>> [MUSIC] >> Good morning, Joe, sports at 5'9", the fan band, and a Sam McKee. Brent Gunning, he will be back in studio on Thursday. >> So Gunnar's just not working, what's he doing? >> He's way more sour right now than he is actually working. >> Yeah, he might as well be working. He's definitely awake because his child wakes up at like five o'clock. >> Thank you for listening. >> I got her. >> [LAUGH] >> I guess I can't discount the possibility. No, his kids start in school, so he wants to take him to his first day of school, which is, that's very nice. >> Oh, yeah. >> Wow. >> First day of school, first day of kindergarten. Anyways, we got Philadelphia Phillies in town for a little two-game set. That's the homestand, by the way. Day off yesterday, two games against the Phillies, day off Thursday, then off to Atlanta, the Blue Jays go for a three-game road trip. And then back home for a normal six-game. >> The robot's making the schedule now, they just don't think about anything. >> I guess, very, very strange schedule, upcoming for the Toronto Blue Jays. But yeah, they're gonna see that, that vaunted Phillies offense tonight. That employs Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, but at the top of the lineup. Kyle Schorber, who you may recall from the off season before the 2022 season. As the apple of Blue Jays fans, I, when he was a free agent, he was out there for all to have. And lots of reports, I was going back and reading some of the old reports from that off season, John Hammons, and all Blue Jays making a big push for Kyle Schorber. So take Mr. Arson judge with a grain of salt. But yeah, like- >> Electric. >> Yeah, so, but it was more than just him, right? >> Yeah. >> I think there was a clear match there. >> There's a flirtation big time. >> There was a real match there, left-handed power bag with on-base skills. Now you will recall that the 2022 season actually did go well after missing the playoffs by a single game in 21, made the playoffs in 22 with 92 wins. And you know, should have at least won one of those games against the Mariners before blowing a ginormous lead. But that was a good offense. Imagine what it would have looked like with, with Kyle Schorber. I mean, occupying all of the DH time. Now the Blue Jays in that season didn't have a, a pure DH. They had Teosker, Nanda spend some time there, Vlad, George Springer. >> A defensive team? >> It's, but so what? >> Yeah, so what? >> Okay, we've come to learn so much. >> You know, defense. >> Stinks, give me offense, baby. >> I mean, there are so many players in Blue Jays history that have been rumored to be on the radar of the Blue Jays front office that haven't come to fruition that I'm sure a lot of Blue Jays fans have regrets about. I mean, the number one, I mean, this is the first one that comes to mind. I think we're, you're in lock step with me here, is the whole Jose Ramirez thing. >> Who wasn't a free agent? >> Yeah. >> Clearly. >> Yeah? >> He was not a free agent, but like, there was a talk about flirtations. That was a huge story. >> Yeah. >> And clearly with the history, with the Cleveland guys, and they were very, very familiar with him. And was that at the sort of 2021 or 2022 that they were- >> Yeah, sitting around them. >> It was at the start of one of those seasons where like it felt like they were almost planning on having him. >> And then it- >> It was actually before the 22 season, because that was the year that they made the trade for Mad Chapman, right? >> Yeah, exactly, that's exactly right. And I had to take that I'd actually rather have Mad Chapman than Jose Ramirez. >> Yeah, incorrect. >> We all wish we could have some back, and that was one I wish we could have back. But yeah, I thought that Mad Chapman was going to be really good. And he was really good for parts of time here. But yeah, the Jose Ramirez flirtation was very, very, very great. And I thought it was going to happen. And he's been an all-world player in his whole career. And he's been really good the past few years. Like I love Jose Ramirez. >> Hooked the best to be in Cleveland. >> And punched out Tim Anderson, one of the best baseball fights of all time. Like he's a, I love Jose Ramirez. >> Yes. >> So that to me was the number one thing that immediately came to mind when he pitched this to me last night was Jose Ramirez. >> Yeah, Francisco Lindor was the apple of the Blue Jays eyes as well. But like for Ramirez, there was an obvious fit at third base for Lindor. It would have required Bulbaschett to move to second base. And it would also require the exorbitant price that the Mets eventually paid in an extension. >> The, I shouldn't have said that Jose Ramirez was the obvious one. The obvious one was his past offseason. >> Yeah, I, in writing this topic out, I said like non-Shoey, Otani, department. >> Okay, non-Shoey, department. >> Because here's the thing about Shoey. And I'll hand up, I thought it was a realistic possibility. >> Of course. >> I went to Dunedin. But yeah, in retrospect, it felt like there was no chance. >> Yeah, seeing him in the Dodgers, you're being like, oh, yeah. He doesn't have to leave the state. >> Yeah, I don't even hate him anymore. I watch the Dodgers now, I'm like, yeah, he's just so sick. >> The three stolen bases yesterday, he now has more stolen bases than he has home runs this season. He's going to go 50-50. >> He needs what, six homers for it? >> Yeah, he's at 44 homers and 46 stolen bases, I believe. So not to get too sidetracked by Shoey, Otani, but