Inside Access with Jason LaCanfora and Ken Weinman
Are the Orioles 9th inning by committee?
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With offline maps and on-trail navigation, download the free app today, and make the most of your summer with all trails. Nothing is more important than getting a good night's sleep, and when you don't get the rest you need, your whole day is thrown off. That's why it's so important to choose the right mattress. Sleeping on a purple mattress is truly a unique experience, because purple mattresses are made with a gel flex grid. The gel flex grid is an innovative material that moves with your body to relieve pressure in areas like knees and hips, and support in others, like your back. It feels soft where you want it and supports where you need it. Purple mattresses instantly adapt when you move. You don't sink in and get stuck like with memory foam. And thanks to over 1,400 air chambers in the gel flex grid, you will sleep cooler on a purple mattress. 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 five star reviews to prove it. Visit purple.com to find the perfect purple for you and enter code podcast 10 to get 10% off. We're live at Topgolf in Baltimore. Come on down and see us. We'll be here until six o'clock Orioles beat the Guardians nine five yesterday. They got a four game split with the Guardians off today in Toronto tomorrow. Tied with the Yankees with 49 games to go. It's a perfect time. Talk to one of our favorites, former Orioles manager now with MLB Network. It's pucks show Walter and Buck. Thank you as always for joining us. So first and foremost, how do you stack these two teams, the Orioles and Yankees as we head down the stretch? Well, you know, just enjoy it. It's going to be a lot of fun. You know, the sprint happens in September. Right now everybody's kind of jockeying around the back stretch to get in position. I think the trade deadlines had a lot to do with it. You know, very different clubs in a lot of ways and it's going to be intriguing and fun to watch. I'm just I'm happy for the Orioles fans because they're going to have a lot of fun the next two months and you know, just keep a long memory of how good they are and the way things have turned for them and you know, the expectations now. That's what I was waiting to see this year because the first time a young team has expectations of going to the next level and they've responded very well and spent on the watch. Well, Buck, when we get to the deadline, we often think of it through the general manager's portal, right? Or what does it do for the fans or how does it maybe energize a clubhouse that needs some energy in the shot of adrenaline? But you obviously see it through the manager's eyes and after the Austin Hayes trade, I was actually wondering what you thought of it and I'm driving home from the studio and you're talking about Dominguez and saying, you know, hey, I kind of would prefer a sure thing like, oh, does he have to drop his sinker? Like, can he get left these N-Rites out? Why is he going from high leverage to low leverage? Like, fixing guys in August can be tricky and and Soto's another one who clearly needs some fixing and he can't get Rites out. How difficult can that be as a manager when you're taking on maybe guys who are projects or guys who are going to be asked to do more here than they were able to do for the Phillies, for instance? Well, they have a track record of having done it in the past at a higher level and they were doing it the first part of the season. But, you know, I was very careful as a manager when you're talking about trades and this player and wanting this and wanting that. Well, it's going to affect someone in your clubhouse. I mean, it's very, it's not fair to an Austin Hayes or somebody to be saying, we need this and we need that because the players know that's not your job. This time of year, the players know someone's going to be leaving there. They just don't expand the roster to 40 anymore to make room for all these guys, especially in August, but I try to always try to stay in my job description if they ask me about how this was did or what have you. I think the Orioles made seven deals. You know, they're out there now. You know, sometimes when you say, okay, we're going to build with the prospects and that's who we are and that's our identity. That's fine. Now, a sudden you make a lot of these deals and you start moving some of these young guys, you know, you got to keep your identity and you, you know, you don't want to confuse the fans, but you know, it was obvious that they had the ability to go through some things that they did. And sometimes it's a change of scenery gets somebody going a little bit. I'm always real careful when I hear people say, well, let's get him because we could fix him. Oh, really? So you're smarter than all the other pitching coaches and all the people that I'm careful about thinking that we're going to all of a sudden solve the, I think they at the end of the day, guys are kind of who they are. But it's always been fun to watch these young players because you don't know where the feeling is on them. They're still six or seven guys that were there when I was there and it's been fun to watch them develop. Buck the closer situation. We've seen Craig Kimbreld really take his lumps lately. He's gotten taken out of the ninth inning role. We've seen you