Ben & Woods On Demand Podcast
7.11 Padres Roundtable
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Find your next credit card or loan for a big purchase and invest in your next index fund. Make smarter decisions in 2024. Follow NerdWallet Smart Money Podcast on your favorite podcast app. Hey, fantasy football owners, I'm Matt Harmon. And what's cracking up James Co. Join us on Reception Perception as we dive deep into wide receivers, the position that will make or break your fantasy team. Follow and listen to Reception Perception on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. [MUSIC PLAYING] It's that time, prior faithful. Time to discuss everything going on with the Padres. We've gathered the entire 97.3, the fan crew together, to bring you the most in-depth discussion on the priors in our weekly Padres Roundtable, presented by San Diego Roundtable Pizza. Here's your host, Ben Higgins. Yes, the Roundtable is back after taking last week off for the Fourth of July. We are here to talk some San Diego Padres baseball over the next hour. And unfortunately for the Padres, they missed to what would have been a pretty positive roundtable last Thursday, with the team absolutely on fire, would have been lots of positivity. Everything would have been really, really swell in Padres land. But instead, they land on Miss Thursday and a four-game losing streak. Let's introduce our cast this morning across from me. From the Annie and Elston program, we have Annie Halbrun. Hello, Ben. From me, Gwen and Chris program. Welcome back to Tony Gwen Jr., not traveling back in town. It's good to see you. Good to see you as well, Ben. We've got Craig Elston here right up the middle. I'm supposed to be here. And right next to me, we have Chris Elo. Hello, Chris. Hey, Ben. All right, so apologies to manager Mike Schill. But it is now unavoidable. Maybe a month into the season, it was too early to call this a roller coaster ride. But over the last month and a half or so, you've probably seen the streets. Five and one, followed by 0 and 5. Five and one, 0 and 5. 12 and 3, and now 0 and 4. There's no other phrase to describe this season now, other than a bit of a roller coaster for the San Diego Padres. So my first question, and Chris, why don't we start with you? If they truly are a middle of the road, two games above 500 team, where they have landed at this point, why do they play so well in these stretches? Why can't they sustain it? Well, I think right now they can't sustain it because they don't have a full team. I mean, we've been talking about it for a couple of weeks. Even when they went 12 and 3, I think they were playing a little above their head right there. When you're missing your number one and number two starting pitchers coming into the season, I think it's difficult to maintain a high level of baseball. And I think that's fair to say for almost any team in major league baseball. You might be able to take one starter out and keep rolling. But taking two, I mean, even the Dodgers right now with all their pitchers out are coming back to the pack a little bit. So I think that's the biggest reason why they can't maintain. And I think the other reason is that this is what this team is. I've hoped that 25 times is the limit for them being at 500. I hope they never get back down to 500. But this isn't surprising to me that they've run into a little bit of a slow streak here after playing so well. And that 12 out of 15 included what, three or four? Really, really exciting. I don't want to say miraculous wins. But those kinds of wins where you just get a little momentum and they plate it up. I think I agree with you for the most part, Chris. But Craig, you also have to acknowledge that over the last month and a half, when the injuries have been at their highest, the Padres have played their best. So it also doesn't completely hold true that the injuries are the reason that they have struggled at times as well. Well, yeah, that's very fair. But that's also the nature of baseball, right? Where weird stuff happens all the time. And I mean, if you really look back at that stretch, it was powered a lot by Kyle Higashioka-Homers, by Manny Machado-Home runs, by Jerrickson Profar, by Jackson Merrill, like four guys really stepped up and put runs on the board for the Padres. But Chris is right. The structural issues for the team remains. I mean, to be very honest, I remember during the 0 and 5 that preceded the 12 and 3. We were looking at this team as, oh, this could be where it bottoms out for a little while. This is where it could get really bad. And then they go on this crazy running. Okay, well, we're never looking back. Well, here we are, getting dragged back toward 500. And when you look around, you start to go, wow, you could really use Fernando Tatisse right now in right field. And you could really use some guys in your rotation. Tony, you seem to be the most immune to the roller coaster ride as a former player who has had to live through it more times than anyone. Do you see anything in specifically that has caused more ups and downs this season than maybe we normally get? I like to look at teams as kind of, if it's done right, getting better as the season goes along. And I think for the most part, the Padres have done it. I think the injuries, this team has never really been whole for a long stretch of time at any point during the season. So it becomes harder to make the argument that they're playing above their head or that this is who they are. Because we don't actually, we haven't seen this team completely healthy for a long stretch of time. And the fact that they are two games above 500 when you really haven't had you Darvis most of the first half, really haven't had Joe for most of the first half, you had stretches in which you had your starting rotation go three and a third, four and a third, three and a third. That starts to tax the bullpen in which we've seen that kind of collapse a little bit here as of late. But I just think it's hard to make the argument right now that we know who this team is because we haven't seen them completely whole. I'm encouraged by the fact that they are where they are right now because they haven't been whole all season. - Yeah, that's a good point. The roller coaster is not necessarily a bad thing, Annie, as Tony points out there. They're kind of where we hope they would be here at the break. Any thoughts though, just on the up and down nature of especially these last couple of months? - Yeah, I think that the inconsistency to start the season was pretty prevalent. Then they got on that 12 and three stretch, which was a little bit kind of overperforming. I think if you talk to some people at Pecco Park, even they were like, man, I can't believe what we've been able to do with so many people missing. But at the same time, it showed a lot of their character and their identity and their resilience and their ability to stay in the game. And they're still right there. I mean, they're right in the thick of the wildcard race still, they're right in the thick of the standings. I think partly too, it's a little bit of baseball, right? Like you're not gonna sustain either hopefully a losing streak for too long or a winning streak probably is difficult too. I mean, you look at the Yankees losing 17 of their last 23 recently after the stretch that they got off to start with in the season, you know? And but they had built such a buffer that it hasn't really hit them. The Padres to their credit built a little bit of a buffer during that 12 and three stretch where they're not taking such a hit right now where they're below 500 at least. - I think the other thing that we have to take into account is that those guys who are feeling in right now are in the roles they're in because they can't do, you know, what a guy like Totti does or whoever it is that they're replacing. And that's why you'll see these boosts where it's 12 and three and then they hit a low and that's kind of baseball, but that's also because you're still missing your big guys that would normally be in those spots. - We had an interesting, our weekly segment with, you know, Sarah from the Athletic and he made what is such a simple point, but I think it's worth repeating. And that is when a team finally is playing good enough where you're talking about how well they're playing. They're almost certainly near the end of that run because everything is always going to change. And conversely, when they start playing bad enough, there you go. Oh yeah, they've lost five in a row, six out of seven. It's probably near the end of that as well. So you're always going to feel a bit of that roller coaster during the season because you don't notice it until you've kind of gotten near the end of those stretches anyway. It's our 97 through the fan Padres round table presented by San Diego round table pizza. One thing the Padres absolutely do have is top performers and illustrated by five selections to the all-star game coming up next week. And I did a little math here. They are one of six teams in baseball with at least four all-star selections. The other five though, are combined 98 games above 500. That would be the Phillies, the Orioles, the Dodgers, the Guardians and the Royals. Padres are just two games above 500. So let me start with Annie this way and work the other way around. What are the Padres missing that those other teams that also have all these all-star performers have that have them an average of around 20 games above 500 as opposed to just two games above 500? - More consistency. Well, you know, I mean, look, they've got injuries all over those teams too as well. So I mean, I was going to say like a starting rotation that maybe can be more consistent and go deeper and not tax a bullpen so much. That's, I'm gonna have to lob this one over to Tony. I don't know because that is the, that is the kind of the conundrum there, right? Like these other teams are also dealing with big injuries and big injuries to superstars. But