Gwynn & Chris On Demand
Gwynn & Chris Sept. 20th Hour 2: Manny Machado + the Countdown
welcome to the show Steve and how you been man I've been good yeah I just moved back here end of May so kids are getting settled in the school and yeah it's it's just great being closer to family and you know I think my heart's always been here in this in this city I mean obviously being that you just moved back I'm sure you've caught some of the wind of what's going down at Peko Park I mean you're still you know relatively close removed from from this game but I'm sure you've been able to catch a little bit of it would which been your thoughts watching the Padres do their thing yeah I mean the the energy that's surrounding this town reminds me a lot of 2019 you know one of the one of the amazing things about everything that I was going through at the end of my career is that there was just it made me realize how impactful that run was to the community and to kind of see you know the excitement see the sellout crowds on TV my nieces and nephews are all like hey let's turn on the Padres game you know it's pretty special and you know I think they're they're right in the thick of it here and you know we were talking earlier I mean it's October's already started for him yeah you know I'm kind of excited to plug in and watch from afar I think you know to your point you know you go back to 2019 and you guys go on that run if those who may not remember that year you guys got off to a pretty slow start it came on late just talk a little bit about once it changed over for your guys as a team the energy that begins to build just talk a little about that as it and I'm bringing it up because we're watching a Padres team that seemingly kind of has whatever it is that it factor they have it right now yeah yeah no I think you know there was other years 2012 was it 2014 like where we won the division and we had that buy and like that was really hard to really like come and because you weren't you know we won it and we had regular season to play and then we had a buy and now with this structure it's kind of like you're happy playing your best baseball right to the finish you know when we got the wild card game in 2019 you know we I mean that rebound really started months earlier and it came to came to the point where we had just great veterans on the team who really brought everybody together and we just pulled for each other we were having fun we didn't know what was going to happen we didn't know if we were gonna get in if we were gonna keep going it was just one pitch at a time and that was the goal it was just are we gonna win pitches are we gonna play the game the right way and really looking at that as a way to springboard and then you know go figure it takes one bad hop with Christian right and then it was like the rest is history so I mean you talk about one pitch you know at a time I mean that's we we pretty much hear that for Mike Schill on a daily basis I think people get frustrated with it but it's really how you have to look at things when you get to this time of year we'll get to some more baseball stuff you know major league baseball stuff you're gonna be with us for a little bit I want to talk a little bit about what has your attention now I mean both of us are are proud Aztecs and the college structure in itself is beginning to change a little bit and I just kind of talk a little bit about what you've got going on what you're passionate about right now because I think it's it's pretty important yeah I think all this time you know being on the East Coast and being focused on my own career you know I took a lot of pride I think one of the things the most often asked questions that I got as a professional from you know fellow teammates was what was it like playing for Tony Gwen and I think that impact was really on a national stage and then you kind of see you know the basketball program doing really well and you know I was you know there was I played with a lot of guys from SEC schools who showed that kind of pride and I think for me my parents being alumni coming from here getting a chance to play for my favorite player all time there's a desire in my heart to really you know help get help the baseball program in whatever way I can and you know it's it's gonna be a multifaceted approach and I think the NIL era has a lot of influence and we'll see how it all shakes up but right now it's just trying to re-engage with the alumni get them back together and seeing where we can take this thing I I'm firm believer that all the pieces are in place for the San Diego State Baseball to be a national contender yearning you're out yeah I mean something I think we've all at least thought at some point at while we were there and since we've been gone because there's no doubt the talent is is is here now Sean coach Sean Cole is the the head coach at San Diego State we had him on last week talk a little bit about the decision for the Aztecs to to move to the Pac-12 which we'll start here what 2026 I believe it is yeah 2026 have you had conversations with what would what would coach Cole yeah I've had a a lot of lengthy conversations with Sean and I think his heart's in the right place and you know I really believe that you know he really wants to see this program get to the next level and that's all you can really ask for is somebody who's committed to the program and that who wants to be there like this is their dream job you know I know it was Tony's dream job and I think that's what the program deserves you know as far as as far as my involvement I kind of just told him I said hey like