you just said it. >> Or the, what's catnip for any sports talk radio host right now. >> The whole thing about him was that he was a unicorn because he was like one of the best hitters, but also pitched. Now he's just a unicorn doing one thing. He's a unicorn because nobody's had the combination of speed and power that he possesses this season. >> It's amazing. >> I know it feels like this is only happening because he's not pitching. And he's, guys lose their stolen base ability or their willingness to steal bases as they cross the 30-year-old barrier. So maybe that'll naturally occur next season. But I don't know, maybe Shoey, Otani, is showing proof of concept that he can do this while pitching next season because at this point, you can't rule anything out with him. >> Now, it's really hard to say anything other than he is amazing and one of the greatest athletes of all time. >> Yeah. >> Like it's just full out, like I have no problem saying that. He is one of the greatest, not only of this generation, but when you look back on the last 100 years of sports, he is right there. >> Yeah. >> He's not accomplished, he hasn't won anything, but maybe this year, I guess they won the World Baseball Classic if you care about that, striking out his teammate. >> Yeah. >> In his teammate, Mike Trout's only memorable moment of his career was getting struck out by his teammate. So that's great. But I just have no words to say how incredible it is. It's unlike anything that's ever happened since Babe Ruth. >> You know how many times he's been caught stealing this season? >> Maybe like what? Five or six? >> Four times. >> Wow. >> Wow, less than a crazy number he was thought I was going with. >> Yeah, his 46 total basis has been caught stealing four times his 44 home runs. >> I've seen. >> He's got an OPS of 993 and his 616 slugging percentage leading the national. >> We can't play left field. >> Yes. >> Can't play the field. >> Yeah. Anyways. Yeah, yeah. So anyways, Coach Warbur is to me that guy that if the Blue Jays had ponied up for, and obviously weren't willing to go to the same number that the Phillies were considering the lack of defense who came from Coach Warbur, you don't want him playing whatever brand defense he calls it in left field or even first base like usually you can plop somebody. >> He's a total butcher. >> No, he's a total butcher. >> Usually you don't notice somebody's defense of first base. Ask a Red Sox fan what they thought of Coach Warbur as a defensive third baseman. And they'll tell you, yeah, there's few guys that stand out both positive and negative. He was one of the rare that stood out from a negative side of things. >> It's hard to stand out. >> It is. And he did. I mean, if we were looking at the opposite also, that was the Freddie Freeman year. The Blue Jays were in on Freddie Freeman. >> That was the same year. >> Yeah. >> And I remember who was the Instagram guy, Barrega? >> Barrega. Carlos Barrega. >> Yeah. He had like the flames. >> The flames. >> Oh my God, the flames. >> He needs a drill. >> Yeah, that was the beginning of the end for Carlos Barrega because I think he did break the mad cham. >> Yeah. >> He had a couple of different things. >> He was scooping. >> He was scooping. >> He had no tawny thing in there too. >> Yeah. >> Carlos Barrega had a hot moment as an insider. >> He was scooping for sure. >> Jay's did well avoiding DJ LeMayo and Brandon Nimmo though. So good job by them. >> All right. >> Yeah. >> I forgot the LeMayo flirtation. >> Yeah. He's a local, like Michigan guy. Boy, he likes hockey, don't you know. >> He was good in his first year. >> Yeah. >> And now he's- >> And now he's- >> He's followed off a cliff to the point where he's going to play a ball. >> You think George Springer is a decaying horse. >> Very bad now, very bad, DJ LeMayo is like, he's not six feet under, he's like 60 feet under. >> Yeah, I know he's done. >> He's cooked, very cooked. Anyways, so I mentioned this before the break. Ken Rosenthal just publishing the story on the athletic just before we went to air today. Why front office changes for most under-achieving MLB teams appear unlikely? So he goes through a bunch of teams that have underperformed, the Reds and the Pirates and to God, the Mariners just can't get it figured out. >> Pirates though, like, who's expecting the hot pirates here, where people- >> Eventually some step forward, I think the Mariners are like the obvious one. >> God. >> They lost again, walk off home run by Shane Langleyers and the Oakland Lays over the Mariners who have the best ERA in baseball and they're going to miss players, crazy. Anyways, so it outlines a bunch of teams that have underperformed and how they're unlikely to just do a full-scale overhaul of the front office. But the number one team, you know how I know this is because they were the first he mentioned, and also it's the only picture. [LAUGH] Mark Chabiro and Ross Atkins. >> Sick. >> So the point is, here's the essential take. Why rock the boat when all teams are making money and secondarily to that, everybody has a chance to make the playoffs. The bar for entry into the postseason is nothing. Like I said, the Tigers are five games back of a playoff spot in the American League because the Kansas City Royals have lost six in a row. The Tigers stink, we saw the red Sox that are half game up on them. That was a team people expected to be at the way worse than the Blue Jays are at this point in the season. They were expected to be a