the Padres, it may have gotten them in a stretch where they're playing more games than any other team to start the season against pretty hard teams. Maybe it kind of caught them in a little bit of a whirlwind there to start the season in the sense of just not being able to kind of get too much of a head start over 500. - Yeah, Tony, you have the optimistic view that, you know, it's pretty good that they are where they are considering what they've dealt with. But at the same time, you can't necessarily count on five more all-star performances in the next couple of months and you didn't take advantage completely of those all-star performances you got in the first half of the season. - Well, that's partly because you were injured. You didn't have, you know, your number one and number two starters to really help you take advantage of some of those years. And I think, you know, in the Dodgers case, like because they're one of the teams that are on the high side of the wins losses, you know, they were healthy to start the season in terms of they're big guys. And those big guys got off to blazing starts. And then they got injured after that as Annie put it, they had a buffer, they had a nice buffer at that point. And the Orioles been pretty healthy all season. Philly, just again, just like the Dodgers, they're now starting to take some of that attrition of the season, but, you know, I think for the Padres, you know, they haven't been able to really take advantage. And I think it's partly because they didn't start off the season well, 'cause let's be honest about it. They were very inconsistent in the months of, you know, the early part of March, our late part of March, all of April, it didn't start really kicking in gear until about middle May is where they started to kind of play better baseball. But on top of that, they had the injury. So it made it hard for them to take advantage of those years you're talking about. Craig, we keep hearing the word inconsistency, which is, I think, fair, but let's dig a little bit deeper. Like, okay, other than injuries, because, you know, they had some healthy stretches as well. What are some of the causes of the inconsistency? Would you point more to the bullpen? Is it the back end of the starting rotation? Is it just a combination of all of those factors? - Well, the simple answer to the question you asked is pitching. Like, what is the difference between our team with five all-stars and these other teams with five all-stars and the difference is pitching, they pitch better than we do. So that's the, I don't have to go any deeper, I can give you that, and I think it answers the question. With that said, where did it break down? It started with Joe Musgrove pitching and pitching very poorly while he was in the rotation and then he got hurt and then he came back, tried to come back, pitched a little better, and then he's hurt and he's been out ever since. You've gotten incredible performances from three guys in your bullpen, in Suarez, in Astrada, in Morahone. You've gotten deeply, deeply inconsistent to bad performances from the rest of your bullpen. All of them who've been good at some stretch of the season, but all of whom have been bad at some stretch of the season. So that's where the inconsistency is. I'll go back to something we said, March 28th, and I'll say the end of September, this team will go as far as its starting pitching takes it. Where it's taking it now is two games over 500. - Chris, your thoughts on the lack of taking advantage of the All-Star performances. - You know, it's funny when you come to me last, I sit here the entire time and I root for none of them to say what I was going to say, so that I don't have to come up with something different. And they didn't, so luckily, here's my thing. You talk, these All-Star performances have all come from guys that none of us expected to be All-Stars, except for Fernando Tatice Jr. And so the flip side of that is that the guys we expected to be Superstars really weren't for a long stretch of the season, and Bogart hasn't been there at all. Manny has only recently been hot. He was really, really down for the first two and a half, three months of the season. Darvish and Musgrove, even when they were there did not pitch well. Campusano's not even getting playing time anymore. Jake, I think after a really good start as leveled out. My thing is that while we've gotten those five All-Star performances, we haven't gotten the normal performance from the All-Stars, that would be my answer. - And I'm gonna just throw in, and Annie, you can comment as well, that, and this is not, I don't want anyone to read this, is Ben just being negative or trashing the All-Stars. But the Padres got three All-Stars in a nationally-got-field that was extremely down this year. And they are all deserving, absolutely, based on the rules of the All-Star game, all three of those guys should be there and deserve to be there. But no one's putting up the Shoe Heotani Aaron Judge-type numbers for the San Diego Padres, even the All-Stars. Jerrickson Pro far really great first half, Tatiz, really good first half, but we know he's got more in him, and Jackson Merrill, stunningly good for a rookie, but still none of them have completely dominated the game the way the true superstar-level players can, the way Manny can, when he takes over a game, and the way of course, Tatiz can, and we haven't seen it much other than a little bit from Manny over the last kind of month or so. - This kind of takes me to what I was about to comment on, as good as this offense, or as hot as this offense has gotten, and the numbers speak to that right, and where they rank in the majors and everything, there were plenty of games this year too, and we saw one even yesterday, although it was a good pitching performance, where the starters put up and gone deep, six, seven innings, and the offense hasn't come through. So, you know, we call those the wasted starting pitching performances, right? I feel like they've had a fair share of those also that kind of dragged them down early in the season, and I guess that kind of speaks to your superstar numbers as well. - Well, and just a button on your point. Juan Soto was traded from the National League to the American League. Bryce Harper moved from the outfield to the infield, and Mookie Betts moved from the outfield to the infield. That would be the starting outfield for the National League if they were still there. - Correct, so there's a little bit of mirage there. - I mean, none of those, that wasn't the case. - I know, I'm not saying they don't deserve to be there, Tony, I'm just saying that if you were having a good season this year in the outfield, this would be a good season to make the all-star game. - Fair enough. I mean, first, no one's having years of judge in Otani. They are out of whole another stratosphere. - I just think for, to your point about, the Padres having the all-stars or whatnot, the best stretch the Padres have had this year was that 12 and three stretch, and Manny Machado was pretty much leading the way in terms of the offense. And so that has always been the case when we've seen this offense at its best. It hasn't been in any other time than when Manny is doing what he's done in the last month. And so, the fact that he seems like he's starting to get there more consistently, I mean, listen, the Seattle series is, I put this on to the side, 'cause that's one of the best rotations you're gonna run into during any point in the year other than Philly, which we've already ran into. So, I think this offense is gonna go as Manny goes. And it's always been that way. - I've been saying that for years. I'm gonna go a little off topic here because I almost wanna put it up on a sign. - As Manny Machado goes, so goes the Padres. In ways that even Fernando Tati's junior does not impact this team. So why do you think that is? 'Cause Tati's is incredibly talented. We know Bogart's is a great player, a great, great leader. They have pitchers who are leaders as well. But if you look back over the last few years, it's almost always Manny that drives the successes and failures of the Padres. - Because I think the difference between the two is when Manny is at his best, he literally dictates the action. This is a very rare thing for a hitter to be able to dictate. But he forces you to places where he 100% can get you every time now. He might hit the ball too hard and hit it at somebody. But most of the time when he's going like this, it's a difference. There really isn't anywhere you can go with Manny. So now you're forced, do you just put him on? If you can, otherwise they pitch to him and we see. When he's going like that, 12 and three that offense looked amazing. Is it the best it's looked at any point during the year? - Doesn't every team have an alpha dog, you know? And I think Manny's the Padres alpha dog even with Fernando there. It just, Manny's the leader of the team, you know? And he drags everybody along with him. He does a better job of doing that than Fernando. Is that part of what happened last year as well with Manny obviously ailing the more as the season went on that the inability of Manny to ever really be entirely Manny last year can explain some of the disappointments of 2023. - I've occasionally wondered in my mind and I don't think it's a fair thing to wonder about how few times we've seen Manny entities together, playing together, playing successfully together and both excelling together. Manny's best stretches have come when Fernando's been on the shelf, 2022, practically an MVP season, could have been an MVP season if that last month and I kind of feel it's like, well, you need me and I'm here, you know? But that's probably completely unfair and just part of the random noise of baseball. - I will say that I don't know that we paid enough attention to the fact that Manny returned and the first game of the season versus what we were told, which was May. I think he played a long stretch time. He'll