I'm moving back I got you know three girls and I'm busy with that but if you need me to come down and work with some guys I'll be there and really for me it's just about creating this this infrastructure this network and getting these guys back connected that's one thing that you know one thing I looked forward to for years was that you know season was over whenever it was and I'd come back and I'd be there for the Aztec baseball golf tournament I get a chance to see a bunch of guys and then you know a couple years ago I started to hear that I was like oh we weren't they're not doing it anymore and so that's that's why I kind of decided to like springboard it myself and you know we're starting one on November 15th out at Steel Canyon and really just trying to get the community back involved and get get them a chance to know the current program and support that program November 15th you guys heard it I will certainly be there this is for for Aztecs out there this is important and I think the thing that you and I have spoke about on a couple different occasions but it spoke about a little bit earlier before we came on this isn't you're looking for small small dollar donors in this we're not it's not a you know pull out your checkbook and give us whatever give us everything that you got this is this is kind of how some of these NIO programs are built is off of these small dollar kind of donations correct yeah I mean San Diego stayed there's 500,000 living alumni and I would like to think growing up here in San Diego I obviously know how impactful your dad's legacy is and super special for me to be able to give back and hopefully get Tony Gwen Stadium in a place that really honors his legacy and that's the ultimate goal for me right now is to you know have something there to give back to the current players and set them up for success in the long-term we'll do our best to get the information out you know moving forward but certainly something I think both of us find important and and we'll keep pushing to to try to keep the word going on let's talk a little bit about your experience at San Diego State because clearly it's it's pretty important to you I think it's part of the reason why you decided to make this move talk a little bit about your time at San Diego State and and and why it was so impactful and important to you yeah I mean it was there was a major transfer transformation that happened when I was there you know growing up as a as a kid my dad would always take me to San Diego State baseball game so I mean I remember you know when Deets was coaching there I remember watching you Royce Ring and Hering all these guys that you just kind of like idolize as a kid and to have that opportunity number one to wear the red and black and number two to play for your dad who was my favorite player and my freshman year was the year he got inducted in the Hall of Fame you know it's just it's really near and dear to my heart you know and I think I think the San Diego community as a whole you know they're very much attached to Tony Gwen he's kind of synonymous with San Diego and you know I think just coming back here it just shows that you know baseball like this is a baseball town now yeah it is you know I was on the East Coast Chargers left and you know even you know I play fantasy football now and it's like you know I'm not really like a Chargers fan even though I like the Harbaugh higher but you know this is a baseball town and I'd like to think that San Diego State baseball is you know almost like the little brother of the Padres and especially with that connection to Tony talk about your transformation because I don't think a lot of people knows I mean I think a lot of people came onto the scene when you were you know sophomore junior and you were making all the noise but it wasn't easy for you when you got to San Diego State no and I mean it's it just goes down to the culture that your dad created you know I was coming as a freshman I was like 30 pounds overweight I mean I was I wasn't a terrible high school player my numbers weren't very good but you know I went from 88 to 90 I feel like I could command the baseball command a breaking ball and just literally got punched in the face week one never worked out before no joke and it was the easy route would have been like this just isn't for me but you know I one of the guys that was really influential and I was there it was Bruce Billings he was a senior at the time and I distinctly remember this moment where you know I'm throwing up in the ice plane I'm not getting through the running and these upperclassmen are they come over and like they're like they're carrying me they're carrying making sure I finish the lap and you know that was really eye-opening to me because that's like the true sense of team yeah is that you know you're only as strong as your weakest link and I didn't want to be that weak link I wanted to prove to them that I was there for them and I had their back and that's where we're really motivated me to just put in all the extra work and you know those are things that you can control like I can't control that you know that led to me throwing much harder and that you know but at the same time it's like you know you have to look back on every single moment in your playing career and just ask yourself did I do everything that I possibly could right and if you if you honestly say you did then you can live with the outcome that is is such an interesting thing because even the part after you decided I didn't want to be the weak league it still was some time in between that time and the guy you became the