laughing stock, they're right in there. The Royals lost over 100 games last season, they're in a playoff spot this season. And also, the last point being, if you're going to fire a front office and bring in a new one, everybody has the same analytics at their disposal, probably gonna make the same type of decisions. So why do anything? Does he have a point? >> No. I mean, I don't want to throw Ken Rose's thoughts, a wonderful writer, and it's just like, at some point, you can talk about how everybody has the same access to all this. All those things that lay it out are fine. But at some point, there has to be, I don't even if it's a performative change. There has to be some sort of, just, you don't want to say that you're listening to the fans, but something to appease the masses. They just haven't had the results, Ben, like, Shapiro during his press conference, whenever that was, few weeks ago, a month ago now, was like, continuity is a competitive, what is it? Cuz- >> It is if you're good. >> Yeah, I mean, if you're Bill Belichick, continuity was a really good competitive advantage for a very long time. But I mean, they haven't won a playoff game in their entire time here. >> No. >> So- >> They don't, I mean, beyond that, they made the playoffs three times, or if you, three times, yeah, if you want to include 2020. >> I don't. >> They haven't won a division title though, right? So everyone wants to make the playoffs, and sure, if you had had playoff success, it would superseded the division title thing. But they haven't been at the top of the division when, clearly, they were a team on the rise in 2020 and 2021. That hasn't happened. They haven't really had a chance to win the division in their tenure, and have not won a playoff game. I think that the way this changes, and I think we saw a part of it starting to maybe make an impact on Mark Shapiro in that press conference that you alluded to. >> Where he was as snippy as I've ever heard him. >> Sure. And I think he was also direct though. He was asked, hey, are you seeing the fan discontent in your season ticket renewals? >> Yeah. >> Are you seeing this in ticket sales? He's like, yes. >> Yeah, yeah. >> How do you take care of that? >> Win baseball games. >> Yeah. >> So he understands that. And eventually, yeah, they're all making money to a degree, but you want to make the most money. >> More, more, more. >> So that's where it becomes a situation where it's worth the risk or the discord within the organization to change the front office. But I think he has a bit of a point, and I think the most frustrating part is the playoff thing. Because the regular season in Major League Baseball used to mean something, right? It used to be a huge deal. And like, yeah, meaningful September baseball, well, it was a joke. It was also, wow, you have to be really good to be in the mix for a playoff spot in September. Making the playoffs is a joke. Being a team in contention is a joke now. Anybody can do that. >> First, they're going to run it back in 2025, if you were the Toronto Blue Jays. I mean, partly because if you don't, you're admitting the last decade has been a complete failure, which it obviously has been. >> Yes. >> But also, yeah. I mean, the Blue Jays, if they started the season today with their current roster might be in the mix with all these raw rookies and guys with no experience in Major League Baseball, it takes nothing to make the playoffs in 2024 and 2025 in Major League Baseball. So one of the big reasons too, that I would be, actually, probably one of the only reasons I would want, and you can correct me if I'm wrong on this or this would matter. But I'm sure that Ross and Vlad's representation has been talking for a long time. >> Oh, yeah. >> Like, there's probably, they've had frameworks of contracts, they've had frameworks of what they're going to do in this offseason, potentially, like they've done the arbitration thing. Like they have a relationship, maybe not the best one who knows, maybe a new guy coming in would be like, what are you talking about, just Taim? But if the, you know, bringing in a brand new general manager in a- >> Like a brad for living in an offseason where you have to resign- >> Exactly, Ross Matthews and William Kneelander. >> Or like bringing him in like the right at the time when you needed to trade Mitch Marner. >> Yeah. >> Like literally the week. >> Yeah. >> Where they needed to be done before his full normal move clicked in, like it's a scarily similar parallel. >> Yes. >> Where you bring in a brand new general manager with some of the, with franchise altering decisions to make, that is scary, I think. And that's scary for a front office, that's probably scary for Mark Shapiro, where that side of the continuity is one where you're like, yeah, well, you know, we've been making all these decisions with these guys throughout this eight year period, we want to finish the job here. But the also it's like, is this just going to be like a one year thing where they're but we're like Vlad and Bo are gone and they're gone, they're like, well, see you later. That part of it scares me too. So I have a lot of different, my brain's going in a bunch of different directions on this, but I think the argument for keeping it and continuity is this is the biggest off season they've had, probably. And you want them to have the relationships with these guys, I find that the only reason really. >> Yeah, I keep ringing the alarm bell on Mark Shapiro not accepting being a lame duck