never admit this. He probably played a long stretch of time before he started to feel at least comfortable at the play and I think that's part of what we're starting to see now. - You don't just live in your home, you live in your neighborhood as well. So when you're shopping for a home, you wanna know as much about the area around it as possible. Luckily, homes.com has got you covered. Each listing features a comprehensive neighborhood guide from local experts, everything you'd ever wanna know about a neighborhood, including the number of homes or sale, transportation, local amenities, cultural attractions, unique qualities, and even things like median lot size and a noise score. Homes.com, we've done your homework. - Nice. - Today's episode is sponsored by Nerd Wallet Smart Money Podcast. Get your head in the financial game with smart investing and budgeting tips straight from the nerds. Nerd Wallet's experts will set future you up for success. With dependable fact-based insights, no financial misinformation allowed. Learn how to save on your summer vacation, find your next credit card, or loan for a big purchase, and invest in your next index fund. Make smarter decisions in 2024. Follow Nerd Wallet's Smart Money Podcast on your favorite podcast app. (upbeat music) - Hey, fantasy football owners, I'm Matt Harmon. - And what's cracking on James code? Join us on Reception Perception as we dive deep into wide receivers, the position that will make or break your fantasy team. Follow and listen to Reception Perception on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. - And Annie, this is not necessarily anything to do with Manny's leadership style. People always love to talk about Manny's vocal, non-vocal leadership just being out there. This is simply his impact on the game and what he does for the Padres when he's on the field. - Yeah, I mean, I think that his production, like Tony said, I think that he's always giving you a chance to win, he's got an edge to him, he's got the baseball IQ that everyone always talks about that is at a really high level, he's seen a lot in the game, he plays it the right way. And I feel like when you're a team, you kind of do rally around those guys on your line-up or on your roster, that sort of are the tone setters, and he's like that. - Makes me glad actually that Manny Machado is part of this team. I know some people say it's a long contract, he's never gonna be able to live up to it, but it makes me feel like I'm glad he's gonna be on this team for a while because I know that when he's playing well, Padres will be playing well. - He's one of those guys that when he's going, he can put a team and offense on his shoulder and carry it for a long stretch of time. - So in '97, three, the fan Padres round table presented commercial free by San Diego round table pizza. Of course, likely Zander Bogart's will make his return to the San Diego Padres this weekend and it could potentially create a crunch in the infield. Mike Schultz already talked about it a little bit. J. Chrono worth slides to first, Luis Arise will probably be the designated hitter more often, but you still have to get Manny off his feet some days and what about Donovan Solano? Is he just gonna be a bench piece? Or, as I know Chris Elo has talked about on your guys' program, you have the trade deadline coming up and you could use one of those excess infield pieces as a trade ship and the one that is becoming a free agent at the end of this year is Hassan Kim. So Chris, I know you've talked about this before. Is there a scenario where you could still see while the Padres want to compete for a playoff spot, Hassan Kim could be traded before the deadline for some sort of piece that either helps them or acquires minor leaders that they can flip in a trade to get a piece that they need somewhere else like pitching? - I think it's unlikely to happen. I think they're happy with Hassan Kim anchoring the infielded shortstop, but I personally would look into it. I think Xander Bogart's, though he never said it, would love to be back at shortstop trying to lead a team to the pennant. And it wouldn't bother me if they dangled Hassan Kim to see if they could find a starting pitcher. I don't know that that is enough to get somebody to part with a good solid middle of the rotation guy. But I'm just not the biggest Hassan Kim fan, his 219 batting average, his terrible base running drives me crazy. Infield, I think he's been great defensively, but not the slickest shortstop I've ever seen. I wouldn't have a problem dangling him. And I also wouldn't have a problem at this point seeing if anybody's interested in Luis Camposano, 'cause obviously the Padres aren't interested in him. He didn't even play yesterday when Higash Yoka got a day off. Tony, I mean, obviously, I think Chris has some thoughts here, but no team that wants Hassan Kim is gonna trade starting pitching right now, 'cause they're a contender and they're renting Hassan Kim for two months. It would have to be something creative, a three-way deal where the Padres are getting something that they need. Do you see, I mean, AJ Preller is as creative as it gets. - He is, which is why-- - You can't count anything out. - Yeah, I was just about to say, you can't count anything out when it comes to AJ. - Chris, you had some thoughts there, didn't you? - I love his bass running. You know that, Tony. I bring it up every time. - I think the tough part for Kim is, his stock was probably at his highest at the end of last year. And so, what are you gonna be able to get back for him? I don't know that it's gonna be as big of an issue in terms of when Bogey comes back. I think there's gonna be some moving parts. I think they're gonna wanna get a rise in the middle of them field. They're gonna wanna move Manny off his feet. Krohn's gonna, there's gonna be times where he can get somebody else to be the DH. But as you said, I think a rise will probably hold that spot. If you can find a dance partner, 'cause there's gonna be a lot of people who are still, especially the National League, there aren't very many teams out of it. Now, the American League seems like there are more pieces starting to come on the board because some of these teams are, you know, basically the same we're putting. But it's gonna be an interesting deadline, 'cause clearly the Padres have some needs. You got a glutton of infielders. How do you go about moving? Or do you find a different way? You still got those two big prospect pieces that hold the most currency in all sports. I mean, the prospect in baseball is the biggest thing going. So, you got options. Make some sense on paper, Chris. But Annie is Chris underestimating how much of the heart and soul that Hassan Kim is. Not just to fans, but in that clubhouse. I mean, you see how they treat him and how they, you know, gravitate around him. And I don't totally understand it, you know, being not in there myself. But you can certainly see it from the outside, that he's a beloved member of that thing. - Go get me, Annie. - What do you say, Annie? - Just not care about the heart and soul, okay? - Go after me. - Like, bottom. No, I absolutely think they love Hassan Kim and there's a bond there for sure among the players in Hassan Kim. But Hassan Kim is also a good player. I don't think that, you know, for what you might get back for him at this point, and I feel like sometimes you do have a, like more infielders right now, more production than you have space for, but those things tend to work themselves out sometimes. Like, take to say it, but sometimes there's an injury, sometimes there's guys that need rest. Manny said the other day he's has still good days and bad days, like he's still working back. You might want to get him off his feet a little bit more, same with Zander. So I still think that there's a lot of room in there. And I know, I know Craig's gonna speak to this. - I know he's been patiently fighting his time here. - Not his best defensive year. - Hang on a second, I'm gonna still-- - But still a great defender. - Are we talking Kim? - Kim, Kim, and if you're, if you are making a push there, you know, into the postseason, you are gonna need that. You're gonna need someone who fits with your team well, who is a good defender, who is able to, in those games that are gonna be totally won or lost on the margins, on these little tiny things, you know? Be able to hold it down. So I still think that he-- - The market's like base running. - I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. - A productive player for you. And I just don't know, you'd have to trade him to a contender, you'd only be giving him a way for the rental portion. - You may be wanting your commission. - Right, like you're not gonna give him to a team that is like the Marlins or whatnot because they don't need him. Like he's a free agent at the end of the year. - And he's a riddle. - But I do think this. I do think A.J. Peller has to listen to everything. Like they have limited funds, they don't have an open, wide checkbook, he's got to get creative. So if someone's interested, I absolutely think you listen. - I'm sure he's listening. All right, let's step aside, let's let Craig have his Sega. - Look, Annie just said one of the most important things, right? Which is okay, well you need, we are going through the backside of one of the things that happens when you have an injury, which is you play players out of position, which is what we're doing by playing Luis Arise at first base and Jake Croninworth at second base, where they have graded out so far as the second worst and worst defenders at their position since they've taken their position. By getting Bogart's back where he's supposed to be second base, which is a decision this organization made from front office to manager to coaching staff, they made that call in spring training. The Xander Bogart's is no longer the shortstop of the San Diego Padres, he is the second baseman because Kim's the best defender on the team, period end of story and Croninworth's a better defensive first baseman. So now we're in our best defensive position, which is what you want, if you wanna win games, when we have an inconsistent pitching staff, you want your best defense out there, and if someone else gets hurt, we've got the fallback positioning of playing Solano every day, but instead we get to have our best version of Solano playing more limited, playing against better matchups, you could play him against a lefty and sit a rise, who's hit 240 with no walks and no power for the last month by the pie, you are a better team keeping Haas on Kim, or you could trade him to the Giants, watch them pass you in the standings and declare it being the dumbest move in Preller's career. This is a broken premise question. - I don't always understand the defensive metrics because I look at Jake Cronworth, and I think he plays a darn good second base out there, but Craig is absolutely right. The decision to move Zander wasn't made willy-nilly by the organization. They felt like this was the best formulation of the infield that they could possibly put together, and they're about to get it back, as Craig says. They're finally gonna get it back. Why tear it apart at this moment? - So basically, Craig is saying that this is gonna be moving parts basically again, right? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - You keep it as it is. - Keep it as it is. - And I am probably one of the less sentimental, baseball's such a sentimental sport, and I try to keep some sentimentality out of it, but I can't help but think that you trade Hosun Kim, and it just has a deflating balloon effect on the San Diego Padres, just because of the chance of the fans, and the clubhouse, and everything that, it's hard to think that they can get better, even if they got a piece they needed a picture somehow, something that they needed that's necessarily gonna ever make them better. - I think you guys over play that one, big sign. - The chemistry mean like-- - No, no, chemistry's a real thing, but that these guys can't get over it and do their job thereafter. - No, they can totally get over it. I mean, and they're gonna have to next year, but here's one other thing that's part of what I consider a broken premise, which is, well, you have to get something for him now because you're gonna get nothing for him at the end of the year. That is not true. The Padres are very decidedly staying under the salary tax, right? They are very luxury tax competitive balance, whatever you wanna call it. Once they are there, established at the end of the year, they give Haas on Kim a qualifying offer because he's an outgoing free agent. He declines it to go to the market and they get a second first round draft pick. - Tony is right, his best trade value was in the off season after last year. - Yeah, 100%. - Yeah, because he hasn't been that great this year. - Well, and it's team-- - I'm just saying, no, he wouldn't have to open market. - Craig, you're right, they're gonna weaken some, they're weak in their defense if they trade Haas on Kim, but they may strengthen their pitching staff if they trade Haas on Kim. To me, in order to get something, you've got to offer something. And I think Haas on Kim is a potential extra piece that has value. - I don't disagree that he has not had a good offensive year and he hasn't played as well defensively this year as he did last year. However, it's still the Padres best defensive formation. And if I just, it's not that I'm against them moving them, but if you're gonna get something that is actually going to help, fine. But if you're not, I don't think it's worth it. - I'm not, I'm not, and I started my answer by saying, I think it's unlikely. 'Cause I don't think they're gonna be able to find anything great. But I think they have to take a look at something right now 'cause they really need a starting pitcher. And what's happened with Darvish, it's to me it's made it more important to go find a starting pitcher. - That's true. - Thank you to San Diego Roundtable Pizza presenting our Roundtable commercial free pizza royalty. Says he'll right there on the box and got the delicious pizza in here every single week. So Tony did mention a very viable alternative though. And that is dipping once again into the prospects to trade and address some of the needs, including pitching and bullpen. So let's focus on the two guys who I think everyone now agrees are the most valuable prospects in the Padres organization. Ethan Salas and Leo Dallas-Deverice, who's been on an absolute heater right now at Lake Elsinore. I mean, he's not anywhere near the big leagues. The question is, what will it take for you to wanna dip in to either of those guys at this point in the trade deadline? Is it beyond a rental? I would think it's got to be someone with more control. What is the tipping point for you that makes it Craig worth trading one of your absolute top prospects here for a team that is just fighting for a wild card? It's not looking for that edge to go over the top and make the world series favorites. Nothing's gonna do that right now. Is one soda available with three years of control? 'Cause I'm all for it. I'll absolutely trade our top prospect, which is what we did two years ago. More good base running. Yeah, I remember him dancing in before the Croton Worth hit. Come on, there's a great base running right there. No, the answer for me is nothing. There's nothing that would make me satisfied because you could get anything on the market if you opened those two guys. I'm sure of that. Whatever thing is available on the MLB market. Scooble crochet. But maybe Scooble. Yeah, Scooble, maybe. Okay, let's say Scooble. All right, let's just say Scooble. Are we not gonna win the world series? Are we gonna win the world series? Is the rise or are our salad's gonna contribute to winning the world series in the next, let's say seven years. Oh, seven years? I hope so. Seven. Yeah, seven, five. I would circle. You feel comfortable with that. Three. Compared to betting on one pitcher, two votes. That betting on one pitcher, he's helping you get a chance to maybe win a world series. I, Scooble, it would be like the maybe one guy I'd be willing to trade one of those guys. All right, we found some four. But that's, how many, what, he's got three years left. Yes. Right? Three years and he's pitching at an A-level. And I'd be scared out of my brain. And if I'm the child, I mean, I mean, I'm Johnny Othe. I'm both, I'm both. But that's not even what's being asked. You know, Garrett Cruche in Luis Robert or something like, this team ceiling right now, to me, isn't at the spot where I'm willing to put in the ultimate all-in-chief. Where did the ceiling of this team have to be? Where it was in '22? You didn't know that though, at this point of the year, at that point, that didn't happen until, remember, they backed in to the playoffs. They lost the last however many games. But before that, they were 17 games over 500. Which is a place that the Padres have never even come close to. All right, I want to say that the round table creates strange bedfellers. I'm going to agree with Craig for a second at this time. And here's where he brought this up a few weeks ago and it stuck with me a little bit. If the Padres make a big deal and add somebody, the realistic hope is that they could move from the number five, why I think they're actually number six today. Wild card spot, pass the Braves and get number four. I don't think even with the most crazy acquisition, they're likely to catch the Dodgers. So are you going to trade one of your big prospects to go from five to four? Is that worth it? But I'm going to, okay, bedfellers, 'cause I'm going to agree with Tony here for a second. And say that you say that the Padres, do we know if they're close to winning the World Series or not? We only know there's one team in the NL that the Padres have really had trouble with, the Phillies. Everyone else. Not the mention, we don't know what else. The Diamondbacks walk down everybody in the National League playoffs last year. I understand that, Tony, but they could stay number five with what they have now. So why part would the prospect to move up to number four? But there's a lot of teams. They would still have a shot in the playoffs. There's a lot of teams chasing them. They could easily miss the playoffs as well without some help. The Mets are half game behind. Diamondbacks are a game and a half back. There's other teams that are charging and if they make all the moves and you don't do anything, you may not have any of those spots. If you guaranteed me, Padres six seed without doing any moves, fine. Just leave the prospects as they were, but the likelihood is if they don't do anything, they're going to slip backwards and they're going to miss the playoffs again. And I don't know that that's an acceptable result for anyone. - Yeah. - Any save us. - No, I don't think this window is open indefinitely and I don't think every rookie coming up is going to be a Jackson Merrill. So not that the reason sounds won't be great, but like, I think you listen to anyone who's controllable that can make your team better for future years. - What they can say, which they couldn't say last year is that we've seen a couple guys from this system come up and actually contribute to this ball. - Correct. - And so, you know, as much as we all love to talk, the game loves to talk about prospects. The reality is there are very few that end up being exactly what we are talking about them being. And most of the time, those trades, being that you get to keep whatever player you trade for, end up being the better end of the trade, most of the time. - Also, Andres Munoz just shut us out yesterday, striking out our guy to win a game for them that we gave him to get Austin Nola down the road. So while it's true, I do actually have faith in the Prowler Farms system. I look around, Mackenzie Gore's in the big leagues, James Wood just made the