following year correct yeah I mean they you know rusty filter was there and you know it started out I remember we went up to like Cal Poly San Luis Bispo for a three-game series I didn't have a role and you know we kind of got knocked and then you know Bruce Billings was a closer at the time and then they basically made the choice like he needs to come back in the rotation and Rusty told me he's like hey I think you're gonna you're gonna be our closer and I don't care like we're not pulling the job from you you go out there and give it everything you have and it really just helped me slowly I'm not at the time I didn't understand Paul Skeens kind of reminds me a little bit of what you went through if if you haven't spoke to him if you had a chance to speak on what you had what kind of advice would you have for him yeah I mean I think it's funny because I was kind of at the early stage of like the next you know let's hype up every prospect right and yeah and and I just looking from afar it's like you don't you know I didn't I didn't really understand what was going on at the time I was young and I was like I didn't I felt really uncomfortable being in the clubhouse and being around these guys that I idolized these veterans I mean I'm throwing the pudger Rodriguez as a rookie and it was just weird to me it didn't really sit all the attention was on you yeah yeah it's just you know it's easy to be you know labeled the savior of the franchise and you know that's a lot of weight that you have to put on that you could put on yourself but I would say just like you just have to enjoy it like there's going to be highs there's going to be lows and it's all about just finding those ways to get better every single day like this is just a long career you know his next start it's not just at that start like there's many more starts down the road and just really look at it from the perspective like you know this is going to be a long career and I just want to know at the end of the day that I you know turned over every stone and I gave it everything I possibly could now Stevie you were built up old-fashioned right we talked a little bit about getting in the weight room kind of changing your whole body structure really how much analytics did you actually get to participate in if you will and how much did you like it or didn't like it yeah I think that the analytics part especially from pitching you know one of the things that you know I had a pitching coach Steve McCatty early on in my career and he would always talk about paralysis by analysis and I think with that when you get young guys I think it's very easy to have the analytics part change who you are as a pitcher and what makes you successful you know I would use more so just like the data on a first from a scouting perspective yeah you know the biggest thing is is that like you know when you're in college and you only give up like a couple home runs in a three-year career and then you get you know clip the few times you're like oh man like this is this doesn't this doesn't feel right and so the immediate thing is to like start to tinker and start to change and then you start to I need to throw 60 pitches in the bullpen in between and then I got it figured out and you know when you have a long career you start to realize that you're gonna give up home runs and then you know when you know you're gonna give up home runs it's how can you you know pick out where your outs are in the lineup how can you stay away from slug and you know that's really the thing that I that really helped me was just trying to stay away from slug you know and it's like really using my pitches and my sequences to keep keep the ball in the yard and give it off the give it off the sweet part of the yeah and and you know but at the same time when you got two strikes like know how to punch a guy out you know don't don't wait around don't you know mess around it's like boom put them away you know you came up you mentioned you came up pretty quickly after you got drafted and you did have a lot of the eyeballs on you and listen having been in clubhouses I know that that could rub people the wrong way to to know open to no bad doing on your own who were like your mentors when you came up like who were the guys that kind of put their arm around you yeah well I I would say you know obviously Brian Zimmerman zim was was great and he's always more like the quiet type and then yeah you know but he was he was always there to keep the include you with a lot of the stuff like you know away from the field a lot of the team building things I would say like the one guy who like we kind of like our personality is like he's got a very dry sense of humor but as I've gotten older I've learned to like accept it and like enjoy it but Jordan Zimmerman I can see he is a character and you know our his his family and my family are still really close they were out out here for 4th of July with us and we're already talking about planning another trip together but you know he was a guy that like you know as a young pitcher I mean he kept it very very simple and it was just he had that bulldog mentality and it was like I'm gonna make you beat me and that's something that you know at the end of the day like if you go out there and do that like you can you can take it you know it's not like you know all second-guys man I should have thrown that pitch I said on that it's like it doesn't matter whichever one you're committed to and you have the most conviction with my question we we talked about Paul Skeens and we have a pretty good chance at rookie of the year here in San Diego