near Canoe. We saw Sir Anthony Dominguez yesterday. Do you expect this to be a possible closer by committee? Do you think that Kimbre will get his job back? Well, everybody would love to have Marion Rivera sitting there. There's only about three or four of those in the game. I mean, it's just, you know, I think sometimes managers, we could all all of a sudden take everybody who you go out of it and the pay scale and just say, listen, we're going to put the best guy out there that's most rested and the best match up for them with the hitters they have coming up. There's an advantage step because, you know, you can't force something that's just not there. You know, Kimball's got a track record of it and you never know when a star might be falling on you. But you do, you know, if the won't do and the health is there, there's something to be said about having been there. But you're looking at all avenues because games mean a lot now. And, you know, let's look at it. The playoffs a little bit are just getting in and then roll the dice. You know, October is a whole different time for teams. So, you know, yeah, you'd love to win the division. And that's, that's right at the top. You'd love to beat the Yankees and have some advantages in the playoffs as far as home games. But at the same time, it's just stay consistent and try to be who you are. Talking about show altars inside access here on the fan. But you mentioned comment, you're talking about this team and the 101 games a year ago. And you want to see what they look like this year when they're now pressure on them. And here they are in first place and it takes you back to the being beyond this rebuild. And the rebuild doesn't always work. Look at the Chicago White Sox who, you know, one year they did go to the playoffs. And now they're 60 games under 500. So rebuilds aren't guaranteed. Does that make you more impressed with what they've done here in Baltimore? No, you know, I think there's some blueprints for it the way other people have done it. I think it does a great job behind the scenes with player acquisition as there are other people. He's not the only one. I just, you know, everybody wants to very quickly take away from what somebody's done. You know, yeah, you're drafting the first four-five picks for two or three years. And heck, let's face it, guys, you and I could take that guy. But what really is impressed me is that second through seventh round picks, you look down through the history of some of these guys that are starting to burst on the scene. They're not all that first-hand guy picking the country. You know, they do a good job. When I look at a scouting department, I want to know how they're doing two through ten, two through seven in today's game. That really tells you, you know, your knowledge and your ability to project players and also have faith that your people can take a flaw and make it, and fix it. You know, you always said, let's have enough confidence when I'm only the development people having been there to draft that un, that flawed player that they can develop and fix whatever might need fiction because they can run real well. They can throw real well. Those tools don't usually improve a lot. But Buck, we, as much as this rebuild has been incredibly robust and them being on the other side of it, we're kind of waiting to see like, when does, when do they extend somebody? When does somebody get a multi-year deal to stick around here? You were privy to the very beginnings of Anthony Santander's career and him being plucked away, you know, as a high A player, whatever, in the Carolina League for the, for the then Indians at the time had a different name. When you see him now and, and what he's become and, and one of the best switch hitters in baseball, does our part of your their wonders is, is he a guy who you buy his age 30, age 31, age 32 season, and try to keep him around here? It's tough guys to be able to project that. You know, I remember the first time I saw Anthony was talking to Ben Duquette and he was basically hurt in Abel and Kingston, I believe it was. And what, what a job to project. Now, obviously we had to suck it up a little bit for a year or two with him before he started hitting his stride. And, you know, you look back at anybody having success. I'll show you some people that had to kind of wear it for a little while. But he, he, you know, when people say you've got to sign somebody, be careful. No, you don't. No, you don't. I can name you three or four guys right now that, oh gosh, you got to sign this player. Oh, you got way. Now you look back at it. You know, being a project where that, that's going to go down, you'd also have to have somebody replace them. I'd love to see Anthony play his whole big league career there. I think everybody would, but I'll leave that up to the people that evaluate. They know a lot more about it than I do. And, but I just be careful about saying, Oh, you've got to do this. Now you don't. Buck Jackson holiday, his first call up earlier in the year looked really, really overwhelmed, went down for an extended reset. And boy, has he been hitting the cover off the baseball? What have you seen from young Jackson holiday in this second stint? Well, obviously his contact to damage ratio is real high. I love the fact, looking at his history, this guy's had a lot of baseball balls that worries Ben. And that's, you know, it