president, despite the lack of success. And nobody seems to know exactly what his fingerprints are on as far as the team building side of the thing. >> Yeah. >> Despite the fact that he's the president, the president of everything, including baseball operations of the Toronto Blue Jays, we understand that his priorities have laid in the business side of it the last couple of years. And it's been a spectacular part of being a Blue Jays fan over the last couple of years has seen the renovations to Rogers. >> It rocks. >> It rocks. >> It's a great, great. >> Yes. >> It absolutely crushed the renovations. That cannot be taken away from them. >> Nope. And he's the first guy you think of when it comes to that, that was Azidic when he arrived and they talked about maybe building a new stadium, they didn't do that, but they renovated Rogers Center to which it's like who even cares about a new stadium, the locations great. The bones were obviously there. >> Yeah, if you're going to make a new stadium, you'd plow that one and build another one in the exact same spot. It's a perfect sprite, which would take too long. >> Yeah, and it's also weird because they don't own the, anyways, besides the Christi pets for two years, so we did well on that baseball team, that's a good, but he's responsible for all of it. And also, and we talked to Jeff Blair about this last week, like there's been more than a few intimations of whether it's the big 10 commissioner's job or the Mets a while ago were interested sniffing around the Mark Shapiro of it all, that this guy probably feels pretty disrespected if he goes into the final year of his deal and he's not offered an extension. I can see a world where, okay, Rogers doesn't need to fire Mark Shapiro because he leaves of his own volition and then you get a new president in here, get him a new president is going to do is going to look at your GM and probably say, get this guy out of here, I want my own guy in here. So I could see it happening more organically than, hey, the chairman of the board of Rogers, or somebody coming forward and saying, hey, we need new leadership here. We're cleaning house. I think it could happen on honestly, organically this offseason, which would to your point be a kind of a tough off season to go through that considering the decisions that have to be made with some of the key franchise icons, but like I said, I think there's a side of it where a fresh set of eyes comes in like, oh my God, just give them the money. >> Yeah. >> As opposed to having this long relationship where you know, you're going back. >> I don't like Brad for living who's like, oh, William, Neelan, I just give him the money. >> Oh my God, this guy is amazing. >> Here's 80 shmill. >> You know, so I think it's going to be really, really, clearly fascinating to see what happens with that. But yeah, I think you're right that not to use another parallel, but you know, there's a massage parallel here with with Shapiro, where he's a sought after guy. >> Yes. >> There's like the Tottenham Hotspur conversation with Messiah and you know, the Giants of Africa stuff with Messiah. We're like, there's all this like, non basketball stuff where people are really interested in his services. It's still going to be baseball stuff with Shapiro, but like you said, the league office where Blair mentioned it last week, like, you want to be a commissioner? >> Yeah, great. Perfect. He's the perfect commissioner. >> Then everyone will hate him. >> Yeah, exactly. >> But like if I looked at him, like you're like looked up baseball commissioner in a dictionary, he has commissioner face. He's a perfect commissioner. >> He's sitting commissioner face. >> Yes, he does. Am I wrong? He looks like the commissioner. So I really don't know which side of it. And I think I think this conversation could be moot and I think they could just stay. But it would be fascinating that they are both gone this offseason. It would be very, very, very interesting. >> It's really interesting off season. I want to get to a couple of golf things before we take break. >> Golf. >> Yeah, Scotty Scheffler wins the FedEx Cup. It was a little closer than we thought after he opened up with a ridiculous seven shot lead on Thursday. He shanked one out of the bunker and it's final round and Colin Morekawa actually won the tournament if you take away the advantage that Scotty Scheffler got because he was the leader of the FedEx Cup going into the tour championship. But that's the whole reason you have the FedEx Cup is that you get to win the tour championship because you played well the entire season long. He has now eight wins if you include the Olympic gold medal. So most wins in a season since Tiger Woods in 2007 has a major in there, has the Players Champion in a chip, has the Tour Championship. >> Gold medal. >> Yeah. You mentioned gold medal. >> You did? >> Yeah, you got to listen. >> You said that? >> Yeah. >> I was looking right at you. You said that. That's 7.2. >> I said seven wins in the eight if you include the gold medal that he won. One of the Olympics. >> I was running the tape back. >> Continue. So anyways, will you like be bouncing your grandkids on your knee in 20 years telling you to tell them about the 2024 Scotty Scheffler season? >> Yeah, thanks. So I mean, if you're a golf fan, you'll look back on this. I think the thing that defines Scotty Scheffler is that he has no brain. And the fact that on the course, you know, he's really doesn't show a ton of emotion. I think there's