I'm not gonna ask you to choose who's gonna win but what is Jackson Merrill showed you this year in his rookie year and leading the team playing center field all that stuff yeah I mean it's a it's a hard thing to do I think when you get the first taste of you know going through to the finish line especially when you come from you know short minor league season or like with with Skeens like college season and stuff that you know there's there's going to be some you know I guess physical breakdown at some point but when you're staying consistent with that and you've kind of proven that you know you belong you know that's that's one thing that you know it's it doesn't come along very often and in a way I feel like it's you know it can be a that could be a little bit harder from a position player standpoint because you know starting pitcher like you can go out there and be lights out but you're pitching once every five days five six days and you know when you start to like change the rotation around just for a long-term health perspective like those position players they're they're grinding their playing through injuries and to be able to have that you know professional sense and like feel to still go out there and perform you know it's impressive when you see a guy that young be able to do that yeah all right that was Stephen Strasburg joining Tony and I in studio yesterday thanks again to Stephen Strasburg for stopping by and giving us all the time that he did it was a it was very cool meeting him like in this job you come across people sometimes that you just never think that you're gonna meet but he was just an everyday dude he came back and when before the show we were sitting down with him just kind of talking about what we wanted to go over and then we started talking fantasy football he started talking about the Padres and and all of that so it was really fun to have Stephen Strasburg in hopefully we can get him on more in the coming future I am Scrabby Tony is down on the field waiting for Mike Schilt we just got done interviewing Manny so when we get back we are going to hear from the leader of the Padres Manny Machado we asked him a bunch of questions and yeah so Manny Machado when we get back here on 97 3 the fan welcome back to Friar Friday Tony Gwen Jr. Matt Scrabby and on Fridays we typically get a Padre guess this week a Padre guess is none other than Manny Machado Manny how are you my friend I'm good I'm good how you doing I'm doing well first before we get into anything baseball wise what is it like being a brand new father oh man it's awesome it's awesome it's a lot it's a lot it's definitely a lot but it's great man I mean coming up coming home after games watching him smile oh for four four four four all feels the same yeah you know it feels great and you know even in the mornings I'm a big morning person I used to like to sleep in and obviously that's changed a little bit but it's good waking up in the morning seeing him smile playing with him for a little bit before he got to the yard and got my husband it's been fun now Tony had told me because I asked him like does anything change for you and your daily routine once you have a kid and Tony said no when I get home from work I'm going to be hand the my wife is going to hand me the kid now what is your situation do you just get the drop off as soon as you walk in the door no I mean yes and no yes and no I want to spend as much time as I can with them you know obviously with its people don't really realize I mean we're gone for seven eight days and we don't really get to see him so whenever I had the opportunity to be with him you kind of just take that moment in and you know enjoy it but yeah no my my routine has been the same you know obviously focusing on baseball is number one and priority obviously you know but you know when I'm getting worked on at home working on stuff he's he's he's around he's on top of me sometimes I put him on there just to spend as much time as I want to see you know we're we're gone in a road trip and I won't see it for six days and you know stuff yeah it's certainly it's not something that people think about often as if the change the athletes and especially baseball how much we're gone let's talk a little bit about the season you you're finishing up your sixth season here as a Padres Ray I would have to think this has been amongst the most fun seasons you've been apart just talk about what it's been like from the beginning to this point and kind of the chemistry you guys have built yeah man it's been awesome obviously this year I think COVID I think that the closest year was that COVID year you know where were it was just us right here you know and but this year man it's been it's been different you know the chemistry that we had with it with the group of guys oh man it's it's just different I honestly don't even know how to describe it right I really don't man I mean I think that the closest to that to say is we're all putting on the same rope we're all pulling for each other I mean you come in here I think everyone's on the top step cheering on for you know McCoy trying to get his first hit right they're trying to get down the bus you know parrots up there Solano I mean I mean 1 through 9 1 through 15 I mean we saw you come out on the steps when Lockridge got his buzz in like I need that ball I mean we're all pulling for each other man and it's fun it's fun coming to the clubhouse every day everyone's always happy everyone's you know checking up on each other we're hurt we're banged up we know what we're going through and we're just we're just in it together