The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
09/24 Hour 1 - Are We Regretting Any Contracts the Texans Gave Out This Year?
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I'm telling you, yeah, a little gravel in the throat. Yeah, a little bit. A little gravel in general. That's my bad, happened sometimes. It is the season. It is the season for a little bit of crud. My doctor calls it crud. The allergies. Get the crud. It's weird, because in the Midwest, the hay fever is in August. Hay fever? I thought that was like in the '20s. No, in Midwest, it's a real deal that every year-- I thought that was only in black and white. Well, my parents started it. But people refer to it up north as hay fever season in August. What was the potato famine like? Jeez. This is how we start. Anyway, they call it hay fever up there. And to me, my allergies, if you call it whatever you want to call it, associated with hay fever or allergies, it hit me in August up there. It hits me like early September here, and then it doesn't go away for like a month and a half, because they have the clear cut for seasons. You don't have that here. Did you use leeches to fix it? Just keep going. Segment one. That was more blood-loving. I wish I could do whatever you just said to the Astros offense yesterday. That was atrocious. What we saw from the Astros offense yesterday, they fall six to one. People were mad. People are already frustrated with the Astros yesterday, because the way you lost Sunday didn't feel great. You're on Alvarez News like lingers throughout the day. A spot of studies is going to have an MRI at three o'clock, which I guess they couldn't bother. You were on Alvarez to get out of bed before three o'clock MRI. That was kind of weird, kind of funny. And then didn't really have an update. You play the game. You have a chance to-- if you win the game, clinched it a vision. You have the champagne on ice waiting in the clubhouse. You got a bottle full of bubbles waiting in the clubhouse for you, and then you lose. And the offense doesn't perform well. You get the news on your on later, that it is, in fact, a knee strain day to day. Will not play the series, though. A spot is hopeful that they'll get them back before the end of the regular season. I'm hopeful that your on Alvarez will hustle less. But just a frustrating day from an Astro perspective yesterday, and you lose the game. Six to one in a game that slipped away late. Yeah, and I mean, you rightfully should point the finger starting at the offense because of the fact that you got such a good pitching performance again from Hunter Brown. You know that Seattle's pitching staff, you know, they are as advertised. They come in, and the top of their rotation is really good. And Hunter Brown fought his tail off. And he battled, and he pitched well. And, you know, only giving up one run in six innings should be more than enough for you to win, especially at home, no matter who you're playing. You had one opportunity that was really key to get at least one run in. You had a couple more opportunities where you could have gotten a rally. But the offense was flat. They were they were getting dominated for the most part. And you left a good pitching performance on the table, and now people are starting to get a little bit squirmy. Yeah, and I think it's rightful to have that squirmy because, I mean, you're two losses away from things kind of getting out of control, which we'll talk about in a little bit set. The only like the real opportunity the Astro's offense had, I thought came in the seventh inning. You had second and third, one out, down two to nothing at that point. And then Victor Caratini strikes out, and then Jeremy Peña strikes out. A lot of people were very critical of his at bat. They're kind of chasing pitches off the plate. Not a real competitive at bat. It's kind of the way the Astro season is gone. Like it doesn't feel like a very deep lineup. It doesn't feel like, and I know that their numbers are fine. Like they're top four in the American league and run in a runs per game. I think they still lead the American league in batting average. Like their metrics offensively are fine. It just feels like they don't drive in runs in RBI situations as well as like the other good teams in baseball. - You remember even from early on, we were talking about the fact that you can look at it in a variety of different ways in the early season, but their average was good. Their runners, their success rate with runners and scoring position in that average was not so good. And you always, we dealt with this whole kind of Jacqueline Hyde all season long. Then we also dealt with when the offense was good, the pitching was bad vice versa. And we never saw the perfect storm of everything come together. And now here we are again, late in the season, we're looking at it going, hey, now that Tucker's back and his swing's back and he looks like he's gonna be potent offensively again, you lose your done. And you're not hitting the ball as well as you had men with runners and scoring position. 'Cause the Angels series, you're playing a base of the AAA team, you put big runs on the board. But you know, these are the true matrix of the test when you're playing teams like Seattle. And they didn't get it done. And now you're going to have to get it done without your done. And that's where guys have to step up. Caratini's been pretty decent when he's been in the lineup. But there are other guys, you know, painting is hot and cold. Jake has been awful and you gotta start looking at it and going, how do you get better in those situations? - Yeah, I mean, I don't know if they have the answer. Like they just don't, they're not great offensive players. Like the players are not. - The other problem is is when you had a guy, you know, that could possibly, Gammel was a guy that came in and he was hitting the baseball. He was hitting the baseball better with the Astros than maybe anywhere he's been in baseball. And then unfortunately he gets hurt. Chaz struggling might at least set down. He comes up, gets a few knocks, then he gets hurt. So you don't have the options either that you'd like to have to be able to kind of rotate guys if guys are struggling. And that's a problem. - Yeah, I feel like Hayward's given you what Gammel was giving you though. Like Hayward's numbers are better. - Are they? - Yeah. I mean, Hayward's numbers with the Astros, the 746 OPS, Gammel 739, like it's-- - But Gammel's average was, I mean-- - Almost identical. - Wasn't Gammel's average significantly better? - Well, he's got 259 versus 227. But I mean, Hayward has three homers in 21 games. Gammel had one in 20 games. So it's like, from an