was last year.
01:41:14
justin_daulton
no i i they're not getting to me.
01:41:14
Cody Atkinson
Last year? Was it Devers?
01:41:16
justin_daulton
ah there
01:41:18
Cody Atkinson
they tried to make devs They tried to make Rafael Devers play first base and he didn't want to, so they traded with the Giants.
01:41:18
justin_daulton
Devers, thank you.
01:41:24
justin_daulton
Yeah, so like now you, I bet that was what I was gonna say, right?
01:41:25
Cody Atkinson
Bet they wish they still had
01:41:28
justin_daulton
Because now you would have had a natural third baseman in Devers after you lose out on the Bregman sweepstakes, right? And that at least Shores of the left side, what right, with Story and Devers, and now you can experiment with second base, and you still have Contreus at first, which Contreus is a former all-star at first base, right?
01:41:46
justin_daulton
But now you have Contreus at first as an all-star, Travis Story as shortstop as an all-star, but your corner and your second baseman are, not existent on this roster you're to platoon this for the entire season it seems like um with a rotation that maybe comes together um so that's why and i know that's it's a shocking result but i i just don't see this team putting it together enough to to really come through and push to the top three in this division
01:42:12
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. I mean, it's a bold take. Shout out to you for putting it out there.
01:42:16
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:42:17
Cody Atkinson
We'll see.
01:42:18
justin_daulton
My third place team, I don't think this is going shock anyone. It's going to be at the Baltimore Orioles. um I think what the common theme of this of this episode has been these third place teams are the sleepers of these divisions.
01:42:30
justin_daulton
um Obviously, Baltimore two seasons ago came in second behind the Yankees. um ah And then last year kind of fell off a little bit. A lot of talent and kind of took a step back in their sophomore slumps.
01:42:38
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:42:43
justin_daulton
Yeah. But this team is loaded. I think no one will fight me on that that this team is loaded when it comes to to young talent. I mean, you still got Adley Rutschman at catcher.
01:42:54
justin_daulton
You still... My browser is refreshed on me. stand by stand by stand by uh gunner henderson at shortstop obviously um and then you sign pete alonzo to play first base for you which you're you're guaranteed to get it you're guaranteed 30 to 40 home runs for pete alonzo every year um and then outfield tyler o'neill obviously is a big one out there taylor ward as you mentioned earlier from the angels wrap up
01:43:01
Cody Atkinson
Standby. Yeah,
01:43:07
Cody Atkinson
yeah that's big.
01:43:18
justin_daulton
uh and then obviously we know about the talent that's still down there um on their triple a affiliate um your rotation shane baz which is a big name to get and then uh zach eflin is another one for you anthony and nunez and tyler wells so like you have a good
01:43:29
Cody Atkinson
a big name.
01:43:33
Cody Atkinson
Okay, solid.
01:43:38
justin_daulton
three to four there on the rotation. Can they do enough? You still got Ryan Helsley in the bullpen. Trevor Rogers, you can see someone that maybe takes a step up. Obviously, we talked a little bit about him during the World Baseball Classic. You know, see someone that takes a step up.
01:43:52
justin_daulton
um and the And, you know, as was a starting pitcher, maybe he becomes a solid number five for you to turn it back over to the to the front half of the rotation. So this team has the potential.
01:44:03
justin_daulton
um They still have so much talent at AAA to call up and and make them more successful. Obviously, we saw that with with Jackson Holiday. What was it? last Was that last year or two or two years ago?
01:44:16
Cody Atkinson
All the years run together. It was either last year or two years ago.
01:44:19
justin_daulton
So like you saw them call him up and then go back down to AAA because he wasn't quite 100% ready. So like we know that they have a second baseman ready to go in Jackson Holiday. um Whenever they're ready to pull that trigger or right now, ESPN has their starting a second baseman in Jeremiah Jackson from Antioch, Tennessee. So that's a fun one for you.
01:44:36
Cody Atkinson
go.
01:44:36
justin_daulton
um So obviously, a name that also didn't mention shortstop, Blaze Alexander, which is playing behind Gunnar Henderson, and not a name to stop at. That's another talented shortstop behind him, another young one for you too.
01:44:47
Cody Atkinson
Is
01:44:49
justin_daulton
So, I mean, this team is stacked with talent. Can they take that step forward after they took that step backwards last year? Can they improve? Can they show that they're they're growing together as a unit?