man I mean at the end of the day this is this is all we got right here is this this family inside this clubhouse and you know we're taking the next step on on being together as a team talking to Manny Machado here for Friday 97 3 the fan and what is it about this time of year that brings out the best baseball in you because you know early in the year you got the people on TV saying he's starting slow but you have never wavered you're always like hey I'm Manny Machado things are gonna work out so what is it about this time of year I mean it's it's this year's been different obviously for me because of the surgery um you know so it's it's always it was the soft season was a little tricky for me I couldn't really have the same off season I've always had to prepare for this time of the month um but every year I mean I know what I put into it in the off season how much I work how much extra I put into it that I know yeah it's gonna be ups and downs but I'm my strength my mentality is gonna be ready for for the end of the year and you see the finish line you know you see the finish line and um you just try to empty out the gas as much as you can and uh just trust yourself you know we we've we've had spring training we've had our bats we've had a lot of time in the cage to work on your thing so at this point is this just go I mean don't think about it just go up there swing the bat play good defense play-based running you're just be prepared and um go out there and enjoy yourself and I mean I hate to say it but I just every year I know where I'm gonna be at you know at the end of the year I know where you know my goals are mentally where where I want to hear how many home runs how many runs I want to drive in um you know you kind of know that goal in the back of your head and you know you're gonna be there at the end of the year you know whether it's you're struggling early on like I did this year but um you just you just trust the process at the end of the day and I think that's the hardest part of of this and I'm trying to teach Jackson the same thing just trust the process man just trusted and you know at the end of the year it's gonna be there it sounds cliche it really does but it's the honest truth you just got to trust the process and um you know let's just just let it come to you the guy Manny Machado here with us on fire Friday and Manny you're pretty well known around these parks for your kind of stoic demeanor right uh we talked a little bit about early in the season how do you block out the noise because it's one of the things that frustrates me as a former player listening to a lot of the noise out there I'm a big believer in the back of a baseball card and yours is as consistent as they come how do you block out that noise when if you even hear the noise how do you block it out and just keep doing what you do it's tough it's tough obviously sometimes when things aren't going when things aren't going great I think it's it's the toughest it's the toughest you know I think this year we've we've been we've been lucky that we have a good team we've been playing really good baseball at the end of the day it's about winning baseball games right when I think that when things are going well and the team's winning you don't really I don't care what I did I don't care if I'm not we're winning games I'm all right I know where I'm going to be at the end of the year right so um last year was a little bit different I think we had a little bit more pressure we weren't winning so many games we had so many hot streaks look cold streaks right up and down right about 500 battling so I think you put a little bit more pressure on it and you start hearing a little bit more of the outside noise but um you know this year's just it's it's it's like I said you know where the baseball card is gonna be you know I'm gonna go out there I'm gonna post every single day I'm gonna get my quality at bats I didn't think I was gonna get to 30 home nights but here I am I'm one away I'm one away which is awesome but I mean at the end of the day it's this team's winning and I think that's all that matters that's all that matters and you continue to win and and provide and try to win by hitting home runs like we did the other day win by making good defensive plays or even win by getting you know taking an extra base or staying a base but you guys do a lot of so whatever we could possibly try to win um I think that's the most important part and then and I think that's how you block out the noise talking to Manny Machado here for for our Friday 97 3 the fan and uh shohio tani made history yesterday he went 50-50 and he had six he was six or six three home runs all the all of the above what's it what's the difference between a 40-70 season like Ronald Akuni junior had in a 50-50 season like shohio tani is having man I don't know man they're both impressive they're both impressive let's be honest I mean that's that's that's incredible I mean it's it's the difference is one played one's the H right yeah I think that's that's the biggest difference you have Akuni going out there playing every single day playing right field go glove caliber off field um you know sitting on many bases I mean it's hard dude I mean I'm never here 40 home runs so I can't tell you what that feels like um but I mean I bet it feels great um and you know obviously you know no one's I don't think anything no tani does now it seems to to impress people or surprise people I mean he could do it all I mean pitch hit then the only thing he has left to say on which he's probably gonna try to come and do it next year yeah um but man