offensive production value, they're kind of the same guy. And Hayward's a better defender. - Oh, no question. But Hayward also caught one of those bombs off of a position player, I believe. - Did he? - Yeah, in the Angels series, he caught one late. But at the same time, look-- - Okay, we've got two versus one. - Yeah, but nonetheless, he's got more home runs. We knew he had more pop regardless. But you just don't have the kind of options you'd like to have when we've been talking all year about depth and having better player, you know, couple guys in the outfield to choose from, you're basically looking at space cowboys right now, you know, and/and/or doing something more drastic, like-- - No, that's not fair. I mean, it's not fair to say they're using space cowboys. Jason, hey, well-- - No, I'm saying, aside from Jason Hayward, if you were looking for anybody else that-- - Oh, did I find help? - Yeah, they've kind of quit on the space cowboys. - Yeah, and now they're in the playoffs. - Like, Shane, we've come had a chance. Like, he's not playing at all anymore. Zack D'Zinzo had a chance. He's been sitting down, Pedro Leone had a chance. He's been sitting down. Like, they kind of gave the space cowboys an opportunity and then they sent them all away. - And now you look at it and look, as much as I think Jason Hayward has a great arm and he's always been an above average defender, I don't know that Jason Hayward anywhere, he's a corner out fielder. I mean, I don't see him in center field in key games, but Jake's bat has been awful, but then on the flip side, Jake's defense is better than anybody you got. So it's just, again, it's that kind of lacking and that ability to get the perfect storm to line up. You got Jake who can play D can't hit. You got Hayward who's okay at the plate, but can't play center field. So, you know, it's a struggle that I think they're gonna do, deal with the rest of the season. - Yeah, what'd you think of Brown yesterday? - I thought it was really good. I mean, you know, he's obviously in a battle. He had a couple of times where, you know, I think that a little bit of a mental focus, but nothing like a little brain fart here and there. But overall, I liked the way he competes. His fastball was up. They'd mentioned that. The fact that he likes these kinds of situations. You knew that he wanted it. He knew what it meant and he wanted to beat that team. And he gave you everything that you could ask for in a starting pitcher, you know, with two outs, it's a shame because he battles his tail out to get the two outs, has a chance to shut down that, that, you know, that chance to score a run. And then he gives out the two up base hit and that was the first run of the game for him and that sucked. - Yeah, I thought he was really, really good. It's kind of been who 100 Brown has been for the Astros since he was taken out of the rotation for just one turn. He's been awesome since then. One run, three hits, strikes out eight over six innings. The one critique is I hate walks. I hate walks. And then the only run that they scored against him was in the third inning and what happened in that inning after he got the lead off man out, back to back walks. I hate walks and the walks in that inning contributed to the attributed to the only run that Hunter Brown allowed. But overall, very good. Since that relief appearance that he had in Detroit, 20 starts after that relief. That was the one that Javier got chased. A 20 starts since then for Hunter Brown. 16 of those starts have been quality starts with a 231 ERA. The dude is a dude. Like he is a dude at the top of the Astros rotation. He's not at the apex of the rotation because Fromver Valdez is, but Hunter Brown and Fromver Valdez, I think collectively one of the best one two punches in all the baseball, Hunter Brown is awesome. - No question. And when you started looking at some of the stats and graphics they were putting up last night again and where he ranks in terms of other pitchers in Major League Baseball. You kind of because of the start that he had, you lose sight of the fact that he's been top five in a lot of categories. That he is, you know, mowing guys down. That his strikeouts are really good. That he's settled in to be one of the better pitchers in baseball. You know, he's fighting out, you know, of a big hole all season long because of the way he started the season. But you can't, if you follow baseball at all, you can't look at Fromver and Brown as a one two punch and go, there's not a whole lot of teams in this league that can put any better. They might be guys you can put up against them, but those two guys have been pretty damn dominant, especially since about June, middle of June. - Yeah, it's been fun to watch his development this season. It gives you the confidence going forward that he can be at the top of that rotation. Alex says, "Brian, I'm gonna pay "when it's that time Fromver or Brown." Neither one. Fromver will be up after next year. He's got one more year and then Hunter Brown still has several years of club control. But I don't believe in signing players to huge contracts, especially pitchers. The Astros have signed two pitchers recently to Team Friendly Dills and they have not paid off. Lance McCullers and Christian Javier. So just not my personality to do that. A lot of people were critical yesterday of Joe Espada not using his leverage arms once Hunter Brown left the game down by a run. Chance to clinch the division. What's Espada doing? Why isn't he showing urgency? And then the Astros bullpen was not very good in the final three innings by giving up five runs in that span. But what do you make of Espada's decision not to go to the leverage arms after Hunter Brown down by a run? - The Angel Series was not very good for the back of the bullpen and they got used a lot. And I'm fine in game one of the series when you just have to get one of these three games. I'm fine with the fact that maybe you just made a concerted effort, you had a meeting or two and you just know that these guys need a day off. They need to rest. And so we know how bad it was Sunday, but we know over the weekend and for the last several times that we've seen guys like Presley and Hader and even Rayu that they haven't been there on point selves. And so if you're in first game of this series, if you're going to give them a night off, I get it. Yeah, it was a tough spot because it was a one run game at the time and the way it ended, it's easy to point fingers. But I think at a certain point, you got to rest those guys a little bit. - Last night was not a must win. It was not a do or die game. It wasn't a playoff game. To blow your high leverage guys up by a run is curious. A