01:45:01
justin_daulton
Can you call up the talent when the talent's ready? I.e., when is Jackson on Holiday ready? i think that's the question for this team.
01:45:08
Cody Atkinson
is he not?
01:45:09
justin_daulton
um
01:45:09
Cody Atkinson
He didn't he didn't break camp?
01:45:11
justin_daulton
He did not break camp on the 25 or the 26-man roster.
01:45:14
Cody Atkinson
ah Well, I just assumed he would.
01:45:14
justin_daulton
I mean... so but i mean sure. But i mean, at some point you're going to see him get elevated to that 26 man. Um, they're, they're carrying more pictures than anyone else I've seen on this breakdown so far for you.
01:45:22
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:45:27
justin_daulton
Um, which makes sense from a Baltimore team that could not pitch last year. Um, so you know I don't expect, uh, I don't expect Baltimore to fall behind, um, the game where last year they did.
01:45:41
justin_daulton
So they're my third place team, but not by much. Um,
01:45:45
Cody Atkinson
I think the question for me this year, because last year the problem with the Orioles was that they they didn't have the pitching to support the offense that they had put together. like it's like To your point, like you said, it's it's a very young and promising offense, and they've got you know they've got bullets in the in the holster still in AAA if they need to.
01:46:07
Cody Atkinson
But did they do enough to put a pitching staff together? i think that's going to be the big question for them. That was their that's why they fell off last year as they didn't go get pitching. um So we'll see this year if they did enough to get back to form or if it's going to be another down year where they should have invested more in pitching.
01:46:23
justin_daulton
Yeah, absolutely. That's why have them at third, just because I don't see the Rays or the Red Sox doing enough to to dethrone them in that third-place spot. um My second-place pick for the AL East, and this is ah these are going to be the top two between the Yankees and the Blue Jays, they're going to be separated by less than five games they' going down the stretch.
01:46:45
justin_daulton
Both these rosters are way too stacked to not be one and two. But my number two team is the New York Yankees. the blue The Blue Jays are going to finally take it from them.
01:46:53
Cody Atkinson
there
01:46:55
justin_daulton
Last year, obviously, the Yankees still find a way to hold on and win the AL East last year. Obviously, Blue Jays winning the wild card and da eventually making an amazing run. um I just see that the Blue Jays have enough. They did enough to bring back the talent that they had on their roster last season.
01:47:11
justin_daulton
um i don't have enough details to tell you why this yankee scene falls to second place because for all intents and purposes i'm going read you names and there's no reason why this team shouldn't be first place but the yankees always find a way to be the yankees and fall apart in august um so going run you through names and uh you're just going to be blown away because it's the yankees uh david bednar jake bird uh max fry are free sorry Ryan Weathers, Ryan Yarbrough. That's just your pitchers.
01:47:39
justin_daulton
Then we're going to go into the so so the to the position players. Austin Wells um is your catcher. And then you go to Jose Caballero, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Paul Goldschmidt, Ben Rice, Ahmad Rosario, Al Filters, Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, and this little guy by the name of Aaron Judge, and of course your DH Giancarlo Stanton.
01:48:02
justin_daulton
Like...
01:48:02
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, it's stacked for sure. ah quick Quick stack correction, though.
01:48:04
justin_daulton
There's oh,
01:48:06
Cody Atkinson
ah The Blue Jays did hold on to the division by tiebreaker last year.
01:48:09
justin_daulton
ah they did.
01:48:10
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, by by tie by tiebreaker, they so they they both teams, I think it was nine...
01:48:10
justin_daulton
Oh, it was a tiebreaker.
01:48:15
Cody Atkinson
what What was it? I had just had it up like... 96 and 68 or something along those lines, 94 and 68.
01:48:23
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:48:24
Cody Atkinson
But the Blue Jays claimed the division by tiebreaker. But it your did shoot but there's there's nothing you can point to on the Yankees to say this is why they'll fall off other than A, pure hatred, which is respected around these parts, or B, it's just what the Yankees do is they underperform this insanely talented roster.
01:48:28
justin_daulton
Okay.
01:48:41
Cody Atkinson
I will accept both answers because i love both answers.
01:48:45
justin_daulton
if you If you had to put a gun to my head and ask you what it is that's going make the fall apart, it's the same answer I've given to Yankees fans for the last six to eight years, is they just don't have enough pitching. The bullpen falls apart, and that's just been their Achilles heel for so long.