doesn't always initially correlate to the big leagues initially, but then it eventually will. Obviously he's had a couple of hits that have been, you know, big damage, but they all go through those growing pains. It's the biggest jump in professional sports and baseball from the level of AAA to the big leagues in the pitching that you see. So most guys are going to have some struggles when they first come up. You can count them on one really small hand. The guys that just pick up right where they left off in AAA just doesn't happen. So those growing pains, you know, sometimes it's two or three times back and forth before the good ones figure it out. Billy Martin told me a long time ago, Buck tries. You may, you can't screw up the good ones. And I think he's a good one. Buck Showalter, it's always great to talk to you, sir. Thank you so much for your time. We always appreciate it. Hey, thanks for having me. Nobody's that busy. God bless you guys. Take care. Hey, coming up next, we're talking, we're talking to Orioles, but let's see what's going on in the rest of base for our Twib notes. Yankie's just finished a series with the Blue Jays, Astros, and the Rays, and Blake Snell through a no hitter. It's our Twib notes next year on the fam. Worried about letting someone else pick out the perfect avocado for your perfect and press them on the third date guacamole? Well, good thing Instacart shoppers are as picky as you are. They find ripe avocados like it's their guac on the line. They are milk expiration date detectives. They bag eggs like the 12 precious pieces of cargo they are. So let Instacart shoppers overthink your groceries so that you can overthink what you'll wear on that third date. Download the Instacart app to get free delivery on your first three orders while supplies last, minimum $10 per order additional term supply. We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature, whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze 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. Nothing is more important than getting a good night's sleep, and when you don't get the rest you need, your whole day is thrown off. That's why it's so important to choose the right mattress. Sleeping on a purple mattress is truly a unique experience, because purple mattresses are made with a gel flex grid. The gel flex grid is an innovative material that moves with your body to relieve pressure in areas like knees and hips, and support in others like your back. It feels soft where you want it and supports where you need it. Purple mattresses instantly adapt when you move. You don't sink in and get stuck like with memory foam. And thanks to over 1400 air chambers in the gel flex grid, you will sleep cooler on a purple mattress. 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 five star reviews to prove it. Visit purple.com to find the perfect purple for you and enter code podcast10 to get 10% off. I'm Anna Garcia with True Crime News, the podcast. Every week, True Crime News covers breaking crime stories and the fight for justice. Listen to and follow True Crime News, the podcast on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Network on the call. Yankees end up beating the Blue Jays in 10 innings, four to three DJ LeMayu base hit there and the Yankees take two or three from the Blue Jays. Before we discuss that in depth, Bona, we were at Topgolf and they got a lot going on here, do they not? And fantastic hospitality too, Asha or server. I mean, the spread that we got guys, we put it on Twitter. I want to buy some of it. I tell you what, they will have the red carpet. It's the food's incredible. I mean, they're the flatbread. There's a barbecue sandwich there. Yeah, boneless, boneless chicken wings, which are given away for free. If you come by, are you bone in on chicken, boneless chicken? I am very much bone in on chicken wings. And it got a shout out our bartenders, John and Nile, I have one drink, Chuck box. He had to twist my arm for it. A little tequila sunrise. I mean, everything's been awesome. And look, I am not a professional golfer by any stretch. You guys saw me, Chuck's trying to fix me. There's so much for you to do, bunch of games and they got the sure thing club makes it easier for bad golfers like me. But I'll be here for a birthday party tomorrow. It's good for kids. It's good for everybody. And look, you just want to come watch the game. It's right by M&T Bank Stadium, 1411 Warner Street. Come on out. We're here till six. So let's get back to this series. The Orioles took three or four from the Blue Jays early in the week, losing the second game of a double header. But the Yankees now take two or three from the same Blue Jays team in the weekend. They needed ten innings to take the series. Look, this was a series and I wasn't sure it was going to be. So the Blue Jays showed me a little something. They obviously have gutted their bullpen. They've got major bullpen issues. Blattie's continuing to destroy the bar. Why you would pitch to him at all. You know, like, I don't really get and I'm hoping the Orioles don't pitch to him. But the Yankees have turned things around. There's no two ways about that. The Yankees are scoring runs at a better clip than they were before. I am not ready to call the Yankees a juggernaut by any stretch of the imagination. But boy, oh boy, Aaron Judge just keeps hitting, not just home