been maybe two or three times all year where he showed a ton of emotion or his mat or whatever. But for him to stone cold check, like I was watching that and that's as shocked as I've ever been watching. It was a shank. >> Did you hear his post round? >> No, I was sorry. >> Hey, what happened to that bunker is like, well, there's like the club face connects to the shaft. There's like a round part. And if you hit it on the part of the round part, it'll go that way. >> It's like the Baylor guy basketball. >> Exactly. How do you read that? Well, they jumped up there and got the ball more than we did. >> Yes. >> So I think what defines him and what defines him as a golfer is he makes a horrendous bogey. That's a short par four. He hits it in the bunker, shanks it over, almost hits it short again into the next bunker. Bogeys, Kolmourkawa makes a big pot to get it to does his big corny fist pump like he's all fired up. This hole is a 235 yard par three over the water impossible shot. Mourkawa shorts his not a great shot. Scotty Scheffler steps up and hits it to five feet with a four iron makes birdie and then goes on and birdies the next two to just put it to bed, right, like he's just his ability to bounce back. And I'm not sure what the bounce back stats are like, you know, all the advanced stats in golf, I really don't understand. But I'm sure his bounce back ability would be number one on tour where it's just his ability to come back from his mistake and I think that's such a for anybody who's a golfer. That is the most admirable thing where you don't let it snowball, where you just turn it around. It's an incredible thing. And yet this is a phenomenal year in golf and we can have the conversation which you love to have about all those wins that he's had in these sort of short field quote unquote watered down events where it's the best players, but there's a lot of a lot of great players when to live and you know, it's not an open me as a hater though. It's tough. And it did win like the players down there and the masters and the masters also like a short field. It's a pretty good stretch of golf, the gold medal which apparently you mentioned that I don't remember. He's player of the year. No question. And it's a phenomenal year and it's one that will all look back on as one of the greatest golf years of all time. Like it's not the same. It's not the same bravado as Tiger. It just never will be. I'm like, stop trying to make Tiger happen. It's just never going to happen. We've moved past it, but we should all be lucky to have a star. That is really fun to watch. He may be not fun to, you know, I've rooted for him since his rookie year. I love them. I thought he's very interesting. He's got a very unique swing. He's just doesn't look like everybody else. He is just a pure golf fan, which I am and you are and you love watching golf every weekend. He is sick, awesome to watch, but like he doesn't have the crossover appeal that Tiger did or like even Rory does or even Jordan speech brought this feeling out of people. He's just not that animated. He's not that engaging of a guy. But the most interesting thing that's ever happened is by far with him is him getting arrested. Like there's no questions. It's not even close. So this still my favorite radio segment I've ever done was with you guys on the morning show of wow that was happening was one of the funnest things ever. To be fair, that would be the most interesting thing that happened to a lot of people. Not Tiger. Tiger though. It's the other Mount Rushmore of things that happened, but I just, I really do want to look back on this fondly as an awesome year and as a Scotty fan, it just, I really enjoyed the whole year. So it's great. Good for him. Okay. He's so rich. I'll save this other golf topic for later. We'll talk to Adam Stanley. I wanted to pull up the Kyle quickly here, talk about yourself there and I want to put the Kyle Porter tweet about the money he made. Did you see that? Oh yeah. He made a, for each round that he played this year, over $800,000 is what the, the, the. So here it is. So Scotty Schaffler, this is from Kyle Porter on, on X. I've got another stat. Scotty Schaffler earned 62, over $62 million in PGA tour money this year. That's 3.3 million per tournament. Yeah. 830 K per round, 12 K per shot. And if you're assuming four and a half hour rounds, that's 3 K per minute on the golf course. Good work. If you can get it, Benny boy. Good work. If you can get. I mean, what puts it in stark relief is 62.2 million this season. It's roughly Jordan Speeth's entire on course, on course career earnings. That's insane. Jordan Speeth, who's like, not an awesome bum, had an excellent career. Yeah. I saw that he's had, Scotty Schaffler had, Hadeki Matsuyama's career from March until right now. Yes. Yeah. It was also incredible player. Yeah. So it's a really, really, really amazing year. And yeah, to preview that topic that we'll talk about later on, and we'll definitely revisit with Adam Stanley after 830 presidents cup captains picks coming up today for the president's cup at the end of the month in Montreal. So six players are locked in and then six more are captains picks. So Scotty Schaffler obviously going to be there on the American side, but, and there will be, there will be, oh, I guess no Canadians automatically in, but Corey Connors seven in the rankings Taylor Penrith, who had a great showing in has been made himself a million bucks this weekend. Hello, man possessed is 11th in the