01:49:00
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:49:01
justin_daulton
And I think when you talk about the ALEs, right, the Rays put up 41 hits in the first in the first series, right? That's not sustainable for a full 162, but you're going to play that Rays team. I think you play, well, you play 16 times with your division teams.
01:49:16
justin_daulton
So you have that. You have the Red Sox lineup. It has some holes in it, but Trevor's story is going to still light you up. You're still going to see you know um Roman Anthony do what he does.
01:49:27
justin_daulton
But then we're going to flip over here to the to the Blue Jays, where Vlade Guerrero Jr. came out last year, and was and he was asked, who was the easiest team to play against? And there was no hesitation when he said the New York Yankees was the easiest team he had to face.
01:49:38
Cody Atkinson
yeah
01:49:39
justin_daulton
And that's because of the pitching. So I just don't think there's enough there. If you ask me what it is that's going to make them fall apart. I think it is that and also that Aaron Judge cannot perform when the when the big lights come on.
01:49:50
justin_daulton
And I still think that holds true. My guy didn't do anything in the World Baseball Classic. And I just don't think he's going to do much um down the stretch for the Yankees as well.
01:49:59
Cody Atkinson
and the Blue Jays, unlike the Yankees, they just have that dog mentality. mean, Springer is a guy that you shouldn't bet against. Guerrero is a guy you shouldn't bet against. Ernie Clement, I gave him spark plug of the of the U.S. team for the WBC. they're just They they have they have the mentality that you need to overachieve.
01:50:24
justin_daulton
Yeah. um Flipping over to the Toronto Blue Jays, who I predict to win the AL East. um your ah your bullpit or Your pitching staff looks like Dylan Cease, um which is a dog.
01:50:37
justin_daulton
Kevin Gosman, dog. Eric Lauer, dog. And you're and you're round rounding out with between Cody Ponce and Max Scherzer.
01:50:47
Cody Atkinson
Oh yeah, I forgot they had Scherzer back.
01:50:47
justin_daulton
That's a name for you. Yep. um So obviously Scherzer is there. Ponce and him are going to bounce back and forth probably on bullpen days, I would imagine. It's kind of the way that you use him until down the stretch, which is when you want to save Max Scherzer for the playoff time.
01:51:03
justin_daulton
um And then... your field looks like Alejandro Kirk at catcher, um, which is great. Um, your infield pretty much exactly the same as what it was last year, which isn't a whole lot, but you have Lattie Guerrero jr, which is enough to carry the out, the infield as a whole.
01:51:21
justin_daulton
Um, but you have, like you said, Ernie Clement, um, Andres Jimenez, uh, you have Addison Barger. Like there's a lot of names there that still do enough, um, to help them win baseball games.
01:51:33
justin_daulton
And this is a team that plays solid baseball. um We saw that's how they won most of the games last year. They run, they hit the ball, and they they will they pitch quality when it matters most, right? And that's something that when you get to October, and even if it bleeds into a little bit of early November in the World Series, if you play solid fundamental baseball, you're going to win baseball games.
01:51:55
justin_daulton
um Unfortunately, as we'll talk about next week, they just run into a buzzsaw in the LA Dodgers. Um, your outfield, we already talked about it.
01:52:01
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:52:05
justin_daulton
Springer Dinger out there, Miles Straw, um, uh, Jesus Sanchez. Like there's, they're stacked, dude. Like there's enough here to to do what they need to um, to repeat out there in the American League East.
01:52:12
Cody Atkinson
this
01:52:18
justin_daulton
Um, so not much more than,
01:52:20
Cody Atkinson
It was just an outfield that every single member of that outfield has spent time on the Astros. I couldn't help but chuckle Springer, Strahd, Sanchez was traded from the Astros to Blue Jays this offseason.
01:52:32
justin_daulton
Yep. So, I mean, it's just they're there just such a good team, and I just don't see a reason why they take a step back. um Right now, second in the L.E., so that's only because the Yankees haven't lost a game yet.
01:52:43
justin_daulton
Obviously, over 162, this team is going to be just fine. um And their only Achilles heel is themselves. If they just make sure they stay out of their own way, they're team that goes out there and they won up a lot of baseball games, and they're a Yankee slayer, which makes me happy.
01:53:00
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, absolutely. No notes, man. um I think I probably would, I would probably lean Red Sox.
