The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
10/16 Hour 1 - Does the Kamari Lassiter Injury Force Texans To Make A Trade
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A little blessing stressed in. What are we blessing? What are we stressing? The Ringer's Myron Fader. To talk about her new book The Dream, which is about a chemolage one, as you might know. And the Mickey Story, manager of the Triple 8 National Champion Sugar Land Spacers, will be joining us at 330. It's a very, very busy show. Everybody has the trade bug. Buck, because of the trades that went down yesterday in the NFL. You saw two receivers traded. Devante Adams got traded. We later saw a Mari Cooper get traded. We saw the Houston Texans. I mean, Nick Castario, he's seen all this Will and Dylan going on. He couldn't be left without a deal. He couldn't be left without a deal to Nick Castario. So he ended up making a trade too, because he didn't want to get left out trading Cam Acres for a and a conditional seventh for a conditional seventh. And a lot of people were talking about how, you know, they want to improve in certain areas. And I've always seen corner come up. A lot of people talk about trading for a corner when it comes to the Texans. And then, you know, Camari Lasseter report out today from Aaron Wilson. Take that for what it's worth. Aaron Wilson's usually right. Nine times out of 10, he's right. D'Amico thing. No, notwithstanding. But he reported today that Camari Lasseter spatula does indeed have a fracture, which isn't great news. Just looking at Google and what AI translated for me. That's like a three to six week injury. If there's not surgery, if there is surgery, now you're looking at like upwards of eight to 12 months. So knock on wood. It's the non surgical fracture of the spatula. But even if he does, you know, can recover without the surgery, it's still going to be upwards of, you know, AI actually said six to eight weeks, actually. So how long you're out with Camari Lasseter? We'll see about that. But if you do trade for a corner, what's the plan? Like I've seen a lot of trade trade for a corner. Okay, then what? Like, what are you doing after you trade for a corner? What does the starting lineup look like? What does your secondary look like? Because all this corner talk, who's he's not replacing during stingley? Now, Camari Lasseter's injury throws a bug into this because like we'll just put them in Camari Lasseter spot. So Camari Lasseter is back. But if you had stingley healthy, lasseter healthy and Jalen Petrie still healthy, were you playing the corner if you trade for a corner? Yeah, I don't think I was looking for corner. Not you specifically. No, I know. But I'm saying I wouldn't be I wouldn't have thought corner first and foremost in looking at what the Texans should be looking at in a trade until we got the news and credit to you for doing the deep dive on the on the severity of the recovery. It was a surface level dive. I typed it into Google. But nonetheless, the fact is, is everybody thinks when you hear, oh, he's going to be out for a game or two. And he isn't immediately put on the injured list. Then you start thinking yourself, well, he should be back sooner rather than later. But certain injuries end up being more debilitating than others. And if he's going to be out a significant portion of time, then you should start looking at a corner to fill in for him that could add depth for you once he comes back, assuming he gets back at a certain point, because you're about to face a lot tougher schedule coming up. You're going to face a lot better quarterbacks coming up. And we already know that, you know, stinglies on one side, he's got that on lock. But on the other side, if you don't have lasseter, that could be a huge problem. The guys they brought in the off season haven't turned out. And they should they could use depth regardless. So I think that before the before the lasseter injury, yeah, it could have been a position you look to upgrade for depth. Now you might look at it more significantly if he's going to miss any significant amount of time. So assuming the health of stingly lasseter and petri, it's it's a depth piece of what you're trading for at the corner spot. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't know how much that helps your defense. But you know, you you are both were talking about this, then you went back and watched the film again on the the all 22. Petri's concern is in coverage. So yes, he's he's a he's a solid piece and he really brings a lot of physicality on the line of scrimmage and in the run game. But there are deficiencies in his coverage. So there's another one where maybe if you feel it, and I don't I don't think it's enough where you bring a guy in and immediately you're going to bump Jalen Petri out of the lineup. But I also know that you need some safety depth to because of the fact that, you know, you've got Jimmy Ward out and you've been shuffling the whole the back of the defense anyway besides Bullock. The thing is if you trade for a death piece of corner, he's not a starter originally, you're not really upgrading your secondary. Like, yes, it'd be nice to have the death piece. And if you get an injury, then he's plug and play all of that. But you're not really upgrading it. Like if he's a backup and then he's playing because he's pressed into action because of injury, we then you didn't you didn't upgrade your secondary. You didn't you didn't trade for a corner. That's benching any of those