international standings, Nick Taylor 12. So if you're just going by the book, both of those are all three of those guys could be in. And then Mackenzie Hughes is 15, Adam had when 13, like there are some real Canadians in the mix. And of course, the Canadian is the captain. Mike Weir. Okay. Save it. Okay. Time to get into it. Okay. Okay. Let's go. Because we have to take a break. But Marosi of MLB network next as I perhaps ask how I get to the big house for next weekend's Michigan, what we're in. You're talking to one of the best wheel greasers of all time, so don't put them on the spot on the air. Of course you should. No question. Oh, you think John Ross is going to want to talk about Michigan? That morgue coming up next is a fan morning show continues, Ben and a Sammicky sports at five nine in the fan, big opinions and in-depth conversations covering the Leafs, J's, Raptors and the NFL, the JD Bunken podcast, subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Fan morning show sports at five nine in the fan, Ben and Sammicky, great weekend of college football. NFL kicking off. Of course on Thursday this week, we got a Friday game. I got to tell you, I've had a very, the past few weekends, been very summery, a lot of activity doing stuff up north, you know, just around, not near my couch at my place in Toronto. This weekend. Yeah. Boy, Howdy. I'm going to put a big old couch. Yeah. Howdy's away this weekend. Yeah. Oh, buddy. Just, you know, husband dinner. Just getting crap food the whole weekend. Me and Lou Dogline on the couch cannot wait. Cannot wait. I'm an NFL agnostic because I didn't grow up with an NFL team and I'm obviously a college football agnostic because I didn't go to a US college or university. I'm starting to lose my ag my agnosticness. Oh, really? When it comes to college football because I, I married into a Texas football family. My wife is from Texas. Both her parents went to the University of Texas. Oh, really? That's cool. We got one of the best college football matchups of the season upcoming next Saturday at the big house, number four, Texas against number nine, Michigan Wolverines. And we'll talk to Mr. Big Blue right now, this insider brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit Don Valley North Lexus dot com. It is the great John Marosi of MLB network. How's it going, John? Ben and Sam, good morning and Ben, we can still be friends. There is no, no animosity whatsoever. It should be a great matchup this weekend. The Longhorns coming to town and certainly memories of the Rose Bowl from about 20 years ago and Vince Young and that amazing game to be great. Actually, the one, you'll appreciate this, the one college football game that I ever worked as a sideline reporter was the fall of 2018 Texas, tech hosting Texas. And the Longhorns came back in one in the last second. So there is somewhere, somewhere exists an interview that I was doing with then Texas head coach Tom Herman on the on the field there in Lubbock. So it was a fun weekend. I had a great, great chance to work with that crew. So the Longhorns are one to know with me in the building. So that they may well win on Saturday, I think they probably will, but it should be a great matchup. But on the left, wait, are you going to be in attendance? I will. It's a great question. At the moment, I will, I'm planning to be at the at the pregame festivities with my daughters, they, they are not, this is going to sound funny coming from someone who lives in Ann Arbor. They're not big football fans. I, I, to put it to you this way, dear friends of ours for the following game. So Michigan plays Arkansas state in something of a less hype matchup in the following weekend. And great friends of ours are helping us with tickets. And so I, which are actually in the front row. So I said to my daughters, girls, we can go. We're going to sit the front row. It's going to be amazing. And my, my middle one who is the family artist and is just a deep intellectual soul looks at me and says, dad, can I bring my book? No, you can, but, but just, just so you know, again, we'll be in the front row. So there's a good chance if, if, if in the front row, if you're reading your book, oh yeah. Will find you. And you will be on television for the rest of your life reading a book at the big house. Yeah. You can do that. I'm, I'm a big believer in hate, let your kids do what they're going to do. And as a sweetheart, if you want to do that, you can be my guest, but you, you will probably be on television reading a book. I'm just going to let you know that that's, that's very likely to happen. Yeah. Yeah. My, my kid is just, he's got the football bug entirely and just yeah, he's been all over college football. He's been looking at maybe making a trip to Michigan next weekend with him. I will say to let us know, let us know if you're, if you're the neighbor, it should be a lot of fun. It's going to be very few things in sports are cooler than, than when, than when the announcement comes over the loudspeaker, when they announce the attendance at Michigan Stadium and they say you are the largest crowd of people watching football anywhere in America today. And everybody just goes crazy and it's a, it's a very unique experience. Incredible uniform match up to Michigan and Texas is like two of the eyes, just aesthetically pleasing as hell. Nothing like that. It's never been to the big house. I would love to go. Um, so to baseball, John, uh, Blue Jays have, have shown the ability to score some