spot it hasn't done that all year. Now I'd rather use the leverage guys down by a run as opposed to up by four runs. A spot of differs there. He wants to use his guys up by four as opposed to down by one. But if you're managing that way the whole year, I think you should manage that way the whole year. It's kind of like hitting on 16 in Blackjack. And the other aspect of that is both Brian and Brayu and Josh Hader pitched on Sunday. So if you're using them on Sunday, then you're using them yesterday trying to chase a comeback down by a run in game one of the series. That means they're unavailable today. So let's say the offense doesn't go to work. Let's say Brayu and Hader do their job. Let's say that they combine or maybe even use Presley. That those three guys after Hunter Brown shut down the Mariners lineup and the Mariners are up one to nothing. Well, if your offense doesn't do anything against their leverage guys, then now those guys are burned, maybe with the exception of Ryan Presley for their availability tonight. So I don't blame Joe Espada at all. I think we can have like a holistic conversation. Like, is it better to use the leverage guys down by a run or up by four? I would argue it's better to use them down by a run than up by four. But I don't think you should change your philosophy and your logic on September 23rd, because to me, if you're gonna make that decision, that's gonna be your theory, your philosophy, you need to be consistent with that theory. I do not blame Joe Espada one Iota, one Iota, for not using his leverage guys yesterday. I think it's a silly complaint. And you're in a position of strength, right? Because you do have the lead, because you do have a pad, you have a cushion, you know you're not gonna catch the Yankees or Cleveland. And you know that you have to be smart. These guys have been used a lot. Abreya has been used a ton. And lately, their performances haven't looked as sharp as they have been when they've been at their best. And you know we need them in the playoffs to be big. So I'm fine with giving them that rest and then knowing that if you need them tonight or tomorrow or you kind of split them up, that you have the ability to use all of them when you just need one of these games against the Mariners. - Yeah, seven, one, three, seven, eight, zero ESPN. We'll take your thoughts on that. Also, let's get into the, everybody's talking about Astro's playoff roster. Astro's playoff rotation. Who are you carrying? What does your lineup look like? People are talking, like they're plugging in their calendars. October 1st, 2nd, 3rd, wild card series begins. I think we've gotten way too comfortable with this playoff talk. A busy show, a world series champion, Josh Redick will be joining us at four o'clock. We'll talk to him about the strobes, his little home run derby he's got coming up to. Is he gonna win that against some of these big names? Cashier trash at film, don't lie Texans. Are they Super Bowl contenders? Plenty to get to on the program today. Seven, one, three, seven, eight, zero ESPN, HRMP listener line. We're on Twitch, twitch.tv/espn975. Some of us are no longer there. On YouTube at ESPN Houston on Twitter at ESPN 975. Lankers at Pac-Man Joel on Twitter, Brian at sec, by BMAC, I'm at Jeremy Branham. It is the bees on ESPN 97.5 and ESPN 92.5. Hey, if I go to the break, a word from mybookie.ag. Mybookie.ag plays you out of B. If you want to put money down on sports and there's sports going on all the time, you got strobes and mariners tonight. Major league baseball, you know, there's always a chance for you to get involved on whatever live sports are going on. Always college football later in the week and all the NFL games, soccer, golf, UFC, whenever there's something to bet on, you can go to mybookie.ag and you can be sure you can put money down on it and have a chance to win. And they're always taking to carry their customers too. It's fantastic. 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You win a four pack of tickets to see the Sugar Land Spacer, Sugar Land Space Cowboys and the Reno ACES tonight competing for the PCL Championships. Call it three to 713-780-3776. Four tickets are coming your way. All right, are you seeing way too much of this playoff talk? And look, we're guilty of it. We've talked playoff rotation's gonna look like this. We've even talked about what a four man playoff rotation looks like, which is a little bit, you know, putting the cart in front of the horse. I think that's the thing. Like, they're not guaranteed to be in the division series. They're not guaranteed to be in the wild card series. I mean, you're two games away, if you lose them, from probably needing to take two of three at Cleveland. Now, the guards wouldn't have anything to play for. They'd be locked into their spot, et cetera, et cetera. But have we gotten too comfortable and way too comfortable with this guarantee playoff talk? Ash shows are in it. - Yeah, it's, you know, you guys were the ones that kind of, when we were watching all of this, we're also mentioning the fact that, hey, at least, there's a shot, even if they don't win the division, that they can get that last wild card spot. So you, you know, it's, it's at least, there are two chances for you to still secure a playoff berth. But I think most people are under the assumption that they're going to win one of these games against the Mariners and/or take care of business enough to win the division. I think that became a foregone conclusion with a lot of people. And I started to get a little uncomfortable after last night when everything started to go south and it blew up late in the game going, okay, now you really got to kind of lean on Fromber and I expect Kuchy should pitch well too. But the Mariners are doing everything. It's all on the table and you just don't want to give them any form of hope. You want to step on them when they're down and you want to put this thing away. And right now you're, you know, you're in a dicey situation because you look at Cleveland in New York, you wonder what Cleveland's going to do those like, you don't want to get, you don't want to have to deal with that. - Yeah, go ahead. - No, that's fine. - No, I just, I think we've gotten way too comfortable with the, yeah, the Astros are a lock and like, we can't control anything. Like it's, it's we, that's what we do. We're talking a microphone and kind of kick around things that might happen and project things that might happen and what things are going to look like. But all of a sudden, you're two games away from staring down the barrel at, uh-oh, we got to go on the road and take two of three against the second best record in the American