runs, first inning home runs and 470 foot home runs. Yeah, he's going to run away with the ALMDP, I believe. But but the Yankees are not infallible. Like they're they're just not. And Strowman is becoming a problem. Strowman is giving up a ton of hard contact and home runs in that home at home. He's not built for that ballpark. And I between him and he'll and one of those two's coming out of that rotation. And also guys, Cole, I mean, he's still like kind of shaking things off in the middle of his start. Obviously had to have to start push back because of the soreness wasn't responding. It's general soreness. Yeah, general soreness strikes again. But yeah, it was standing back and you add chism. You obviously have a lot more pop than they did. I mean, this is a team that was having Jimmy Frick and Jones lead off for them and back clean up on a nightly basis. Let's go stay in the division. But the Tampa Bay Rays were in Houston and or actually playing Houston and wanted what happened there Diaz to right. That's well hit. Leaping up is Leon and that ball is gone. Another line drive home run. This went off the bat of Yandé Diaz, his 10th of the season, a solo shot to give the Rays a three one lead. Raised and beat the Astros yesterday one and nothing. How was your by the way? Well, how's your idea still on Tampa? Like the fact they didn't trade him is a little surprising to me. But Houston trying to win that AOS, which Seattle now leads by a game. Rangers are five and a half back now. But Tampa Bay playing some decent baseball play. Yeah, Josh Lowe is now looking fully healthy for the first time in a long time and he's starting to damage the baseball. They didn't trade as many guys as they could have. But obviously they traded a Rosarana. They traded Baredes. This to me is more about Houston. Like I thought Houston was about to go on a tear and they're still just unable to do it. And Tampa won the final two games of this series. Houston's only five and five in their last 10. Like, I don't know. We saw the Orioles go there. They embarrassed the Orioles. They pulled all away from 10 back to basically get ahead of the mario. Now they're one behind the mariners again. Like you don't hear anything about call Tucker coming back. Like that doesn't sound like that's remotely around the corner. Last on the ground, slow. Like I now I'm starting to waiver on them a little bit. And it's funny. Baseball's a long season at ebbs and flows. But like the Rangers can't get out of their own way. And now the Astros weren't able to even win a series against the depleted race team. And you start to look at Seattle and say, well, Rosarana's had some big hits. And my God, if they hit the ball at all, right? Like like Victor Robles has been like nothing sort of a sensation for them. And so you get Julio back and you've added a Rosarana and maybe Robles keeps it together with their starting pitching. Who knows? Yeah, it definitely looks like it's going to be Nip and talk the rest of the way where it looks like the Astros when they did take the lead in that division that they maybe not coast. But you know, it wasn't going to be a dog fight like it is. But guys, I'd also say this, just looking at the two A at least the Rays and the J's and the fact that both of those teams sold and it's not like either of them are laying down. And I bring that up because that's obviously the Orioles next to opponents in Toronto and at St. Pete. And it's also an odd year. Like I saw something this morning, no team is on pace to 100 games this year. Like like Philly's law. They buy at the trade deadline. Looks like everything's great. It's still might turn out their way, but they lose six in a row and to before winning yesterday, like they start a really interesting series with the Dodgers who the A's gave the Dodgers everything they could handle this weekend. Now Kershaw supposed to come back and pitch tomorrow night, but he hasn't been good in a long time. Like I don't know, they are getting Freddy Freeman back. And that was a really scary situation there with his son. So more obviously all happy that, you know, his family's doing okay. His son's doing okay. Looks like he's going to be out of the hospital and Freddy Freeman back to playing baseball. But yeah, that's going to be an interesting Dodgers Philly series this week because neither of those teams is firing on all cylinders. San Francisco Giants aren't far firing on all cylinders, but Blake Snell is of late, Ben. De La Cruz. He hits a fly ball, right center. Yostremsky has it. And Blake Snell has pitched the first no hitter of his brilliant career. Blake Snell throws a no hitter the other night. Not only is this first no hitter, it's his first complete game of his career. He had never gotten not to the night. He never thrown a pitch in the night. No, he had not and he throws a no hitter. He's been utterly dominant of late. He's still a giant. I don't know if he's going to opt out. I was here in John Haman this morning, that will be central saying there's no that like the way he's pitched the last month, he might still opt out now. Oh, I think he's going to opt out. Yeah. I think Boris wants another bite at the apple. I think that that he is he want to want to fire Boris though? Or was that Jordan Montgomery? I'm sure Boris will still be pushing for that. I mean, look, it's the National League. These guys are still in it. But what he's done