runs recently scored 15 on Saturday against the Minnesota twins. They're actually top 10 in homers since the deadline when they traded all their pending free agents away and they called up all the young kids and then they acquired the Joey Lo Perfidos of the world. I mean, I, I get it with the, the Jays are out of it and, and the games are meaningless, but not for the individual players. Does it mean anything that they've actually shown some offense, uh, offensive capabilities and most notably hit some home runs since the deadline? It certainly does mean a lot. And to me, it's, it's what you alluded to a moment ago about how much it means that the players individually there, there's no way to say that there is a, an absence of pressure for someone like a Will Wagner or for a Lo Perfido or a Jimenez. You can go down the list. There's so many players, Horowitz, I would include in the same mix, Ernie Clement, they're all playing for their, for their jobs for next year. And, and so I, I think in that, in that context, I have been very impressed by, by them. And I think that the humanities conversations are very interesting one because of what it could mean for Bo and, and his, his future and, and seeing that the Jays have someone who in, in the amenities case, it's, it's a 45 game sample of him being a league average hitter. And I would say at least a league average defender at, at the position men and potentially better than that. So if you're talking about someone who can hit at a league average level and, and play a good shortstop for you, it's a very valuable player, especially considering what he'll be making for a long time to come in terms of the, the salary structure. So it's been a really good month of baseball for the Jays. I, I really believe that the pitching is shown that it's stable and, and if, if you look at the big picture here and, and at some point in time in July, there had to have been a very big conversation with ownership and everybody involved that says, okay, we're going to tear this thing down to the studs or we're going to make some, some minor modifications and it was more of the ladder that happened. It did a really good job. And I, I think Jay fans have a lot of reasons for optimism and, and to look at this team. Yes, they need some bats. It's obviously there's no question about that. Yes, the question looms of, of whether or not they can sign blads for the long term and what that could look like this off season. But I think it's been a really encouraging four weeks of baseball since the deadline. So John, we've been talking clearly a lot about the off season here, I mean, Ben, because, you know, that's one of the things that you can kind of look ahead to. And, you know, there's a lot of questions clearly with this team with, you know, with Bo, with Vlad, with even the front office, with contracts there. But I guess I want to focus in on Vlad with you. What have you heard on the Vlad front in terms of contract extension, what they're thinking about with him in the off season, like what have you heard on Vlad heading into this off season? Well, a couple of things. I think number one, they, they know Sam in the back of their minds what likely the numbers would look like to have to sign them in terms of what Vlad's price would be. I remember speaking some time ago with a member of the Jase front office who wouldn't tell me what those numbers are, of course, but that they basically think it's our job to know what that number is. It's our job to know what the years and the dollars are that they've been asking for and to understand what it would take. And obviously, every day that passes without a contract is one day closer to free agency. And with every passing day, it becomes harder and harder to sign them because you're going to have to step forward and make an even greater offer to make that a reality. I do think that as you look towards the off season, I would be really surprised if anything happened in terms of a Vlad extension early in the off season. And the reason for that is I think that that Vlad's camp will want to wait for Soto to sign whenever and wherever he's going to sign for whatever massive sum that's going to be. And then adjust off of that and say to the Jase, well, if let's say Soto signs for $450 million, just type of that at least $400 million, whatever it has to be, these are just numbers or it's not, it's going to be big whatever it is. But let's say that it's 400. And then all of a sudden, Vlad's agent the next day puts in the phone call to Marc Shapiro Ross, that says, okay, hey, listen, this is similar, at least to what Vlad's going to be asking for a year from now. So if we're going to sign, you'd better play your offer off of that number because it's that we're not going to take a discount. Basically, this is what we're looking at. So I think that's probably how this plays out. And of course, we understand that with the Otani pursuit that the Jase were prepared within the last 12 months to make an astronomical offer to a player. That player obviously was not Vlad, but there's an understanding that money existed somewhere in the budget and potentially some portion of it could be reallocated to someone who's played an entire career as a member of the Blue Jays. So it's a really interesting staring contest. And I do think the fact, from my perspective, the fact that the Jase has played better makes a Vlad extension more realistic because you see, you begin to see the idea that keeping this team