it's it's just it's great for the game it's great for for for the sport um you know it's just it's just awesome for baseball and awesome to see I mean I love when players do things that are you know in the in the record books signed here six years ago after this season it'll be six years ago um earlier last week you were able to reach the top of the list for home runs as a San Diego portrait does any of this stuff like register to you in the moment like how big of a deal that is I mean it's taken a long time for somebody to get on top of that list you've been here now almost almost six years you've been able to do that I'm sure there are going to be other lists that you are climbing up as well how important is that to you the fact that it's with an organization that you kind of took a chance on yeah I mean it's honestly I'm never like it still hasn't really sunk in yeah you know I think about it obviously I wanted to get to the number I knew what the number was even coming into the beginning of the season said I got to hit 26 homers right do you know where I was aware I was aware I'm not gonna lie but you know what I mean it's it's now you realize it I didn't know it was 50 years that I hadn't been broken it was holding on I mean that's that's I mean it's just it's an honor I mean it's special it's a special moment you know I think maybe you asked me in a couple years next year maybe I have a different answer for you and um but I mean I appreciate it I mean it's it's beautiful it's awesome um you know hopefully I got many more here I was talking to my wife the other day about it it's like man I mean you look up at it right I have I made the right this is when I broke the record and I looked up I'm like man I I still got nine years left here right I got nine years left I mean and I had six so I mean I'm gonna beat I'm gonna I'm gonna have a Padre uniform for 16 plus years 16 plus years I have a Padre uniform and I think that's just I think that's what's special for me and I think that's what's um you know that's what I'm gonna you know I think that's what I'm a terrorist the most is just having one uniform for almost my entire career I think that when it's all said done that's when people will truly truly appreciate what you've been able to accomplish I mean six years is a lot of time but as you said 16 is is a whole lot more so we appreciate you coming on and spending some time with us man terrific season to this point man you guys are a lot of fun to watch and uh you got all of us behind the whole sitting man I think thank you no problem thank you guys appreciate and there you go Manny Machado with Tony and I just a little bit earlier thanks to Manny for joining us in I don't I don't know about you but uh Manny sounds like he's in a very good mood these days Manny sounds like he is ready for the playoff run and Manny sounds like he is confident that this team is going to go far in the playoffs and we're kind of just talking after the interview just a little bit and you could just see you could just feel the confidence coming out of this entire ball club not just Manny and you can I mean he's he just said it he's got nine more years in a Padres uniform that is wild to think about but in the end Manny Machado is going to go down as most likely I don't want to jinx anything knock on wood as one of the greatest Padres of all time right next to Tony Quinn so Manny Machado brings a brings a world series of San Diego and he is forever immortalized yes I'm riding a high because I just talked him and hung out with him in the dugout but still is uh you can hear it in his voice you can feel it from his answers and we appreciate Manny for joining us today all right I appreciate Adam being back at studio Adam's the real hero of today so everybody take a little bit of time to send your thoughts up to Adam today because Adam is running everything from Manny and else then all the way through going to Chris so thank you Adam uh what did we get back Tony and I did sit down and do a countdown because it is Friday so we're going to count down our top five things and today we're counting down the top five AJ feller moves of this season so that's what we're going to do we get back stick around more going to Chris on 97 through the fan back here in the loft that's screaming when Chris 97 through the fan thanks to everybody who has joined us today we are going to be getting into the countdown here in just a second but first this hour is brought to you by the mini donut company sometimes an entire donut just seems a little too much enter the mini donut company with dozens of rotating traditional and seasonal flavors the mini donut company is perfect for office catering parties weddings or a fun treat for the family visit get mini donuts.com now I walked into the kitchen the other day and I saw these mini donuts and they look delicious and I skipped the mini donuts but uh next time I see them I'm not going to because everybody else had them said it was great um and I did not have them and I feel left out now I feel like I should have had the mini donuts all right uh we have the countdown coming up here and the countdown is going to be our top five a.j. preller moves of the season so spanning from the end of last season until basically today Tony and I went through and did that and uh we'll get to that right after we check traffic. Welcome back in to Gwen and Chris Tony Gwen Jr. Matt Scraeby filling in for Chris I was not really filling in but uh Chris Elle out on vacation so it's nice it's just it's been really nice it's just been the two of us I mean other than today you've been