League. Meanwhile, we're over here talking about, well, who's the number four starting pitcher? How many players are they going to keep on the wild card roster? Is Justin Verlander going to be on the what? We've been way too proactive with that conversation. Then quite frankly, the Astros deserve. Yeah, maybe because of everything they've been through or maybe because of the way they've turned it around, we got a little too callous and flip it and believed that, hey, this was, you know, it was just destiny or whatever that it was going to be that they're going to be a playoff team and they're going to win the division. And it's a little bit, you know, scary right now. It's some slippery ice that we're on because of the fact that, you know, when we were talking about some of those things, there was the foregone conclusion. Justin Verlander was going to get back to Justin Verlander and he would probably be one of your top three and then all of a sudden, Kikuchi pitched well, Verlander hasn't and that discussion continued, but along the way, you look at a team like Detroit that's playing really good baseball. You look at a team like Minnesota who's kind of hanging around, but at the same time, you're looking at those two teams thinking, we'll probably end up playing one of those two teams. You don't want to start climbing up that food chain to figure out that you've got to go on the road and play a better baseball team because you don't know when your Don is coming back and you want to be in a position where you get to the divisional round and right now everything's on the table. It's like an old card round. - I'm saying. - You just did it. You put the cart before the horse. - You want to be in a position where you can get to the divisional round so you want an easier path. - Right, that's putting the cart ahead of the horse. - It's fine. - Again, you said that's what we do, but I would-- - I'm saying we shouldn't. I feel like we've gotten way too comfortable guaranteeing that this team is in the playoffs. - I just, I don't feel bad about saying it. I feel confident and comfortable. Like I've said all along, this roster is good enough to win a World Series title. And I think that going into the playoffs now this Jordan thing throws a little bit of a monkey wrench into it. But I believe that this team is going to get to the divisional round. I believe that they can go farther than that. And it's just, if the perfect storm finally does happen, they start putting things together. But yeah, I understand it that I felt uneasy last night when that game blew up going, oh man, don't let them take the first two in this series and make this way too interesting with four games to go. - I think it's already there. I think it already is interesting. - Yeah, it is interesting, sure. But I'm saying, if they win tonight and now we know how good their pitching staff has been all year long. And then you gotta hope that Kikuchi gives you another good one and then- - Hopefully not. - I'm saying you're saying if they lose tonight. - Yeah, if they lose, right. That's why I'm saying it. But because in Cleveland, you don't want to let three games, no matter who Cleveland decides to play and not play, you don't want to put it in the hands of guys like Justin Verlander and Eric Eddy's dinged up now, but whatever. - Was dinged up? - Yeah, they were saying that he had a calf, some kind of- - Oh, yeah, he let the game, he's cramping. - Yeah. - He was cramping. - Okay. - But I just, regardless, I don't want to put it in the hands of those guys. Blanco's been good for five. But again, I don't want to see that scenario play out. I'd like to give him some rest. I'd like to get this team ready for the postseason. But I can't feel great about that right now. - Yeah, I feel like we've, we're counting. What's the other saying? Is it counting the chickens before they hatch? Or counting the eggs before they hatch? - We'll count the chickens before they hatch. - Count the chickens before they hatch. I feel like we're doing too much of that. Yeah, playoff roster, playoff rotation. I was arguing whether the Astros are going to keep 14 or 15 position players in the wildcard roster after they lost yesterday. What a game. What a game. 4, 4, 8, 8, the Dynamo average more points than the Astros time to embrace the suck. Neither of those teams score points. The Dynamo score goals and the Astros score runs. Neither team scores points. - You lost all points on that one when I read that as well. When I saw points, I'm like, it's not it. - The Astros lineup for tonight is out with Fromberg Valdez on the mound. Al Tuve, it's second, Tucker, it writes. Bragman, a third. Yiner catches, Singletons, the DH. Caratini plays first. Paying it short, Hayward and left, Dubon and Sinner. So that's the Astros nine behind Fromberg Valdez as they try for the second day in a row to clinch the division. - So, so I get Jake sits. But then of the two guys that first base, they're basically saying Caratini is a better first baseman than Singletons? - Oh, I don't think that's why Singletons DH and Caratini's at first. That could be true. It could be true that Caratini's better than Singletons at first base. - Maybe because he's used to flip them. - Well, yeah, I mean, if Yiner got hurt in the second inning and Caratini was your DH, and then either Salazar's coming into the game or you're moving Caratini to catcher, which means you burned the DH. So I think it's more, we view those guys as kind of equal defensively at first. Which one, if we're proactively planning for the worst, which you should do as a manager, it makes more sense for Caratini to play first than Singleton. That way if Yiner got hurt, you don't have to burn a DH and then all of a sudden frombers grabbing a bat and having to hit in the second inning. Or worse, well, probably not worse, but or Cesar Salazar has to play and you probably don't want to use the last guy on your bench in a game that carries perhaps divisional clinching ramifications. - Yeah, no, and that makes the most sense of all of it. But yeah, you do have to play, not to drown the defensive, but you have to play planning for the fact that if it's dicey and you've got to make moves, you don't want to lose the DH. And it's unfortunate to say this, but Singletons played first base his whole career. Caratini has been spot duty at best, but John Singletons had his hiccups at first base enough that you also, from a defensive perspective, you're not great at all defensively across the board with any of those three guys. - No, you're not. I think it's probably a wash. I think Caratini's fine there. - I think he's fine. - I think he has more range. I think John should be better than the