together for a little bit longer is valid and a legitimate path to a contending Blue Jays team. That's what I see. And similarly, if you envision this team right now without Vlad, you just you start to wonder how much of everybody's production starts to go away because when you lose the hub of your offense, the guy that the other team is so aware of and pitches so carefully to, does it impact the pitches that everybody else is seeing? And I would say the answer to that is yes. So it's the way the Jase has played over the last month, for me, I think increases the willingness of the Jase to match whatever astronomical price tag is going to be out there. Now, whether they actually meet it as a separate conversation, but I do think it's improved the environment for an extension to happen. Yeah, it'll be the number one story of this offseason, it feels like. So the Blue Jays need to improve the offense, even if they do bring back Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the next decade, plus or whatever. And part of that might be through free agency. Part of it might be through trade. I can't imagine the Blue Jays expect all of the young players that are currently on the 28-man roster now to be with them for the entirety of their careers. Is there anybody that that's either made their debut or one of the young players that's kind of getting their feet wet in the major leagues that actually has some value in trade? Like, is anybody buying on Will Wagner's five-hit game on Saturday? It's a great question. I think that there could be, and obviously it'd be a fairly rapid change over to bring in Will at the deadline and then trade him in the following offseason. But certainly it's happened before, it's a conversation that certainly could occur. I don't think the key thing with, honestly, with both Wagner and Little Perfito, is they're in their age 25 season. They're not kids. They're young players, they're not kids. And I think that, to me, is important to point out. They are in the case of, and this is just kind of, I'll make the point. It makes you smile to say it. They're in the same age-tiered season as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. This is Vlad's age 25 season. It's Wagner's age 25 season, and it's Little Perfito's age 25 season. That's how precocious and remarkable Vlad is in his career. So I think, to me, there are a lot of multi-position players who are of roughly the same age, all of whom can't play every day. And honestly, that Bo is part of that conversation. I think Bo is more a part of that conversation than he is of the, who are we going to give an extension in the hundreds of millions of dollars to? He hasn't played well enough or often enough to merit that conversation. So I put Bo into that, the blunder of the Horowitz and Bichette and Clemente and Schneider. I think Barso has got a fairly assured spot in the outfield because of what he does defensively. And I think he's just, he's more a part of the future than he's not. But I think you put Barger and Little Perfito and Wagner, I mean, there's a price on all of them. I do think that it's a valid question, a very logical one, that one of them could get moved this offseason and to be honest with you, it wouldn't surprise me if it's Bo. I mean, it wouldn't surprise me if it's anybody because I think that they, there is a need there to bring in more of a true power back. I mean, someone that was approximate to what they used to have in Teoska, whether it's going out there and signing an Anthony Sondheim there for what's going to be a huge number, they need a big bat. They're going to make a real run at this thing. The jobs include signing wads of the long term and also adding a meaningful power bat. And I think that you either do it in trade or you make a big time play for a free agent. So it's going to be a really interesting offer. And I'll add quickly that I think on the pitching side that Rodriguez, the way that he's performed, including over the weekend, gives me some encouragement that he can be part of the rotation. Obviously, Bob Francis has been amazing, but that the audio Rodriguez is, is potentially a part of the solution for next season too. So they've got a lot of really good feedback on a number of fronts over the last month. John, I'm just looking it up from my home in Burlington to Michigan stadium, like under four hours. Right? Like, is there something I'm missing? That's like that's a hops given a jump. It's close. Come on over. Yeah. Let us know. You're welcome with the Marosi house anytime, especially, you know, if you have nexus, the border is going to be easier to navigate, of course. So yeah, you're in it. You're going to love it. I mean, it's a, it's an experience. And by the way, I remember, I can't remember who, I think it was actually Owen power when Owen was playing at Michigan, of course, from Mississauga, and someone asked him why he decided to play at Michigan. And he said, it's really close to home. So close to home. Yeah. That we're basically, we're just like, we're like West, I like to think of it as being West Vaughn. We're just, we're like, it's like West Vaughn. We're, it's like right in the neighborhood. Honestly, I bet, yeah, I have to go. Hey, you sold, you sold me, John. Always a pleasure, buddy. Thanks. Always love the conversation, guys. Thanks for everything. Look forward to the next time. Thank you. Thanks, John. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. 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