guys. I think the question might come down to two things. One, would they be willing to move Jalen Petri back to safety? That's that's a question. I don't think so like because if you're moving him off of safety, I don't think that you're willing to move him back to safety because you're removing him away from the position. I believe that tells me that they don't like him in that position, especially in D'Amico's defense. I can see that because he inherited Petri that there's there's there's I think there's something to that. And he's also a guy who gives a big place. Like you remember last year bad angles or he'd bite on play action like he wasn't that center fielder that is not going to surrender the big play. And it's not only unique to D'Amico Ryan's defense, you're seeing this more in the NFL nowadays, whether it's cover two shells or just you know, it's center fielder back deep. They try to prevent the big play. They don't want offenses to get them with one play. They want an offense to have a 12 play drive because if you have a 12 play drive, there's more likely that there could be a mistake there. If they move Jalen Petri off of safety, I don't think that they're going to have a desire to move him back to safety. Now out of desperation, out of need, but again, you're not improving your secondary. You're doing that because there has been injuries. The second question that I would have, would they bench Jalen Petri? Boy, it's a I think that's more likely than moving him to safety. I don't think they're going to bench him unless they have a better option to replace him. So I think that to the point you're making, I do think it depends on who you trade for because we do know now that there are teams that are willing to give up their starting corner or starting type players because they are basically going to start embracing and trying to play for draft picks and know that they're not, they're not going anywhere. And we mentioned a couple of the teams yesterday to where now maybe there's a more pressing need that you're looking now a little bit harder at finding a corner of a certain level than just a depth piece that could help you at one or two different positions in your secondary. Like if you're going to trade for a corner, you might as well have it be an upgrade to where you're, you're restructuring what you're doing in the second. Don't trade. And yes, okay, whatever, like the depth piece, whatever, like that's fine, but you're not improving it. Now the lacer injury, those throw a wrinkle into things. If lacerters out for two months, it's like, oh, you probably need a bad corner because the Angelo Ross, I think will be exposed at some point. So depending on the length of Kamari lacerters injury could certainly change the, this whole conversation. But if lacer comes back in three weeks, you still have Jalen Petri health. He's still getting burnt over the middle. Derek Stingley, you're fine with like he's locked into cornerback number one, assuming health. I think the move that you make is for a guy that you trust in the nickel spot that can defend the slot. And I think you've been to Jalen Petri. Now, can you improve the secondary or the safeties rather? Yeah, you could probably find an upgrade over to Eric Murray. But is that helping your coverage a ton? I don't know. I don't know. And like how many how many guys can play the safety position that are very good in coverage? Like if the whole point of trading for a corner is because you want to get stickier in coverage, you want to be better at man to man. I don't think you're trading for a safety. Now, if you want to, you know, throw out Buddha Baker, I'd be all for that. But I don't really know if that helps your coverage game that just helps your defense. Now, I'd be all in favor of that. But if you're trying to improve your coverage and you're trying to make your your corners improve like in man to man coverage, I think pinching Jalen Petri's on the table. Yeah, I think at a certain point, I think you have to face the reality because of the fact that you know, the last piece of this is extremely interesting because, like you said, before the injury, you're just looking for, you know, adding an able body that is capable of filling in wherever you might need from week to week if the injury, a minor injury pops up. But if last year's out for any significant period of time, now I'm looking across the league at teams that might be fire sailing a starting corner because I need help there from the Petri standpoint. It's interesting because of the fact that everybody sees the impact place and the players talk about who was the biggest hitter, who was the guy that made the hips hit the hits that were impactful. Sure, it's Petri. But when you go back and look at the film and you realize as much as he did positive things in terms of his line of scrimmage play, he was getting cooked in the middle of the field and you can't afford to do that. So if it means you have to bench him and you put him in a rotation or he's your depth piece, then so be it because this team has higher aspirations than trying to worry about his feelings because he's been here a little longer. Third question, would you move Camari Lasseter inside depending on the piece you're traded for? See, right now I wouldn't because of the fact that I think that everything's on the table for the sake of winning because you know that long term, I think he's still going to be a boundary corner for you. He's going to be an outside guy. He can be. He started