two of them, and he's not. And yiner is definitely the nicest thing I could say is a work in progress. - Yeah, I think Caratini's better than Singletons at first base. - Probably right. - Probably right because-- - I think he's got more range. Pickings probably the same. Now, familiarity with the position, Singletons probably has more, but what are you trading off in range and all that stuff? - I also think he's a little quicker on his feet. - I think so. - It has to be to cover the base. Or, you know, when Singletons got the hiccups, the one time he fielded it, got caught in between, into the base and it cost him. I think Caratini's, he's quick enough to get there. - A little bit more of an athlete. I wouldn't call Caratini like a great athlete, but when comparing two guys-- - But John is still lost. - Yeah, no, I would take Caratini's more athletic than Singleton. I wouldn't call Caratini a good athlete though. But more athletic than Singleton, yes. It's kind of pick your poison. - Yeah, no, that's fair. - Yeah. - John's probably stronger in the bigger horse of the two guys. I think Caratini can move. - All right, 713-780-ESP, an HRP listener line. Maybe the Astros will cling to the division tonight. 713-780-3776, are you regretting any of the contracts the Texans gave out this season? It is the bees on ESPN 97-5 and ESPN 92-5. We got a big one coming up Saturday night, six o'clock, T-D-E-C-U stadium. 18th ranked Iowa State undefeated comes into town as the Cougars look for the upset. The first big 12 home game of the year, and U of H has a deal for you. The Family Night Special, four tickets, four hotdogs, four drinks for just $80. Where else are you gonna get this kind of family entertainment for just 80 bucks? Lock in the deal now, uhcoogers.com/tickets or just call 713-Go Cougs. Not only is it a family weekend, but it's also a Hispanic heritage game. So come out and celebrate on campus as the Cougars host those undefeated 18th ranked cyclones. First match up on the gridiron between these two teams and kick off at six o'clock. Weather, by the way, is going to be gorgeous Saturday night at six. A night of thrilling plays, hard-hitting action, unforgettable moments coming up on Saturday. So get out there and enjoy the game. $80 takes care of a family of four with that Family Night Special, four tickets, four hotdogs, four drinks, only $80. Go to uhcoogers.com/tickets or call 713-Go Cougs at 713-Go Cougs to get your Family Night Special. Come early, be loud and wear red. - ESPN, 97-5. Please, NMI. (upbeat music) - You're back with a killer bees on ESPN 97-5 and 92-5. Live from the Veritex Community Bank Studios, here's Joel Blanken, Jeremy Brannon. - It is the bees, ESPN 97-5, ESPN 92-5. World Series Champion, Josh Reddick. Join us at four o'clock. Talk some Astro Baseball, talk some Home Run Derby. Is he gonna beat the likes of some enhancers of the past? A film don't lie, coming up a little bit later too. Cash or Trash, Texan's still Super Bowl contenders. And look at our game balls. Game balls on a Tuesday after a pair of Monday Night football games yesterday. Question I have, three games into the year. Are you regretting any of the contracts the Texans have given out this season? - I personally am not. I look at as critical as I was yesterday about the fact that I didn't see the kind of effort I wanted to see out of Dalton Schultz. I think Dalton Schultz has been good here. I don't think that you grossly overpaid for Dalton Schultz. I think that he's an above average receiving tight end, in my opinion, and I'm glad he's here. So I don't regret that. And I think three games in, you can look at it and say, Daniel Hunter is the guy I believe in, and I was excited when they signed him, and I don't regret signing him. And I believe that he's going, when we saw early in the season what he and Will Anderson, were doing and wreaking havoc on the edge on both sides, I felt really good. I know that people are prisoner of the moment, they're gonna look at what happened on Sunday, they're gonna look at John Grenard, and they're gonna go, "Oh my God, "you could've had John Grenard and kept him "and saved a few million dollars, "and is he better than Daniel Hunter?" I don't think so. I still, when I look at John Grenard, I didn't have enough of a sample size to believe that he was going to be consistently who he was last season. We'll see. He's in a great fit, in a great system. He's playing well right now. I still believe in Daniel Hunter. - Okay, John Grenard had more than one good year though. John Grenard second season in the league. - He had more injury, I would say. I don't think that he's had, whenever he's had down years in his career, and what you're saying, it's valid, but when he's had down years in his career, it's been because of injury. He had eight sacks in 12 games in his second season. The season after that, he missed more than half of the year. Last year, 2023, at 12 and a half sacks in 15 games. He's got currently has four sacks through three games. So like the down years he's had in his career, rookie year was his rookie year. The third year, he played in eight games. So I think that he's been productive whenever he's been on the football field. - But part of why I'm signing a guy is I don't want to have injury concerns, especially when I'm throwing massive amounts of money at a guy like that. And if there's any kind of concerns about staying healthy and also being consistent because you're on the field, then I'm going to go the way of, if I'm looking between the two guys, I'm still glad they got Daniel Hunter. - Daniel Hunter is far more durable than John Grenard. There's no argument there. - John Grenard, also you're saving money for Daniel Hunter on the average annual, but it's more money when you look at Grenards deal. Daniel Hunter, two years, 49 million. John Grenard, four years, 76 million dollars. So $3 million less AAV, $3.5 million. Well, that's not right. $24.5 million is what Daniel Hunter's making. So it's five and a half less per year for Grenard, but it's more money overall when you look at the totality of the deal. I'd rather have Daniel Hunter. - The John Grenard, the injury proneness, I think is fair. I don't love that Aaron Wilson reported. John Grenard had a grade one ankle sprain last year and John Grenard missed the two most important regular season games of the year. And I think Daniel Hunter is a really good football player and I think the strength of the Houston Texans defense is their defensive line. I actually thought that they played pretty well on Sunday. So I don't regret the Daniel Hunter deal. And if I'm asking the question, Daniel Hunter or John Grenard, I'll take Daniel Hunter. I don't