since he's come back from his second stint on the IL is is ridiculous. Like these are his last five starts, five innings, one hit, no earn, seven innings, one hit, no earn, six innings, four hits, two earns, six innings, two hits, no earn, nine innings, no hits, no earn. Look, he is still walking two or three guys a game. Like that's always going to be his bugaboo. But I mean, nobody's pitching better than him in baseball right now. Like that's just a fact. I really wonder what the Giants were asking for him. Yeah. You know, when you're just four and a half games back, but we know the jumbled mess that is the National League and the amount of teams that they would have to jump in order to possibly secure one of those wild card spots, knowing that the opt out is as serious possibility as a rental. You, you really wonder what the asking price was. Coming up next, we get back to the Orioles and who was going to be closing games for them tomorrow, September beyond. Is it a committee we'll discuss next here on the fan? Now their bullpen needs to be a better version of itself. And cano does the job tonight gets the save in a one, two, three ninth. The Guardian scored the first two of the game. Baltimore came back, but the Orioles snapped the two game skin and have a chance to even up the series getting out of Cleveland tomorrow and the three one offering is a slow chopper to first. And the Orioles get the split. They win the last two. Cleveland takes the season series, but they want to lose for the second straight time to Baltimore. Heard some highlights Fox and Valley sports. Great lakes there. A couple of Orioles. Well, one was a safe situation. One wasn't, but yeah, you near cano getting the save on Saturday. Sir Anthony Dominguez finishing on Sunday. Craig Campbell did get up, but he did not come in the game. And the Orioles did not. They did get a couple of guys at the deadline, both Sir Anthony Dominguez and Soto and Greg Soto has had troubles in both outings. Got two outs yesterday and then put gave a pace runner and was taken out two minutes. Sir Anthony Dominguez, for me, he got Pete Pajose Ramirez. That's, you know, it's, but the other two, I liked what I've seen other than that, but do they really have a guy you trust late innings as we head towards the postseason? No, I mean, that was, we dissected the deadline quite a bit last week with you out. And the one thing that they didn't address was someone who has been pitching the ninth inning on another club who was in good form, who could come here and be better than anything they had. And my immediate reaction to everything they did was cano still probably the best thing they have in the ninth inning. And I think the last two games would tell you that the skipper agrees with and whether you want to call that a safe situation or not, they could not afford to blow that thing yesterday after everything they've been through and everything we've seen. And with a, with a day awful Monday, he was going to go with his best guy. He wasn't going to take any chances. And he told you his best guy was in Kimbrough. It was cano and getting Danny Colomb back would be huge. But Soto is like, well, he looks terrible. He can't face anything other than a leftie. And even then he's he's he's not very good. And we'll see if this Dominguez stuff is sustainable. I don't like Dominguez against lefties. And he's faced a he faced a special switch hitter. But I think some some not so special lefties, especially in Camden Yards are going to be a problem for him with with the kind of damage they can do from that side. Like he's he's better than Brian Baker. He's better than basically better than anything they have. But here he's better than anything they have right now. Probably I prefer Burch Smith to him. I'm just going to be honest. If we're talking about who's informed right now, I prefer Burch Smith to Dominguez. But he's like a guy who's pitching in. He's not if if that's what they're going to in September, it's suboptimal. And if you're asking me my greatest fear for this team, it's that they don't have the caliber of arms you need in the eighth and ninth inning in the playoffs. You can go by committee now when you're already 20 some games over 500 and get into the playoffs. But when the magnitude of every at bat is at that level, they just don't they can't match up like other teams can. No, no, and and it by far and away is the biggest question mark for this team as as we're close to entering the stretch run of this season where you bring it. We saw what happened to the Phillies bullpen last year. And those three guys, Soto Dominguez, Craig Campbell were front foremost for those situations. And I just don't know Coulomb if he can come back and really you're threatened to needle with him because you're going to want him to come back in the middle of September, give him some outings to kind of ramp back up and get into form because he was their best reliever this season prior to going down. We're forgetting somebody else who they have used in high leverage before when they've had to in that scene. I'll press and but but he's good weekend for seeing him. Great weekend for seeing. Yeah, and he's is that sustainable. I don't know. Yeah. So that like I'll say this. I prefer him from the left side than Soto. Yeah. And when and when Coulomb assuming he gets back, you've got him and and you've got to present Coulomb