Inside Access with Jason LaCanfora and Ken Weinman

Mark Feinsand: The Orioles addressed what they needed to at the trade deadline

MLB.com Senior National Reporter and MLB Network Insider Mark Feinsand joined the show to give his thought's on what the Orioles did at the trade deadline. He also talks about what he's thought of the O's lately and who he thinks will win the AL East.

Duration:: 15m
Broadcast on:: 05 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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I think when you look at the big picture, so to speak, that we're being bandied about, the price tags were either ludicrous or non-existent. I mean, I think, you know, for all the talk about Tarik Scuba, I don't think he was ever really on the block. I think it was going to have to be just a stupid offer that the Tigers couldn't say no to, you know, like Jackson Holiday and Kobe Mayo, something like that for them to consider it. I don't think they had any interest in treating him. And, you know, Blake Snell, his name was out there a lot the last day or two before the deadline. But that's a tricky contract to trade for, given that he can opt out. If you pitch as well, you're trading for a rental. If he doesn't pitch well, you're stuck with it for 30 million next year. So I didn't really think Snell was going to get moved because of that. But otherwise, I thought they did, you know, they addressed everything they needed to address one way or another. What about the ninth inning? We talked an hour ago, you know, about this here on the show. Dominguez, they seem to like more than the fillies liked, although he was having trouble getting lefties out, Soto's having trouble getting righties out. And he really even just, he's having trouble, trouble keeping people off base period. Kimball has kind of been defrocked. And we're back to, you know, cano at least over the weekend as their ninth inning guy. Could that be what ultimately keeps them from their manifest destiny? Yeah, it could. I think ultimately when you get to October, managers, unless you have, you know, Josh Hader, or unless you have some lockdown, big time closer, and frankly, how many of those guys are there really that you completely trust, you know, if only the Orioles that I got like Tanner Scott, I'm kidding. I think, I think, you know, most teams will look at who the hot hands are, they'll go match ups. And there's enough arms and enough talent in the Orioles bullpen that, you know, if cano's pitching to his full capability, I don't think there's any concern about having him pitch the ninth. It was interesting for a fillies team that was looking to upgrade its bullpen for them to trade Dominguez and Soto tells you what they thought of them. But we've seen enough instances of the old change of scenery candidate, maybe a fresh start somewhere else in a different race in a different league. And guys look a little different and, you know, the Orioles saw something in those guys that they said we can fix them, they get it back to what they were before. I think there's enough talent there. They don't have the lockdown night inning guy that you would have liked to see them acquire. But frankly, you know, even Tanner Scott, even Carlos Estebes, they're not proven October quantities. So it's not like you were going to come in. If you had gone out and acquired Carlos Estebes, we've said, all right, we're good at the ninth. And, you know, the one run lead, October 18, the Yankee stadium, we feel really good because we just haven't seen that for him yet. Well, how do you handicap this division now post deadline, the A.O. East? I think it comes down to health more than anything else. And I think both teams are extremely talented. I think you can make a case for either one of them to be the one that ultimately pulls away. You know, the Orioles did address the rotation depth, which they needed to. The Yankees did not address their rotation, which I was surprised about. Again, the prices were just insane for starting pitching. And then you saw that with, you know, Kukuchi and Inflarity and some other guys who got traded. The prices are high. So the Yankees are banking on Garrett Cole getting back to being Garrett Cole and Cortez and Rodon and Strowman getting getting back to where they were in the first two months of the season. And Luis Hill, you know, not withering away towards the end of the season as he's already well past his innings career high. So I think there are a lot more question marks in the Yankees rotation. Stanton is back and healthy. That's a huge bet for them. I love the jazz to the move. I think he's going to fit in really well in New York. I mean, that right when they're going to realize that he's either going to be a superstar there or he's going to be driven out of town in a year because there's almost no in between there. He's either going to be the guy who thrives in that spotlight and the talent just shines through and he doesn't have to be the man there, but he can do his thing or he's going to get overwhelmed. I would tend to think it's going to be the former. So I like that acquisition, but it just comes down to who can say healthy. We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature, whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doe's off to or the succulents that adorn our homes. Nature makes all of our lives well better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it, but the outdoors is closer than we realize. With all trails, you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently with offline maps and on trail navigation. Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with all trails. Temp Check. What kind of summer are we having this year? A family road trip summer, a beach bump summer, or a wake me when the sun sets summer. With Instacart, choose your own adventure and skip the shopping side quests. Where available, you can get ice cream delivered to your hotel, sunscreened to the pool, or cold brew to your bed. Well, door in as fast as 30 minutes. 