think that that's the wrong answer at all. - I've got two that I regret right now. And obviously there's enough time left in the season for any regret to turn into the opposite. But right now, Dalton Schultz, he is a quality tied in. He's obviously had what, like four seasons where he's been over 500, maybe even 600 yards as a receiver. He's a quality receiving tied in. But with the amount of weapons you have right now, he's just so, I hate to say it, but unnecessary in this offense. Like he's just, you never, I never, I haven't watched the Texans game this year. Like, oh, Dalton Schultz is an integral part of this game plan. He's a part of the scheme. He's a key piece to moving the ball down field. He's just a guy out there. And if he, if what you're gonna use the tied in is just a guy who occasionally catches the third down over the middle, they could have gotten almost anybody for that. So I have a little bit of regret there. And the other one, and it's mostly suspension related, but DeNico Archer, you went out and paid him. And you paid him for, in theory, 34 games. And he lost six right off the bat because of the suspension. What he is after that, we'll see. But if you lose six games off the bat, and then he comes back, and he's just a rotational pass rusher on the edge, I have a little bit of regret there. - I mean, you didn't do that, right? You didn't know that was coming. - Yeah, but that's really the question. - But you realized that if, when you went out and got him, you felt like you were fortifying and enhancing your line even more. - But you're coming from a different time span. We're looking back, you're looking forward. - I don't regret DeNico Archery's. I'm okay with the six game suspension, a little bit more than most, because I understand that there's attrition in football. Like there's gonna be injuries in football. So when you sign him to the deal, I don't think that you should be expecting perfect attendance for any football player. Like right off the top, you should be expecting a certain amount of games the player's not going to play per year. Yeah, six is six. - I mean, you're right. - You expect, okay. But I think DeNico Archery's going to bring up the level of this defense. Like I think this defense, like so I'm willing to eat a few more games, knowing that DeNico Archery's gonna bring up the level of the defense. That's why I'm still bullish on this defense. It's because you're going to, hopefully, welcome back to DeNico Archery that's playing at a high level. You're going to, hopefully, welcome back Christian Harris that at the end of the last season was playing at a very high level at the linebacker spot. So what DeNico Archery's gonna add to this defense? I don't regret the contract. Now, if he comes back and it's like, uh-oh, he's not taking the PEDs anymore. And oh, all of a sudden he does look like he's 35 years old and is not very good. I'll reserve the judgment to change my opinion then. But I'm excited about adding Archery to this defense. On the offensive side, I agree with what you said, Brian. I do regret the Dalton Schultz contract. Three years, $36 million for a guy. You don't really go to that much. Dalton Schultz, three catches in game one, two catches in game two, two catches in game three. You said he's their fourth best passing target. Might be fifth if you wanna throw Joe Mixon into the mix. Also, what is the biggest struggle of this team offensively right now? It is blocking. It is blocking. And Dalton Schultz is a poor blocker. He looks disinterested a lot of the times. He gets beat a lot of the times. So if you have a passing trio of Stefan Diggs, Nico Collins, Tengdell, I like what I've seen from Xavier Hutchinson. I think Mixon can help you in the passing game. Wouldn't this offense be better suited if you had like just a standout blocking tight end that are usually cheaper? And not only that, but you've committed to three years of Dalton Schultz. I think the third year is like non guarantees. You can get it out of it after year two. But yeah, I think they're paying more than what Dalton Schultz is giving them. I too regret the Dalton Schultz contract. - I think there's gonna be a time when he, you're right, Brian, to your point. I agree the fact that there's so many weapons to choose from right now and so many mouths to feed that he's down the food chain. What I'm really worried about is he's one of those guys that if he's not getting CJ looking his way and he's not getting opportunities, then he gets disinterested the entire season. 'Cause I do think that there's going to be a time down down the road a little bit in this schedule where he's going to be a factor, where they're going to utilize him, where he can make some plays, that that's why I don't regret it. But I understand what you're saying because look, there are guys like that that once they get paid and/or if they're not getting their share of the load with the ball thrown to them, they can fade on you real quick and that's sad. - See, I think it's a little bit of the opposite. And like, I don't wanna say that Dalton Schultz is dogging it per se. But last year he was playing for a contract. This year he's not. And I've seen some effort plays from Dalton Schultz. I've seen him trying to block in the run game where he looks extremely disinterested. I went back and watched the film this morning and like that play that he fumbled it, made, it was ruled incomplete. It was fumble on the field. They overturned it to an incomplete pass. He, I hope for his sake and his efforts that he was 100% sure that that pass was incomplete. He stopped chasing the guy who recovered the fumble. - I have not liked what I've seen on film from Dalton Schultz. I don't think he's that important to this offense. I think he is a weak blocking tight end for what is a weak blocking offensive line right now. And because of the strength of the receiving core, I think this team would be better suited if they had a better pass blocking tight end or even a run blocking tight end, just a blocking tight end in general. - Yeah, I think it's exacerbated by the fact that you lose Jordan who's another guy that can be physical, that can be what he's not. But yeah, I hear what you guys are saying. I just believe there's going to be a time and times as we get deeper into this season, where he is going to be a factor. And I still believe in his ability to catch the football, but I look, you and I were both on the same page yesterday. That ball that CJ Tuck feathered in over the top to him, where he alligator armed it, that was noticeable from the jump when you go back and look at it again, it looks worse. And you're like, that's not what you're supposed to be doing