pretty relaxed and today is a little bit different we've got a kind of impromptu show down at Petco you know Manny Machado uh was on earlier obviously and um you know I think um you know when you're asked to come down to the stadium when it's not something that you normally do I can see why you were in a little bit of uh you're a little a little uptight do you see my face how stressed it looks yeah I do I don't know if that the you know that's normal actually released your forehead from like scrunching it up so much uh since we you've been at the ballpark but nonetheless oh we got it Friday also means it's a countdown day and so as we were kind of you know going through the roller decks of ideas uh of what we want to do I thought you know there's been so many moves made this year uh from a.j. preller we could do a top five we could do a top ten list maybe but we're we typically do a top five so we're gonna do a top five a.j. preller moves now this is dating from after the season till now um you got more enough to work with now obviously we don't have our our our uh our intro or anything like that so uh Scrae we will be left to you know not do the noise not do the fives because it doesn't really sound that great we're just gonna we're just gonna take down this list Scrae we want you to go first yeah by the way you're talking about my script forehead my nieces say why does your forehead smile and i was like that's really messed up every time i see them so like your forehead smiles all the time and i'm like thanks anyway um my number five is going to be the combination of david peralta and donovan solano because we saw last year the padre has needed some bench help they didn't really have the guys that they needed in place to come off the bench and make a difference donovan solano i've said i'm wrong about him many times i didn't think he was gonna have this big of an impact but he's been absolutely huge david peralta has been huge while fernando was out with his injury i mean both of those moves were in my mind made because he learned last year he needs better in bench help so i'm gonna say the combination of david peralta and donovan solano yeah no doubt about it uh that that was uh clearly i think one of the better moves that uh aj preller made it's also five on my list uh i i think one of the things that the padre's have seemingly always lacked uh even in some of their better runs is is bench depth uh and this quality of the bench depth this year is exceptional i mean donny barrows peralta i mean there's been a bunch of other insula like smaller moves that have contributed but those two stand out the most because they were asked at different moments to step in for long periods of time and not only did they hold the fort down they thrived in those positions and uh that's uh uh a plus i think part of the reason aj preller is going to get a plus when this is all said and done in terms of putting this roster together remember the peral went down and the roster got better so uh my number four is going to be it's supposed to yeah you go yeah or you can go go back go ahead no for it the trades for the the florida pitchers is what i'll say the jason adam tamper trade and then the brian hoeing and the uh tanscot trade yeah those i mean it's crazy that that's the number four but you'll see because uh there's a lot more to come with the aj preller in the moves he made but obviously that's put the bullpint to where it's at today it's put the ass into the seven eight nine adam scott and suarez so it's i can't believe that there was a part of the season without these guys to be honest because it just feels like they've been a part of this team the entire season and they've already paid dividends upon dividends so yeah my number four the four to pitchers okay uh number four on my list is the move to bring jackson meryl to the big league ball club having you know we all some think about trades when we think about moves but this wasn't a but this season ended in 2023 it was not a guarantee that jackson meryl was going to be on the big league team it was thought that he would have a chance but to pull the trigger in the same way they pulled the trigger for fernando tati some years ago has paid huge dividends uh for this ball club being able to solidify uh at the time it was left field but what ended up having is he moved the center and being able to to hold down one of the more important spots on the field uh with a homegrown rookie um is huge another a for aj preller uh in the four spot for me should i put that one on my list i didn't think of trades basically only um but having the faith in jackson meryl the spickham and center field to bring him to the big league club huge august i mean where would they be without him yeah right no doubt my number three is going to be a trade and it was the one soda trade that brought michael king over and caladachioka and drew thorpo will get to in a second but michael king again where would they be without him as the part of this rotation there were questions coming into the year about the rotation there are questions coming into year can michael king pitiful year he's never done it before how many innings can he throw how good is he gonna be well he's shown us he's very very good and he's been a really really nice part of this rotation and he's made a lot of starts this year so michael king bringing him in with caladachioka i mean you can't ask for more back from the one soda trade yeah yeah no doubt about it um i'm gonna steal your answer here both ways uh i'm gonna combine the one soda trade because that also parlayed into the dylan