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Purple has a wide variety of mattresses from the original purple mattress to the restore hybrid collection that combines gel flex grid with coils and the rejuvenate lux collection, the height of luxury, with over 112,000 to 5 star reviews to prove it. Visit purple.com to find the perfect purple for you and enter code podcast 10 to get 10% off. Talking to Mark Feinstein, it's inside access here on the fan. On the oil side of things, Mark, how much of an impact? If any, you expect in Jackson Holiday, it looks like a different guy in this second time here with the world, but him and Kobe Mayo, how much of an impact do you think they'll make on this team? I was laughing in the week leading up to the trade deadline when you started seeing all these stories about should the Orioles trade Jackson holiday? And you know, Garrett Crochet is available. Should they trade Jackson Holiday for Garrett Crochet? 10 bad days early in the season when he first got his call up, we're not going to change the way that the Orioles viewed Jackson Holiday. This is a guy they expect to be a multi-time all-star who has a great career. And I have no reason to think that that's not where he's going to be headed. He's still so young that to give up on him because he struggled his first 10 days in the big leagues would have been insane. I didn't think there was any chance he was getting afraid of. And I think he will make an impact on this team going forward. Mayo, I mean, we have to, you know, look, he's got the power, he's got the ability, there's no question, but to see how it translates to big league pitching. But again, I don't think for either of these guys, they don't have to come to Baltimore and be the guys who carry the load. You've got enough other really good players on this team who are having really good years, whether it's Gunnar, whether it's Santander, whether it's Causer, whether it's Adley, they have enough hitters in this lineup that nobody's going to be looking at Holiday and Mayo and saying, okay, kids, go, go carry us to October. Mark, I thought I had the AL West pegged and I thought the Astros were making their charge and that they would get healthier and they had stabilized the rotation. And the run production would be where we're accustomed to it being. But that hasn't happened. And the Rangers look like they're almost sort of kaput at this point. What's your degree of faith in either of those teams making an impact in October? I don't have much faith in the Rangers making an impact. I know they need to get healthy and if their pitching is healthy, they're a different looking team. But I have no reason to think that's going to be the case. I mean, when you're 112 games into a season, you still have a negative run differential. That's just not good enough. And I think they're about 10 games under 500 against winning teams. I like Seattle. I thought what they did at the deadline was actually really good. Their starting rotation is outstanding. I mean, really probably talked about them the best in baseball and they just needed to be able to hit. And I think Rosarina is going to be a really good addition there. I liked, you know, they didn't have bullpen. With Yimmie Garcia, I just, I don't know. I like the Mariners. They're going to get Julio back. They're going to get J.P. Crawford back, which should help. And I just, I haven't been in love with the Zashros team. The pitching has just had too many injuries. And you said Hinkuchi was a nice addition for them. But, you know, we're all stuck on a guy who's out of four and a half D.R.L. year. So they didn't acquire Justin Verlander circa 2017 year. You know, he's not going to be going 12 and 0 down the stretch play. Verlander did, you know, that last year. And he used to have when he got acquired. And I guess that was the waiver and trade deadline. So he was only there for a month. But, you know, he was untenable. So I do like the Mariners. I think they will find a way to eke out that division. And ultimately, I don't know that they're good enough to compete in October with the likes of the Orioles and the Yankees and Cleveland, which keeps winning despite the fact that every time I look at their roster, I'm like, how is that team at first place? And yet they just go out of win every day and they're, they got shot in the league. So I don't think the Mariners are quite on that level. But that said, those pitchers get hot at the right time. And Julio and Erosarina get hot. And all of a sudden, that seems to find itself in the LCS. Mark Phillies were able to snap a six game losing streak beating the Mariners yesterday. Now they're heading to L.A. to take on the Dodgers. But it's been rough for them since the all-star break. Is this just a blip for you or a cause of concern? I think it's a blip. I've been to a bunch of Phillies games this year. I think that's a really good team. And I understand they've looked a lot different in the last 10 days. But I just, when you've got a rotation with Wheeler and Nola and Suarez and Sanchez, and you've got a lineup that just doesn't stop as they were lent with lineup. Ultimately, every team over 162 is going to go through a little bit of a skid. If you're fortunate, you do it when you've already built up a decent lead in your division. And even if you have a bad couple weeks, you can get out of it and still be sitting in the spot where you're fixed seven games up and that's where they are right now. So I don't expect the team is going to struggle long term. There's just too much talent there. The lineup's too good. And it's hard to believe that they're all going to just wilt or wilt away and wither away at the same time. Mark Feinstein, always great. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. My pleasure. Thank you. Thanks so much. Mark Feinstein, actually senior national reporter for MLB.com and the MLB network insider trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again with North sides and bullion as you're not so secret ingredient, you can skip the drive through and do dinner at home. Nor taste combos provide a menu of delicious, affordable, and well-balanced meals that you can prepare in 30 minutes or less. Visit nor.com to get quick and easy recipe ideas for your home cooked weeknight dinners. It's not fast food, but it's so good. Now with the MLB app, you can get baseball your way. Pick your favorite team, your favorite players, and get customized highlights, stories, and breaking news right on your home feed. Follow the action with Game Tip where 3D replays add another dimension. 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