big leagues. We know those-- - James Storz is an all-star. - CJ Abrams is on the all-star team. Those were the guys we gave up to give Soto. I was willing to make that deal. I was always, but that is true talent. He didn't give up Jackson Merrill because Merrill's a star. And the guys he doesn't want to give up are Salison de Vries. I'm willing to bet that those guys could be stars for this team. - All right, I think we need to move on just to just calm the room for a second. It is time for our round table draft. And today's draft topic, remember the rules. It's been a while. So you can't pick the same person that the black person-- - You'll be fine. - You'll be fine. So you'll be fine. I'm going to let you go first and you're going to get the easiest choice of all, Tony. So don't worry about it. - You're saying, don't worry. I couldn't do this. - All right, so this round table draft question is, just had the 1984 team honored at Petco Park. Which player, and you only get to pick one from the 1984 Padres, would you choose to add right now to the 2024 Padres for the stretch run to help the team the most in their run to the playoffs? - And we'll let Tony Gwen Jr. Make the first selection as to who he would like to pluck from the 1984 Padres and put on the team right now. Now you're getting the 1984 version of that player. - Okay, give me the laid air chow. - Really? - Yeah. - I'd like to go second. (laughing) - That's who I picked with woods this morning. - Of course I would pick my day. (laughing) - Oh, you just lit brain on fire. They certainly need a right field right now. They get the speed of the young Tony Gwen in 1984 and they get, of course, a batting champion to bat right next till the wheeze arrives. - Man, that'd be nice for pitchers. That would really be fun to watch. - And your mom looked fabulous yesterday coming up. - Thank you. - All right, would you like to go second now and take that? - I'm gonna go with, this is a team of short stops. I'm gonna go with Gary Templeton and just add him to the mix. Okay, just find another spot for him. Who knows, just more short stops. - All right, well, you know what? I'll go third 'cause I did take Eric Shout this morning. And I thought adding a guy who had, what, three, 3.2 ERA, 15 wins, over 200 innings for a pitching rotation that desperately needs a pain. - Two hands, man. - Like that. You can add Eric Shout to the mix right now. Every fifth day, the rest of the season is something the Padres could badly use at this moment. - But can I go next up? - Go ahead. (laughing) - Last, last time. - Yeah, well, two minutes. - He's gonna steal mine. I know he is. - No, no, I'm not. - Yes, sure. - I promise I'm not gonna, I promise I'm not gonna, 'cause I know, I think I know what you're gonna take. I'm gonna leave him for you because I'm gonna let you know that I researched this rotation this morning. Mike Chilt's gonna be driven crazy by Eric Shout's 80 plus walks that he delivered that year against only 100 strikeouts. Give me Eddie Lee Whitson. - Okay. - Only, Eddie 12th, you are innings, but was way more of a dog out there. Metrics like Eddie Lee Whitson better. - Let's see, with the gold chain, no shirt on in Atlanta, looking to take on the fans. - He's got choice on the mustache, Chris. - Yes, he does. Can I just say about Eddie Lee Whitson? He walked out there yesterday, and I recall him as a chain-smoking right-hander who used to have a cigarette on the side in the dugout on nights he was pitching in between innings and you know, smoke, but he looked as healthy as anybody walked in out there yesterday, right? - He looked great. - So maybe he had something to it. - I go goose. - Was that who you thought I might take? - I thought that's who you're gonna take. - I go goose, first of all. - I would've drafted lefords over. - They need that, they need the help there. - Sorry? - They need that, they need the help. - Sure they do. Seventh eighth inning, and Goose would tell Suarez to stay there for the night. - I got this, I got this. - He wouldn't let him come in, but I think the goose would be mine. - I'd have to go and cover him. He'd call me a nerd all the time, it just would be. - I'm drafted lefords for chemistry. He's only to come in at any time. - I think Goose is gonna disrupt our bull pig chemistry. - All right, seventh inning stretch though. - You would disrupt, that's why you don't let him out there. You have a little more fun here, so we'll go a little off baseball topic. So as you can tell, Stephen Woods is not here, he is heading on vacation, and on his vacation, he is going to see the same band, three straight days in a row. Going to see him in San Diego, and then Orange County, and then Los Angeles tonight, tomorrow and Saturday, 'cause that's what Woods does. - Who's he going to see? - The Afghan Wigs, one of his absolute favorites. So today's seventh inning stretch question, what was your favorite concert you ever attended, and why? Chris, would you like to go first this time? - I have a pretty short list, 'cause I didn't go to your concerts. I'm not a big concert guy, my favorite concert, probably just booze, 'cause they were my favorite band, would be the cars. But they didn't put on a unbelievable show, so I have to ding them for that. But the cars were my favorite group college in that era, and I still love them today. But, so I would just go with the cars. As far as shows are concerned, I never went for the big Irotechnical play. - I wonder if you're not a big concert guy the same reason I'm not. And that's because I wanted to sound exactly like it sounded on my CD. - Yeah. - And when I go to the concert, and I'm like, "Why, it sounds different." And it like bothers my ear. It's like, "This doesn't sound right, it's not wrong." And I totally get. - I don't know, I was using mine. - I was just using my ancillary dollars to go to sporting events. - Craig, I know you've been to a number of shows. - Yeah, I'm gonna go with Octang Baby Tour for you two at the sports arena when the pixies were opening for them, 'cause the pixies were my favorite band, but I also loved you two, and that was a great concert series, and it was at the sports arena. - Tony, what's your favorite concert? - I enjoyed the, I took my wife to go see the Usher concert, so it wasn't really, it's a, what do you call it? In Vegas, a residency. - There's shows. - Yeah, what big show? So that was pretty cool. Seeing out in John at Petco was pretty sweet. - And I saw it in John when I was in high school at the Universal Amphitheater. That's another three decades before you saw him. (laughing) - It was a different era, though, right, right. - I saw Elton John with my sister. That's what I was gonna say at Chula Vista or something. Is that where I'm thinking of? - And Chula Vista at the open era. - Yeah. - No, the Universal Amphitheater was when obviously up in LA at Universal Studios. - Okay, okay, okay. - This is back in, you know, before high school, I think. - That's the one that I had. - Did you just tell me to telegram before or after? - I took a horse carriage to the concert. - I just wanted to put it in your timeline. - So, you know, as I've said many times before, I'm not a huge music guy. But I think my favorite concert ever was more of the experience. My wife and I went to see Jason Isble in Charleston, South Carolina. And it was right as the pandemic was just starting to release. And we still had to, it was outside social distance, but it was like the first thing we had done at all in months. And we got to travel and be there. And what an amazing, intimate, cool show right on a river. And his wife at the time Amanda Shires came and performed was just the two of them. And it just felt like such a private, exclusive, just for us sort of event that was really, really awesome. - Oh, so what has seen Prince live? - That would be amazing. I don't want to, for sure. - It's my side note. - It's a real good one, yeah. - All right, we got about 15 minutes left. It's our San Diego Padres 97-3, the fan round table presented by San Diego round table pizza. We were talking about the 1984 Padres. So I'll give you the controversial topic we discussed a little bit earlier. Heard this from the fans many times before. Should the Padres unretire the number six of Steve Garvey that they retired, maybe in haste many years ago before they had Tony Gwynne's number retired and Trevor Hoffman's number retired. And now it kind of sits there and obviously he's more associated with the Dodgers than the Padres, but he also is associated with one of my favorite moments of my baseball watching life. I will never forget where I was when he hit that home run, still maybe the biggest moment in San Diego Padres history here, 40 years later. Chris, does that six belong with the other retired numbers of the San Diego Padres? - And my buddy Tony Gwynne Jr. on TV yesterday going, and there will be tomorrow. And then you played the clip of Drysdale. - I love that call. - I love that call, yeah. - Well, you're asking maybe the wrong guy only because the Garvey is the one athlete that I am still in somewhat awe of. And when he came into studio a couple of years ago, I brought my mom in to meet him. Oh my God, she was in heaven. He gave her a smooch. I mean, you know, she took me to games. - Who are you? - I'm sorry, how what? - Who are you? What is happening right now? - I'm a wonderful guy. You've never noticed it the best. - Do you think I'm a telegram, too? - We can't get over it, but I'm just an awe of the Garvey. Anyway, I can see the argument for, you know, unretiring it, but I think it's just a bad look. I mean, it's been retired for so long. It's gonna not look very good to take the number down. So should he have gotten it in the first place? Maybe not, but now that he has it, I say keep it. - Greg, I mean, the numbers, even when Garvey was in San Diego, were actually just okay. - Yeah, Austrian. - Very, very much so. - It's got to go down as probably the most unusual retired number, maybe in