that makes Soto your third left. Well, I'm really going to have to evaluate here as much as all of us wanted to see life without Keegan Aiken. If Soto were two weeks from now and he looks like literally a guy you just want to face one lefty and nothing else, then that's all I think he is. Then then is Keegan Aiken more valuable to them with the length he can provide from the left side versus Soto. I think they're going to have to be real about what they bought. I also wonder and I'm not saying these are high leverage guys but like let's get back to those two young guys who are pitching at Norfolk. Are they better suited for the bullpen or Chase McDermott and Keg Povitch and Keg Povitch just came off a nice start but like are they more suited to be bullpen arms for this team? Well, I'll tell you this, if they don't start to transition soon, it's not happening. I mean, you know what the first time they were we're not going to duplicate a ball though. The first time the guy come out of the can is in this, you know, is in a tie game in a winner take all like. So if that's not happening soon, it's not going to happen. I mean, Norfolk seasons over the middle of September, you don't have that much runway left. Like, if they're not transitioning now, then they don't look at them as an option. Now, are there other people down there who they still might prefer to, you know, Soto, if he can't get it done or whatever, like they cut your boy. Oh, he gone. Yeah, I want to. Yeah, he went back to double A for a spell wasn't going well there and he's gone. But Jason, I would be surprised if we saw both of them in the bullpen at the same time and we know that both of them have issues with walks. But wouldn't you think McDermott would be the better fit for a bullpen just because he can get more swing and mess? Yeah, if you let him because if you let him air it out one inning, he's probably humping it up there in 97 98 instead of 95 where he sits as a starter. But Dominguez is a righty and they he's obviously he's obviously in the late inning mix. But we know the canoes from the right side. Yes. And if Colom comes back, he's good against lefties and righties. They wanted to go get somebody who could be dominant against lefties. I don't again, I think Soto, the way you have to use them is going to render him relatively insignificant. I would be more inclined to say the lefty because he's seen more of the major leagues. He's a little bit more developed. He's got a better in totality pitch mix, I think. And I think his villa will play up if he's only got to get three or four outs. And so can he sit 95 96 instead of 94 in relief outings? If he can, then I think the issue is going to be lefties. Last thing before we step out, what is Craig Kimbrell's role here? Like, are they going to try to let him get some save opportunities? Like he's here. You're not going to go a man short. How do they use it? I was that frankly surprised when that became a foreign game yesterday. They didn't let him pitch the knife. I think he was up. Like let him come in in a foreign game in the ninth inning. I mean, look, they could say whatever they want to say about them. We've talked about this for years, right? They tell you what they feel about them by what they pay them and how they use them and where that what they gave up to get them. And where is he? He's a floater. He's going to float in and out. They're going to try to build his confidence back up. They're going to try to see if his velo picks up with this sporadic usage. But he's not the closer of this team. That's for damn sure. No, not right now. I don't think for the foreseeable future. Coming up next, Northern exposure. And it's been a minute since we've heard from Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. Do they have a quarterback controversy in Pittsburgh? We'll hear from the Steelers head coach Northern exposure next year on the fan. I think it's important that we respect to get to no process professionally in a setting like this, that we spend a lot of time together. Not only him, but Justin and the other quarterbacks are new here too. I meet with those guys every morning at eight o'clock to kind of get the day started, whether we got subject matter to talk about or not, because there's no substitute for time spent in terms of getting to know one another, us being able to see around corners collectively as leaders, me as a coach leader, they as player leaders. And so, you know, we got a lot of things to cover and we're just chipping away at it and trying to be proactive in that regard. It's been a good process thus far. Mike Tomlin talking about his quarterback room and he's got some stuff going on here. Wilson Wilson's got that calf injury. He's got Justin Fields as well. For the record, I don't want either of them, but Justin Fields is younger. And is it possible, Jason, that Justin Fields could be starting for them come week one? Absolutely. I can tell you this much when when he had Ben Roddersberger, he wasn't even with Ben Roddersberger at eight a.m. every morning up there at the college, up in the Poconos there where they have the St. Thomas Fisher, I think it is anyway. Beautiful picturesque settings. But he and Big Ben weren't meeting at eight every day. I think that's a little portal into, frankly, maybe just how open this competition is and he wants to keep taking their temperature every day. And