as a guy that is going to be here for the next three years. - In worst case, and you hope it doesn't happen, but obviously if we're seeing that CJ seeing it too, and what I hope doesn't happen is CJ starts to have doubts about Dalton Schultz, 'cause if he sees what you're talking about, Joel, with the alligator arms, he sees Schultz flash across the middle of the field, is like, oh, there's that hesitation, like he normally would let it go, but now he's got this thought and his head that, well, does Dalton Schultz going to be there for me? Is he going to lay out for this? Or is he going to alligator armed this? And it caused a problem on this play. I mean, for a guy that's already dealing with, you know, offensive line problems, the stunts and twists, creating pressure in his face, if he didn't create just, you know, half a second of hesitation, when he should be going to Dalton Schultz, but now he doesn't do it because he's afraid that Dalton Schultz isn't giving Max effort, then you're creating a whole 'nother list of problems. - 28 years old, which tight ends kind of, you know, play longer. - That's fine. - Three targets in week one, three catches. Three targets in week two, two catches. Five targets last week, two catches. Not a good blocker. I don't think that this is $12 million well spent. Couple of text on this, zero, three, six, seven, cornerbacks, low risk, but not worth it. And he's right. I mean, Henderson and Akuta have done nothing. Have they even stepped on the field? - I don't believe so. - I don't think they've even stepped on the field. So yeah, low risk, they're your three, they're not even, I mean, Akuta's on I.L. You cut the other guy. The other guy was cut before the start of the year. So yeah, those were regretful contracts that have not helped you at all, nine, one, nine, eight. I don't understand how fans can regret a contract. It's not our money, dumb topic, let's move on. I'll never understand how fans don't understand the complexity of a salary cap. And if you save $12 million for a player who's no good, you can spend that $12 million in a player who is good. - And you can also roll money over, which I don't think a lot of people understand as well. At the end of the year, the money you haven't spent, and that's a pretty good chunk of money. - Yep, 713780, ESPN, HRNP, Live Center Line. Josh Reddick, World Series Champion, coming up at four. Before that though, I am sick and tired of how reckless the Houston Texans are with their players. It is the bees on ESPN 97-5 and ESPN 92-5. - ESPN 97-5. (upbeat music) - You're back with a killer bees on ESPN 97-5 and 92-5, live from the Veritex Community Bank Studios. Here's Joel Blanken, Jeremy Branham. - Nine, five, four, seven in the second game. Joel stood in the end zone, watched CJ get tackled, trying to score. He tried to block either guy that took CJ down. Dre, Joel said a lot to say about Cowboys having people watching the team work out, but he doesn't give an all effort now that he's paid. I don't wanna draw the final conclusion, but I've seen a lot of, don't want to, from Dalton Schulte after he got his contract. - Yeah, I mean, unfortunately we've seen it by more than just him. You hope it's not a trend that's going on anywhere else. But yeah, it's something to question. I get where you guys are coming from. I just, I'm gonna try and stay positive on the fact that he's going to step up at a certain point or two when you need him, he's gonna be more consistent. - Is that enough for 12 million though? - If he steps up twice, is that enough for 12 million dollars? - Just two games, I'm just hoping that it's gonna be, he's gonna take it to a level far better than what we've seen so far as they're trying to spread the ball around and get, you know, they're still trying to get everything into their offense, I think to some degree, and there's a lot of mouse, but I think that at a certain point as we get later in the season, he's gonna be more consistent. - So Joe Nixon did not play week three. Damian Pierce did not play week three, Cam Acres, saw a little JJ Taylor, the British Bulldog got his first carry, and then Aaron Wilson asking the Demico Ryan yesterday. If there's a, you'll hear Aaron Wilson, but he was talking about the running game, and he asked Amico Mutombo about the injuries to the running backs. - Do you have any hope that Joe and/or Damian could return to practice and see if they might have a chance to give it a go this way? - We'll see where those guys are as the week goes on. - Mm, Demico Mutombo. - Martin Mahos. - He was on it. He was not, he rejected, rejected. Aaron Wilson's questions about the running backs. No, no, no, no, no, no. - No, no, no, no. - Demico Mutombo, back out yesterday. - I think it's a lot different than what, you know, Dana Brown gives you a lot of times, and I respect it. I respect the fact that whether it be from the jags in their game planning, to the fact that he just doesn't believe that everything is, you know, fair game for the media, that he doesn't have to say it, he's not gonna say it, and I respect it. I like the fact that keep it close to the vest, see what they're doing, I mean, if they practice, you'll know about it. - Yeah, and Demico doesn't, he's Demico Mutombo. - No, no, no. - Martin Mahos. - You're not getting that question off to me. I'm not giving you an answer there, but I will be very, very curious about the injury report tomorrow, because Tankdale hurt his hand wrist on the final series of the game on Sunday. And if Tankdale loses a game, because he was in the final series, I'm going to lose my mind. One thing that no one is talking about, nearly as much as they should, is Demico Ryan's leaving his offensive starters in the game down by 27 points with 443 to play. And they play all the way to the end, all the way to that final drive, every starter, but CJ Shroud was in the game. Why, why? This is another example of them being reckless with their players. Let's remember, Tankdale, last year, used to block in the box. Where do you not want Tankdale? Around a bunch of mountain of men in the box. Let's remember two weeks ago, Joe Mixon has what looks to be a high ankle sprain that forces him to go into the tent, that forces him to go into the locker room to get an X-ray, he comes back onto the field, not nearly himself, he carried the ball twice with an ankle sprain that at minimum cost him at least one game, reckless with the players. And then again, it happened, it happened again in week three. You left Nico Collins in the game. You left every single one of your starting offensive linemen in the game. You left Stefan Diggs in the game. You left Tankdale in the game down by 27 points with 443 to