seash trade they will be the three for me i mean listen i for one and you guys know this i haven't been on the show with me i was not looking forward to trading one soda i was not i just didn't think you could be able to possibly get the value that you that you could that you would need in order to feel good about trading i was wrong i was wrong michael king caladachioka and i listen even randy vasquez uh have proved that to not be true uh not only did michael king become one of the better pitchers in the national league um has one of the best eras in the national league um in his first full season as a starter but caladachioka at at some point really saved the catching position um with the production that he had um not only that randy vasquez had to be thrusted into the rotation and held his own for quite some time he he kept he did what he what he needed to do in order to keep padries in a lot of ball games that he pitched and then that's not the that's that's not even mentioning that they took Thorpe flipped him for dylan ceason what he has they he's throwing a no hitter this year almost with cg in his last start he's been um without dylan cease michael king in that rotation padries would be wouldn't be in this spot garan teeth without those two guys so i was number three on my list i also love michael king because a he won me or helped me win a fantasy championship and and be uh when he pitched against glass now earlier in the year and i think it was louisa rise this first home game with the padras and he walked we were downstairs in the clubhouse and michael king said that you can't do anything without your shoes on so he had to put his shoes on before he answered questions with myself which i thought was quite hilarious all right my number two is going to be louisa rise and louisa rise i know that we've talked about him many times this year you're not on number two though but here we are are we yeah okay we're on number two we don't have we don't we're not in our regular ditch you got you right so my number two louisa rise if he doesn't come to this team i don't know what they're doing at the top of the order probably still jerks pro far which is fine but louisa rise has set the tone for this entire lineup and i don't care what the analytics people say i don't care that he doesn't do these things in the ex bat hip hip whatever chris said fifties fop i am a huge fan of louisa rise he and the immeasurable he brings he brings like uh a fire to this team he sets the tone for this team and louisa rise is a very important player for this team so he's my number two number two on my list is actually also louisa rise i hate that you're like in my head right now i'm taking all my i shouldn't let you go first all my ideas but yeah no i i think this is another move that i put the potteries i think in the position they're in i mean having that guy at the top of the lineup on a nightly basis um is a game changer and i know from an on base percentage standpoint it may not be the perfect fit but he sets a tone in this lineup every night that he's in the lineup um he's played through some injury thumb now knee um and he seems to be willing to do whatever the team ask him to do it and i'll just play first ask him to play second ask him to dh he's wanting to do it all and so uh and i think another important piece is is who he is as a person in that clubhouse i think he is uh adaptable in so many ways um that it's just good to have a guy like that in your locker room and in your lineup all right we've made it to number one these are the top moves of that a.j. preller has made in 2024 from the end of last season until now and my number one is flipping drew thort for dillancy so you kind of already touched on it but dillancy's was another guy at least he got he got put on the team before the season even started so he's got a full year with the potteries dillancy's is a guy that uh has done incredible things this year and not the potteries not only have three great pitchers in the rotation they have four great pitchers in the rotation including cease and uh michael king and u darvish and phil muskrow and dillancy's he just seems like he just seems like a cool dude i think he's a good guy for the clubhouse it doesn't seem like any drama whatsoever and he i like his shirt yesterday or two days ago that he wears he wears great shirts um but but dillancy's what for what he has brought to the team this year he's by number one move uh number one for me is signing jerks and pro far to one million dollar deal why did i think about that one i know i just pop i'm so happy that you went with dillancy's uh for your number one it's not a bad pick but uh jerks and pro far at eight million dollars has played one of it is best season but one of the best seasons of the year for for his ball clip you can make the argument he's had the best season um and in terms of start to finish he has been when manny hadn't gotten going yet he was working through his elbow issue when he hadn't got luisa rise yet uh this dude was the offense for a good portion of time he did and it wasn't just him having good offense a day it was in the biggest moments of the games a lot of time he was doing his best work so uh jerks and pro far for me is the number one uh move that aj perler made in 2023 2024 don't wonder you're the analyst of the radio side because i'm really mad at myself i didn't think of that one completely forgot because it wasn't a trade leave forgot because it wasn't a trade all right that's it for our countdown that we're going to have some more winning press uh when we get back here on 97 through the