Tomlin wants to brush up against them. Obviously at the start of every workday, Russell Wilson has missed some time. Russell Wilson's a declining asset and I think Justin Fields is an asset that they bought low on, that they could polish up and maybe he becomes a long term solution or maybe he becomes a chip that they use in some way, shape or form down the line to acquire other talent. But I can't imagine Justin Fields isn't going to get quite a run here in the preseason as much as we talk so much this time of year about who's not going to play. And especially with Russell Wilson already missing valuable brushes practice time and nursing a soft tissue injury, I feel like Justin Fields has a chance to rally the locker room around him here. Well, all this time that he's missed and your reports out of Pittsburgh Cam, it sounds like Justin Fields has been, you know, his level of play has been picking it up. But it's going to be interesting. Russ, you wouldn't expect him to play this week. But next week, Jason, I mean, both of them are, they got to play. I always think they both play a half of that. Yeah. It's much interesting. But you do not see, you know, starting quarterbacks, especially a guy Russ who's been in this lake for how many years poor Russ. I more from Mike Tomlin talks about coaching Justin Fields. You know, I guess the big thing, the message that informally, formally, whatever you want to call it that want to continue to relate to him is I don't want to squash his natural instincts. You know, his mobility and escape ability is a weapon. And we don't want to, we don't want to minimize that. We don't want him overtaking. We want him to play fast and fluid. And so if anything, from a messaging standpoint, I've probably mentioned that to him a few times. He's new to the environment. I don't want him to, you know, overanalyze what we might be thinking. I want him to do what comes natural as it pertains to his game. His athleticism is off the charge. So like, there's, there's, there's no argument there. He's a freak. I, if he, again, we're parsing here, but if he's leaning into that outwardly that much now, and it's looking good in camp, and I got news for you, he's played against much tougher competition than he's going to get, especially in this first preseason game against a bunch of guys who don't have a future, at least in the NFL, maybe in some other league. Like, I can't imagine he doesn't shine. Like, if you know that's there for you with one guy, and you know, the other guy used to be that guy, but doesn't want to lean into that anymore, doesn't really want to play option football, doesn't want to be nearly as activated in the run game as he was when the Seahawks were winning world championships. And there's no, like, there's no fiduciary incentive for either. No, they're both fallen on a budget. I'm just saying, man, I would not roll this out. And maybe Russ starts the first game, but how long before the Justin, the first third down, is it Justin Fields package time? Like, and then what's that start? What's that start? You know, unless the kid pees down his leg, like, and if he gives you a boost in efficiency in the run game, and how's he not? Then doesn't that carry the day? We're still a little more than a month away from week one, but something that we kept hearing repeatedly during this offseason is the steel is trying to be proactive in bringing in another receiver, because right now that receiving room is still pretty bare. Are you hearing anything in that regard, Jason? They're still pushing. They're not done. I mean, they are not done. The money is there, ownership's aware of what the price is, the going rate. And they want, they want to add a legitimate wide receiver, then they're not talking about playing around on the margins. Now, where they will draw a line is draft pick compensation. And everybody's drawn a line on Brandon, I you to this point on draft pick conversation, compensation. The 49ers couldn't get anything close to as much of a one as they wanted, like a legitimate one, like a one in the top 25 picks or so, not the last pick of the the first round or whatever, like they couldn't get that then that draft has passed. If San Francisco is willing to accept this for what it is, it's a bit of a salary dump at this stage. Yeah, I would expect them to be as aggressive as anybody for Brandon, I use services. And just so people are aware, are you guys in practice? Yeah, correct. He's like doing a hold of him. He's there, but he's not doing a lot. But he's not doing anything. But I'm sure he's working out on his own, whatever. Like, I guarantee you, he's in shape. Yeah, yeah. No, but I mean, he's not an active participant in 49ers drills while he's working on this situation, whether he doesn't want to get hurt. It's everybody's screwed. Yeah. Coming up next, Ravens have wrapped up training camp practice for the day, for shot, baby went down and had to be tended to and left the field. We'll check in with Jonas Shaver. He covers the Ravens for the Baltimore banner and he joins us next here on the fan. 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. I'm Anna Garcia with True Crime News, the podcast, every crime tells a story. Every story demands justice. True Crime News, the podcast covers breaking crimes, investigating high profile and under the radar cases. 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