baseball, you know, at least in terms of four performance on the field. - Here's, this is what I'd like to offer to this, is a little bit of historical perspective, right? The Padres came into existence in 1969. They didn't have a winning season as a franchise until 1978. And then I believe the next one they had was 1984. So it was a very immature franchise in terms of having very little history, very little culture, very few heroes. At that point, 15 years into the franchise's existence, and at that moment, that was the biggest thing that ever happened to the San Diego Padres, was Steve Garvey hit that homer, and then next day, you know, went through Durham's legs and then the triple and everything else is history, and they go to the World Series, and that catapulted just like young Ben Higgins, so many people into becoming Padres fans now in 2000, you know, 40 years later, still remembering these things. So I think absolutely you don't choose violence and look back at a moment in your history and say no, because he was a Dodger, because at that moment, that was the biggest thing that ever happened and the best thing that ever happened to the team. What has happened since? Plenty more. - Tony, I guess you don't want to open that can of worms. - I just think, you know, Greg brings up a terrific point. It has a lot to do with the history, right? There wasn't any history. When did Garvey's number get retired, you know? - That's a good question. I want to say maybe like early '90s. - Yeah, it wasn't that long after. - It feels like a Steinberg type thing to put that on the wall, but I don't know that issue. - Well, I don't even know that they, so they put the number up on the wall where the home run went at the queue, and it kind of was more of a marker than necessarily a retired number than somehow it just became a retired number at some point. I'd like to know more about the history, necessarily of how that decision was made. - Yeah, I'm not sure how it was made, but it was made. And I think it would be tacky, honestly, to now remove it, considering that, you know, I think Greg put it perfectly. How many fans were created from that moment alone? And so, you know, quite frankly, my dad came along. There wasn't anything else to really hold on to. And so, I think it would be wrong at this point now to take his name down. I get it, right? It's not true Padre. He didn't put up the type of numbers that, you know, the wind fields, the Gwen's, the Temple Tins did. - I feel never. - Yeah, exactly. (laughing) Even that, but it holds a much more historical value than it does based on the numbers. So, I don't think you should take it down. - Danny, I know there's some fans who are very passionate about this stuff. - Yes, absolutely, well, it's absolutely tacky. And while it would be so 2024 to have an unretirement ceremony where, like, cancel culture and they take the number and they pull it down or something. (laughing) - You're on the field. - They just, yeah. (laughing) - I'm sorry about that. Put a big red, and it goes faster on top. (laughing) - It's a big section. - That would be very 2024, I sure would. - I agree. I don't think you, you're on the timer. - I think if you ever did anything, it's simply, what happened to the six? It's in the shop for maintenance. (laughing) - Everyone asks, now we're lying to the people out here. - It's moved to a farm, up the steep. - What did Woodsy say, what did Woodsy say? He probably wants to bring it down. - No, he's okay leaving it up. - Okay, there's just, there's no non-awkward way to ever break it down. - No, you can't, you can't. - All right, we've got the All-Star game coming up on Tuesday. Before that, though, is the home run derby on Monday. The MLB announced some changes to the rules, some tweaks, some modifications. Want to just ask you how you all feel about not only those rule changes, but does the home run derby still have the mystique? It once had, is it still a must watch event for you, Chris Ella? - Never has, really been, unfortunately. So, you know, I get a kick. Did you ever see the old black and white footage on Major League Network of the show? The home run derby show, yeah. It wriggly-fielded Los Angeles. - Just the two guys? - Yeah, just the two guys. Willie Mae, Harmon Killabrew, hey. - It's a home run derby. - Not a home run derby. - Make it your band drop. - Drop it that bad boy. - That thing, Frank Robinson. I just don't think they've ever been able to match the star power. So, it's something I watch as a passing glance, so it's not my thing. - I don't know, I feel like they're, as much as I kind of cynically look at it, it always ends up being really fun and, you know, it's just, it kind of gets, you kind of get, you're adrenaline pumping when you're watching it. It gets exciting, usually, to be in. - I'm not, like, I don't, like, tip my record button, like, waiting for it, but when it comes on, I genuinely end up, like, enjoying it and watching it. I don't know what the new rules are, so I can't tell you exactly. I know they got it. - So, they're limiting it to 40 swings. It's still timed, but you don't have to rush through it because there's a maximum of 40, so. They just don't want to-- - Speedin' it up a little bit. - They don't want guys to feel like they have to swing as many times as physically possible, just to preserve some health of guys, and then the final only will be 27 swings, and they've added a bonus element that goes back to the outs instead of timed. It'll be three outs, and everything's an out that's not a whole one. - As long as the big guys keep coming out, people will keep watching, will all be entertained. It'll be, it'll go wrong when it's like basketball, when nobody who we know is out there, you know, doing their thing, so I'm fine with it. - But, Annie, it's becoming more like the slam dunk contest. It's harder and harder to find guys to participate, because whether it's true or not, a lot of them worry about how it's going to affect their swing like in the second half of the season. - Absolutely, Shohei Otani, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto. Like, I do think you're missing some of the mystique. I agree with you. I end up watching it. I enjoy it. It's fun to watch. Manny talked a few days ago about how he thinks there's a bigger problem, and this happens with all the awards shows, right, with guys getting snubbed, but talked about just the process in general for the All-Star game, and guys getting snubbed that are really worthy of being there. I think that they're on the brink here. The game's getting a little bit, a little bit tired in some ways. I think they do need to revamp some of this somehow. - It all plays, the whole run derby's a different definition, right? I think the scrutiny on just sports in general now makes it so that if you go out there, you have a good performance there, and then you turn around in a regular season, you slump, you're going to get hammered. And I think guys are like, "Yeah, I'm good on that." But in terms of the actual game. - And you guys getting picked. - And how they pick the teams has always been something that guys have had gripes about, but in terms of the actual game, I think that's forever damaged because we have interleague play now. And the whole allure about seeing whoever from the American League match up against the National League was why you tuned in to see Roger Clement's face Tony going to see, whoever it was, and we get to see it on a nightly basis, which is a whole other, this conversation can go on forever. Why? - Let them weather. - I think they'll go back a little bit. - Don't get them started. - Let them weather our uniforms. Let them weather our uniforms. - Oh, God, please, can we wear the regular uniform? - I don't know. - You don't want them to hurt me. - The center of the region you tuned in was to watch the interleague. It was 90%. The other 10% was to see all the uniform. - You know 100%, then they've taken that away. - Tell the fans. - Don't buy a single one of those all stirs. - That's a great point. - That's a great point. - He'll immediately stop. - Although I did read that there is conversations to possibly go back. I hope that that's the case. - Correct, last few seconds. Any thoughts on the home run derby? - I would just make it a lot shorter. I would try and emulate what the guys do on an everyday thing, was put a cage out there, put everyone in and let them jump in one after another and try not to do each other. I think that would be fun a la jam session at X Games. - And as exhibition as it is, and as chilling, as fun as it is, they're all smiling. - We had Brett Boone on this week, and he told the story about when he was in the home run derby and took the goose egg, did not hit a single home run, didn't have his normal batting practice guy, and he goes, it wasn't fun. It is not fun to go up there and not hit a single home run in the home run derby. - And get interviewed after. - And then have to do the interview and smile and joke about it and go, I just embarrassed myself on national television in front of everybody. It's like an almost no win situation. - Yeah, I think that's why guys are like, yeah, I'm good, I'm good. And you know, I don't know. I enjoy a guy like Peter Lanzo who just goes out there. He's not thinking about like, my buddy Prince was the same way. You get out there, they're just doing their thing. They're not worried about the repercussions or any of that. - Well, thanks to the guys who do it for our entertainment, and thanks to everyone for joining us today on the 97-3 of the Fan Padres Roundtable presented by San Diego Roundtable Pizza. I believe we will be back for an all-star break edition next Thursday. - Summer break. - Tranny Halberin, Tony Gwen Jr. Craig Elston, Chris Yellow, and Stephen Woods somewhere. I'm Ben Higgins, have a great rest of your day from all of us here at 97-3 of the fans. How long, everybody? - Hey, fantasy football owners. The road to winning your fantasy football championships starts now. I'm Matt Harmon from Reception Perception. Join me and James Ko as we take a deep dive into the position that's gonna make or break your fantasy roster. Wide receivers. We analyze route running, target share, and all the metrics that matter, giving you the insights you need to draft the best wide receivers. As you prep for your draft, let us give you the coverage you need. Follow and listen to Reception Perception on the free Odyssey app, or wherever you get your podcasts. - Nice. - Today's episode is sponsored by NerdWallet Smart Money podcast. Get your head in the financial game with smart investing and budgeting tips straight from the nerds. NerdWallet's experts will set future you up for success. With dependable, fact-based insights, no financial misinformation allowed. 