play. Why? You threw a screen pass to Nico Collins, gonna take a hit. Your offensive lineman blocking up field, they're sprinting up the field down by 27 with less than five minutes to play. Diggs drag to the ground. Diggs tackled by three guys. Tank takes a big shot. Diggs takes another hit. Tank catches the ball over the middle, lands weird on his hand wrist. Fade to Nico almost runs into a first responders golf cart up the tunnel. Nico then tries to catch a pass in the final play behind him and gets hit to the ground. What purpose is this serving? Why are your starters in the game down by 27 in week three with less than five minutes of play? And no one's talking about it. No one, everybody's giving to Nico Ryan's a pass for this and this is again, another example of them being reckless with their players. - I don't disagree on what happened on Sunday. I mean, we've seen this across the league and when it happens with other teams, it's normally called out pretty quickly but if your quarterback's gonna be out of the game and you know how much CJ meets to this team, then the rest of the guys that are, especially your skilled players, then the rest of your guys need to be out too. See if British books can carry the football. See some of the young guys get some more reps, punch them in those guys. Get some more reps at wide receiver. You know, do some things so that you can see some things because at this point, you're not coming back to win the football game and I've always been on both sides of that whether you're winning by that many or losing by that many, get the majority of your key people out. Now, from the Joe mixed standpoint, we've talked about that. I don't mind him being back in that game because that game wasn't over. It wasn't decided. And at a certain point. - Nobody missed this week. - But at a certain point when the, you know, the adrenaline's flowing and the coaching staff who's not there for all the exams and everything else are being told, he's okay to go back into the ball game. And if Joe mixed and saying, I want to go back in the ball game, then, and you want your running game to be what it was a week earlier, then I see them putting him back in the ball game. - And he missed week three. - Let's let that. - Let's tell him a whole story. - Okay, fine Jeremy. He missed week three. That doesn't mean the fact that during the game that they're going to shy away from playing him, if they're being told he's okay. And I'm sure they asked him and he was like doing his little warm up or trying to stretch out and everything. - The players probably go back in worse person. You can ask by the way. - Exactly. But he got it from the medical staff too. Otherwise, they wouldn't have put him back in the game. The medical staff saying it's not broken and he's able to play. Yeah, I agree with that. Like they're not going to say that he's not able to play. But we do know that it was an ankle injury that was severe enough for him to miss another game. - But it also means that whether they don't trust the other guys behind him or they knew in that game and the fact that they wanted Joe mixing that they saw in week one, they thought they could still get that from him. - On a sprained ankle. - Badly sprained ankle. They're going to get that same guy. - They don't know how badly sprained it is. - What do you mean? They had to go to the tent to get medical examination. He had to go get x-rays up the tunnel. There's no way it's 100%. There's no way it's-- - I'm not saying it's 100%. - But you said they're trying to get the same running game they were getting in week one. How could you possibly get that for a guy who's less than 100%? - Because they can't go and sit and watch everything, but if they're told he's moving on it, the training staff watched him do that, the fact that doctors say he's cleared to play. If I'm Bobby Sloak, then I want Joe mixing in the football game. And so, you know, you were right, Joe, the player's always going to say I'm good to go. I want to play, mate, unless it's a guy like we're talking about if there's effort issues. But if you-- if he says he's good to go and if I'm Bobby Sloak or And/or D'Amico, I want Joe mixing in the game if I'm being told he's okay. - I understand wanting Joe mixing in the game. I don't think that you should want Joe mixing in the game in week two at the expense of potentially losing him for further games in the future, which did come to fruition. We don't know of him coming back in the game at any impact in week three. I'll admit that. We have no idea, but we know it didn't help. There's no way that it helped. You probably read it didn't help, but at the same time where you were in that game was basically the reason why it wasn't out of reach, either way, and you didn't feel comfortable enough to go to somebody else. So if you're being told he's okay, then I'm putting him in the game. - He also gave you nothing in those two carries. - No doubt. - He gave you nothing in those two carries. So the whole like, oh, we're going to get a lot from Joe mix. He gave you nothing in those two carries. - Now, if you want to say after what you saw that you don't believe that he could give you what you got, then you might want to make a business decision there then I understand. - And maybe they did. And they only got the two carries. To me, it's reckless. To me, it's reckless not having or having your starters in the game down by 27, 27 with less than five minutes left to play seven, one, three, seven, eight, zero, three, seven, seven, six. Josh Reddick participating in a home run derby at Constellation Field Saturday, October 5th, going yard home run derby. We'll talk to him about his participation in this. And we'll also ask him if he's going to win it. We'll ask him about the Houston Astros and what's going on with the Astros as well. World Series Champion, Josh Reddick, when we come back on the Killer B's on ESPN 97.5 and ESPN 92.5. Hey, sports betters, Brad. I'm here to tell you about my favorite sportsbook and casino and that's betUS.com. Football is back. So it's time to get in on the action. I endorse one sportsbook and casino and that's betUS. If you want a game plan to win this season, check out betUS. BetUS went large for you this season with a huge offer, a 125% sign up bonus in your first three deposits. That's right, a 125% bonus on your first three deposits. BetUS offers value other sportsbooks. Simply do not. Gamblers, insurance, crypto bonuses, casino bonuses, plus they have all the products unique, competitive odds, parlays, live betting, odds boost and prop betting. When you're ready to lay down your bet, give your bet an edge. 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