01:53:09
Cody Atkinson
do enough to stay above the Orioles because I'm still not convinced that the Orioles we got brought in enough pitching, but I'm going sit there with you. I i' certainly am not going to pick the Yankees to win the division. So I like what you've got there, Blue Jays, Yankees. And then I'll take Red Sox, Orioles, Rays, sitting in five. There's nothing, no shame in a rebuild because the the Rays know how to rebuild. So I have no doubt they'll be back.
01:53:34
justin_daulton
I will say my, myma as I did for the Central, MVP of the of the East is going to unfortunately go Aaron Judge because of the voters bias. And he plays in New York.
01:53:46
justin_daulton
um but don't
01:53:46
Cody Atkinson
You're the voter.
01:53:47
justin_daulton
but yeah But don't sleep on Junior Camarino to sneak into that MVP race this year. um Not just for the AL East, but for the AL as a whole.
01:53:58
justin_daulton
um You want to point to a guy that's to be able to put this team on his back and carry it. It's going to be Junior Camarino here in Tampa. um i think your Cy Young, it's tough because you don't really point to one guy in particular to be the Cy Young in this in this division.
01:54:12
justin_daulton
um Sleeper pick, I can see it going to like a Max Friedman. um i think that's a good enough pick like i said there's not anyone that really blows me away like i did in the central where obviously you have three scoogle um you know you look at the raising you can talk about rasmussen or a mcclanahan if they can look like the like they did the last couple of years um but i also don't see enough from the other teams even the raise in general i don't think we're gonna put up enough run support to really back up a claim for rasmussen or mcclanahan to be um
01:54:44
justin_daulton
to be a Cy Young contenders. But I can see a Max Freed for sure up there in Toronto to be that type of guy.
01:54:48
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. Is Cole healthy? Garrett Cole?
01:54:54
justin_daulton
I think he is. so I mean, that's enough of a, you know.
01:54:55
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, if he's healthy, he's a name, depending on ah if he's healthy, if he's stretched out, he's a name. Freed is a name. I think Garrett Crochet is still a name. He was up in the top, top voting last year.
01:55:06
Cody Atkinson
So definitely some options coming out of the AL.
01:55:06
justin_daulton
Yeah, absolutely.
01:55:09
Cody Atkinson
It's a stacked division. That's going to be, that's a tough one to preview, a tough one to pick. If you want to watch good baseball, watch the AL East.
01:55:16
justin_daulton
Watch the Even the Rays being the basement team is going to be a fun team to watch this year.
01:55:22
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, absolutely.
01:55:22
justin_daulton
And it's going to be back in the trop. So in games in the trop are electric. It's a lot of crap, but it's ah it's it's a an electric crowd there and electric energy for for that for that stadium.
01:55:33
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, absolutely. Um, man, do you got anything else? I think that, I think that wraps this up. This is a long one. So I think that wraps this up.
01:55:41
justin_daulton
Yeah, I don't have anything else, man. Happy to have baseball back. It was a good first weekend, so happy to have it back.
01:55:46
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, happy to have baseball back. As we sign off here, shout out to the Fertitta family ah for for purchasing the Connecticut Sun and planning to move them ah to Houston in 2027. Obviously, i'm I'm brought to you by Houston. so um Excited to see another league come back to Houston. ah The Houston Comets, they'll they'll keep that branding from ah the late 90s, early 2000s. They were a juggernaut back then. i wasn't I wasn't locked in. Four championships, ah nine playoff appearances in 12 seasons. So excited to see the Comets come back. Hopefully they can ah put something together. And and again, i just I will celebrate any league that returns to Houston and shows the NHL that any sport can work here.
01:56:34
Cody Atkinson
So bring all the leagues back and show the NHL that they're the only ones missing so that they come as well. ah But yeah, that's all.
01:56:40
justin_daulton
Absolutely.
01:56:40
Cody Atkinson
That's all we got for you. um Thanks for joining us. If you made it this far, please like comment, subscribe, and let us know what you think of the previews. Is there a certain format you're liking better than others or a format you want us to test out? We're finding our voice on these previews. So, so give us some feedback and, and look forward to the NL preview next week. We'll be bringing you of the other half of MLB and let you know what to look out for this season. So ah thank you for joining us on the coastal launch sports talk. I'm Cody.
01:57:09
justin_daulton
I'm Justin.
01:57:11
Cody Atkinson
And we'll see you next week. Peace.
01:57:13
justin_daulton
Peace.