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It's been a while, so you can't pick the same person that the black's dressed in your house. - You'll be fine. - So you'll be fine. I'm gonna let you go first and you're gonna get the easiest choice of all, Tony. So don't worry about it. (laughing) - Don't worry, I heard it do this. - All right, so this round table draft question is, just had the 1984 team honored at Petco Park. Which player, and you only get to pick one from the 1984 pod raise, would you choose to add right now to the 2024 pod raise for the stretch run to help the team the most in their run to the playoffs? And we'll let Tony Gwen Jr. make the first selection as to who he would like to pluck from the 1984 pod raise and put on the team right now. Now you're getting the 1984 version of that player. - Okay, give me the laid air chow. - Really? (laughing) - I'd like to go second. (laughing) - That's who I picked with woods this morning. - Of course I would pick my day. (laughing) - I thought you'd just limp brain on fire. They certainly need a slide right field right now. They get the speed of the young Tony Gwen in 1984 and they get of course a batting champion to bat right next till the weeks arrive. - Man, that'd be a nightmare for pitchers. That would really be fun to watch. - And your mom looked fabulous yesterday coming out by. - All right, would you like to go second now and take that? - I'm gonna go with, this is a team of short stops. I'm gonna go with Gary Templeton and just add him to the mix. Okay, just find another spot for him. Who knows, just more short stops. - All right, well you know what, I'll go third 'cause I did take Eric Shaw this morning. And I thought, adding a guy who had three point two ERA, 15 wins, over 200 innings for a pitching rotation that desperately needs a hanger like that. You can add Eric Shaw to the mix right now. Every fifth day, the rest of the season is something the Padres could badly use at this moment. - But can I go next up? - Go ahead, because here's the first time. - Last time, he's gonna steal mine, I know he is. - No, I'm not, I'm not gonna, I promise I'm not gonna. I promise I'm not gonna, 'cause I know I think I know what you're gonna take. I'm gonna leave him for you, because I'm gonna let you know that I researched this rotation this morning. Mike Chilt's gonna be driven crazy by Eric Shaw's 80 plus walks that he delivered that year against only 100 strikeouts. Give me Eddie Lee Whitson, who only 12 fewer innings, but was way more of a dog out there. Metrics like Eddie Lee Whitson better. - With the gold chain, no shirt on in Atlanta. Look at it, look at it, take on the fan. - It's a choice of a mustache, Chris. - Yes, he does. Can I just say about Eddie Lee Whitson? He walked out there yesterday, and I recall him as a chain-smoking right-hander who used to have a cigarette on the side in the dugout on nights he was pitching in between innings and smoke, but he looked as healthy as anybody walking out there yesterday, right? - He looked great. - So maybe he had something to it. - I go goose, was that who you thought I might take? - I thought that's who you're gonna take. - I go goose, first of all. - They need that, they need the help there. - Sorry? - They need that, they need the help. - Sure they do, seventh eighth inning, and goose would tell Suarez to stay there for the night. - I got this, I got this. - He wouldn't let him come in, but I think the goose would be mine. - I'd have to go and cover him, he'd call me a nerd all the time, it just would be. - I'm drafting lefords for chemistry. He's only to come in at any time. - I think goose is gonna disrupt our bullpen chemistry. - All right, seventh inning stretch though. - You would disrupt us, right? You know what, I'm out there. You have a little more fun here, so we'll go a little off baseball topic. So as you can tell, Stephen Woods is not here, he is heading on vacation, and on his vacation, he is going to see the same band three straight days in a row, going to see him in San Diego, and then Orange County, and then Los Angeles, tonight tomorrow and Saturday, 'cause that's what Woods does. - Who, who's he going to see? - The Afghan wigs, one of his absolute favorites. So today's seventh inning stretch question, what was your favorite concert you ever attended, and why? Chris, would you like to go first this time? - I have a pretty short list, 'cause I didn't go to your concerts. - Not a lot of concerts. - I'm not a big concert guy, my favorite concert, probably just booze, 'cause they were my favorite band, would be the cars, but they didn't put on a unbelievable show, so I have to ding them for that, but the cars were my favorite group college in that era, and I still love them today, but-- - So I would just go with the cars. As far as shows are concerned, I just never went for the big Irotechnic-- - I wonder if you're not a big concert guy the same reason I'm not, and that's because I wanted to sound exactly like it sounded on my CD, and when I go to the concert, it sounds different, and it bothers my ear, it's like, this doesn't sound right, it's not wrong, and I totally get-- - I don't know, I was using my-- - I was just using my ancillary dollars to go to sporting events-- - Craig, I know you've been to a number of shows. - Yeah, I'm gonna go with Octang Baby Tour for you two at the sports arena when the pixies were opening for them, 'cause the pixies were my favorite band, but I also loved you two, and that was a great concert series, and it was at the sports arena. - Tony, what's your favorite concert? - I enjoyed the, I took my wife to go see the Usher concert, so it wasn't really, it's a, what do you call it? In Vegas, a residency. - There's shows. - Yeah, what big show? So that was pretty cool. Seeing out in John at Peko was pretty sweet. - And I saw it in John when I was in high school at the Universal Amphitheater, that's another three decades before you saw him. (laughing) - It's like an era, right, right, right. - I saw Elton John with my sister. I was gonna say at Chula Vista or something. Is that where I'm thinking of? - And Chula Vista at the Open Era. - Yeah. - No, the Universal Amphitheater was one of obviously up in LA at Universal Studios. - Okay, okay, okay. - This is back in, you know, before high school, I think. - That's the one that I had. - Did you just tell me a telegram before or after? - I took a horse carriage to the concert. - I just wanted to put it in your timeline. - So, you know, as I've said many times before, I'm not a huge music guy, but I think my favorite concert ever was more of the experience. My wife and I went to see Jason Isbal in Charleston, South Carolina, and it was right as the pandemic was just starting to release and we still had to, it was outside social distance, but it was like the first thing we had done at all in months and we got to travel and be there and what an amazing, intimate, cool show right on a river and his wife at the time Amanda Shires came and performed was just the two of them and it just felt like such a private, exclusive, just for us sort of event that was really, really awesome. - Oh, so what has seen Prince live? - That would be amazing, I don't want to for sure. - It's my side note. - It's a real good one, yeah. - All right, we got about 15 minutes left. It's our San Diego Padres 97-3, the fan round table presented by San Diego round table pizza. We were talking about the 1984 Padres, so I'll give you the controversial topic we discussed a little bit earlier. Heard this from the fans many times before. Should the Padres unretire the number six of Steve Garvey that they retired, maybe in haste many years ago before they had Tony Gwynne's number retired and Trevor Hoffman's number retired and now it kind of sits there and obviously he's more associated with the Dodgers than the Padres, but he also is associated with one of my favorite moments of my baseball watching life. - Yeah. - I will never forget where I was when he hit that home run, still maybe the biggest moment in San Diego Padres history here, 40 years later. Chris, does that six belong with the other retired numbers of the San Diego Padres? - And my buddy Tony Gwynne Jr. on TV yesterday going, and there will be tomorrow. And then you played the clip of Drysdale. I love that call. - I love that call, yeah. - Well, you're asking maybe the wrong guy only because the Garvey is the one athlete that I am still in somewhat awe of. And when he came into studio a couple of years ago, I brought my mom in to meet him. Oh my God, she was in heaven. He gave her a smooch. I mean, you know, she took me to games in. - Who are you? - I'm sorry. How what? - Who are you? What is happening right now? - I'm a wonderful guy. You've never noticed it the best. - I think I'm a telegram too. - We can't get over it. - But I just, I'm an author Garvey. Anyway, I can see the argument for, you know, unretiring it, but I think it's just a bad look. I mean, it's been retired for so long. It's gonna not look very good to take it, you know, take the number down. So should he have gotten it in the first place? Maybe not, but now that he has it, I say keep it. - Craig, I mean, the numbers, even when Garvey was in San Diego, were actually just okay. - Yeah, pedestrian. - Very, very much so. - It's got to go down as probably the most unusual retired number, maybe in baseball, you know, at least in terms of four performance on the field. - Here's, this is what I'd like to offer to this, is a little bit of historical perspective, right? The Padres came into existence in 1969. They didn't have a winning season as a franchise until 1978, and then I believe the next one they had was 1984. So it was a very immature franchise in terms of having very little history, very little culture, very few heroes. At that point, 15 years into the franchise's existence, and at that moment, that was the biggest thing that ever happened to the San Diego Padres, was Steve Garvey hit that homer, and then next day, you know, went through Durham's legs and then the triple and everything else is history, and they go to the World Series, and that catapulted just like young Ben Higgins, so many people into becoming Padres fans now in 2000, you know, 40 years later, still remembering these things. So I think absolutely you don't choose violence and look back at a moment in your history and say no, because he was a Dodger, because at that moment, that was the biggest thing that ever happened and the best thing that ever happened to the team. What has happened since? Plenty more. Tony, I guess you don't want to open that can of worms. I just think, you know, Greg brings up a terrific point. It has more, it has a lot to do with the history, right? There wasn't any history. When did Garvey's number get retired, you know? That's a good question. I want to say maybe like early '90s. Yeah, it wasn't that long after. It feels like a Steinberg type thing to put that on the wall, but I don't know that issue. Well, I don't even know that they, so they put the number up on the wall where the home run went at the queue. Right. And it kind of was more of a marker than necessarily a retired number than somehow it just became a retired number at some point. I'd like to know more about the history, necessarily, of how that decision was made. Yeah, I'm not sure how it was made, but it was made. And I think it would be tacky, honestly, to now remove it. Considering that, you know, I think Greg put it perfectly. How many fans were created from that moment alone? And so, you know, quite frankly, my dad came along. There wasn't anything else to really hold on to. And so, I think it would be wrong at this point now to take his name down. I get it, right? It's not true Padre. He didn't put up the type of numbers that, you know, the wind fields, the Gwinds, the Temple Tins did. I feel never. Exactly, for even that. But it holds a much more historical value than it does based on the numbers. So I don't think you should take it down. Danny, I know there's some fans who are very passionate about this stuff. Yes, absolutely, well, it's absolutely tacky. And while it would be so 2024 to have an unretirement ceremony where, like, cancel culture, and they take the number and they pull it down or something. Yeah, walk out of the field. You're on the field. Well, they pull just enough to go for it. I'm sorry about that. I put a big red, and it goes faster on top. It's a big special meeting moment. I agree. I don't think you want to retire. I think if you ever did anything, it's simply, what happened to the six? It's in the shop for maintenance. And if anyone asks, now we're lying to the people out there. It's moved to a farm up the steep. What did Woodsy say? What did Woodsy say? He probably wants to bring it down. No, he's OK leaving it up. OK, there's just, there's no non-awkward way to ever break it down. No, you can't, you can't. All right, we've got the All-Star Game coming up on Tuesday. Before that, though, is the home run derby on Monday. The MLB announced some changes to the rules, some tweaks, some modifications. I want to just ask you how you all feel about not only those rule changes, but does the home run derby still have the mystique? It once had, is it still a must watch event for you, Chris Ella? Never has really been, unfortunately. So, you know, I get a kick. Did you ever see the old black and white footage on Major League Network of the-- The show. The home run derby show. At Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. Just the two guys. Yeah, just the two guys. Willie Mays, Harmon Killabrew, hey. It's a home runner and a home run derby. Make it your man drop in that bad boy. That thing, Frank Robinson. I just don't think they've ever been able to match the star power. So, it's something I watch as a passing glance. So, it's not my thing. I don't know, I feel like there, as much as I kind of cynically look at it, it always ends up being really fun, you know, it's just, it kind of gets, you kind of get your adrenaline pumping when you're watching it. It gets exciting, usually, with the end. I'm not like, I don't like, hit my record button, like, waiting for it, but when it comes on, I genuinely end up like enjoying it and watching it. I don't know what the new rules are, so I can't tell you exactly. I know they got-- So, they're limiting it to 40 swings. It's still timed, but you don't have to rush through it because there's a maximum of 40. So, they just don't want to-- Speedin' it up a little bit. It has to feel like they have to swing as many times as physically possible, just to preserve some health of guys, and then the final only be 27 swings, and they've added a bonus element that goes back to the outs instead of timed. It'll be three outs, and everything's an out that's not a whole one. As long as the big guys keep coming out, people will keep watching, we'll all be entertained. It'll be, it'll go wrong when it's like basketball, when nobody who we know is out there, you know, doing their thing. So, I'm fine with it. But, Annie, it's becoming more like the slam dunk contest. It's harder and harder to find guys to participate because whether it's true or not, a lot of them worry about how it's going to affect their swing in the second half of the season. - Absolutely, Shohei Otani, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto. Like, do you think you're missing some of the mystique? I agree with you. I end up watching it. I enjoy it. It's fun to watch. Manny talked a few days ago about how he thinks there's a bigger problem, and this happens with all the awards shows, right, with guys getting snubbed, but talked about just the process in general of the all-star game and guys getting snubbed that are really worthy of being there. I think that they're on the brink here. The game's getting a little bit tired in some ways. I think that they do need to revamp some of this somehow. - It all plays, the home run derby is a different definition, right? - Right, right. - I think the scrutiny on just sports in general now makes it so that if you go out there, you have a good performance there, and you turn around in a regular season, you slump, you're going to get hammered. And I think guys are like, "Yeah, I'm good on that." But in terms of the actual game-- - And guys getting picked. - And how they pick the teams has always been something that guys have had gripes about, but in terms of the actual game, I think that's forever damaged because we have interleague play now. - Right, I agree with you. - The whole allure about seeing whoever from the American League match up against the National League was why you tuned in to see Roger Clemens face Tony going to see-- - 100%. - You know, whoever it was, and we get to see it on a nightly basis, which is a whole other week, this conversation can go on forever, why? - Let them wear their-- - I think they'll go back a little bit. - Don't get them started. - Let them wear their own uniforms, let them wear their own uniforms. - Oh, gosh, please, can we wear the regular Una Una Una Una? - 100%. - 100% of the reason you tuned in was to watch the interleague, it was 90%. The other 10% was to see all the uniform. - 100%. - Don't say they've taken that away. - Tell the fans, don't buy a single one of those all stirs. - That's a great point. - That's a great point. - He'll immediately stop. - Although, I did read that there is conversations to possibly go backwards. - Good. - I hope that that's the case. - Correct, last few seconds. Any thoughts on the Home Run Derby? - I would just make it a lot shorter. I would try and emulate what the guys do on an everyday thing, was put a cage out there, put everyone in and let them jump in one after another and try not to do each other. I think that would be fun, a la jam session at X Games. - And as exhibition as it is-- - Just a chance session. - As fun as it is, they're all smiling. - We had Brett Boone on this week, and he told the story about when he was in the Home Run Derby and took the goose egg, did not hit a single Home Run, didn't have his normal batting practice guy, and he goes, it wasn't fun. It is not fun to go up there and not hit a single Home Run in the Home Run Derby. - And get interviewed after. - And then have to do the interview and smile and joke about it and go, "I just embarrassed myself on national television "in front of everybody." It's like an almost no-win situation. - Yeah, I think that's why guys are like, "Yeah, I'm good, I'm good." And, you know, I don't know. I enjoy a guy like Peter Lanzo who just goes out there. He's not thinking about, like, my buddy Prince was the same way. You get out there, they're just doing their thing. They're not worried about the repercussions or any of that. - Well, thanks to the guys who do it for our entertainment, and thanks to everyone for joining us today on the 97-3 of the Fan Padres Roundtable presented by San Diego Roundtable Pizza. I believe we will be back for an all-star break edition next Thursday. - So, it's summer break. - Tony Halberin, Tony Gwyn, Jr., Craig Elston, Chris Yello, and Stephen Woods somewhere. 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