there. He looks like he's fully capable of playing there. But for one season, if it means that you move him inside because you get someone that's more established on the outside and all of a sudden your secondary becomes more locked down than it's ever been, then you've got to put that in play. He's still for the long term can play wherever you want him to play and grow into and be the piece that you want on the other side of stingley. But for the sake of this season and the success of this season and giving yourself a better chance to be successful on defense and win football games, yeah, then I'll move him inside and I'll let a guy that's more experienced on the outside play there. I'm with you. Everything is on the table whenever you're trying to win football games. Like I'm not worried about Jalen Petrie's feelings. If I bench him whenever my desire is to have a deep playoff run, I don't care if I insult Camari Lasseter because I'm asking him to play inside instead of outside if I trade for a corner and my the best way I can provide good coverage defensively or to upgrade the secondary is that the corner I trade for is my boundary corner and Camari Lasseter is my my slot corner my nickel corner. So I'm all in favor of anything that could improve your football team. And it depends on the piece that you traded for. And I wouldn't close the book on either side. Like I'm not saying, okay, I'm not going to call on outside corners because of Camari Lasseter. I'm going to call on outside corners. And if I find one that I like, then I'm making that change. Hey, Dameko, go coach him up. I would be calling on inside corners. And if it's the inside corner that I'm trading for, well, good, that's perfect. Because I can just keep Camari outside. And then you I think the depth now that you provide with Jalen Petrie, because you'd be this hybrid, you know, backup saved backup corner. Hopefully he's not on the football field because you don't want the other guys to get hurt. A bunch of textures are texting in right now 713 780 ESPN, HRP listener line 713 7803776. Everybody's asking about Xavier Howard. Is he is he available? He's in Houston. He wants to be here. He's still available because nobody wants him because he wasn't very good last year. And because he sent explicit content to his ex's son. Oh, that's right. Xavier Howard is toxic. No one wants Xavier Howard, despite the fact that Xavier Howard used to be one of the best corners in the NFL. He's a few years removed from being one of the best corners in the NFL. People don't want to touch Xavier Howard right now, which is very evident. How do I know that? Because he is not employed by any of the 32 teams in the NFL. The answer to Xavier Howard is a big no. Right. Exactly. I think this is now at the point in the season where you don't know what kind of shape any of these guys that are out there that are just sitting there as as street free agents at this point are going to beat you. And I don't think that's what they're looking to do. You need someone that's in football condition that's been playing football this season. That's someone that's been on a roster and hopefully starting somewhere that can come in and provide you an upgrade at where you're in deficient right now. And right now you're deficient at the second cornerback position because of the situation with Laster. And you don't know we certainly don't know how long that's going to be. They have a good idea. But if it's anywhere close to what you looked up and found out, then I'm looking for a starting corner across the league and I'm knocking on a door at Cleveland and I'm looking at teams that are trying to shed salary or aren't going anywhere that are willing to part with a player that might be able to fill in and give me what I need for now and then help me in terms of depth for later. Yeah. Newsome's a guy that I've seen like a lot of fans want. Don't love pro football focus. But because I don't watch the Cleveland Browns every single snap it's kind of the go to get a baseline of what a player is. And Newsome's not having a great year according to pro football focus. But hey, you know, I trust Casario in that moment and I trust to make a rhymes on what a guy is going to look like in his defense. But yeah, the lacer injury throws a huge wrinkle into what the Texans are going to need at the trade deadline, which comes up in just a few weeks. 713 780 ESPN busy show Mickey story 330, Myron Fader with the dream book joining us at four Garrett blessing or stress. I wonder what we're blessing or stressing today. Cannot wait for that at 430 a 713 780 ESPN on Twitch Twitch.tv/espn97 five YouTube and ESPN Houston Twitter and ESPN 975 blankers at Pac Man Joel Brian at sacked by BMAC. I'm a Jeremy Branham. All right. We talked about corner. If you can make one move right now to acquire a player to help the Houston Texans, what position would they play? Maybe your answer is corner 713 7803776. What would it be for you? It is the bees on ESPN 97 five and ESPN 92 five. 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Go in for that consultation. Ask questions, get answers. You get the whole consultation for free. There's no signing on the dotted line or commitment to be made or money out of pocket. It's just you getting the information that might make a difference in you getting your hair back. Check him out today. Go to 975hair.com. Broadcasting live from the Ferretex Community Bank studios. It's the killer bees with Joel Blanket, Jeremy Branham on ESPN 97 5 and 92 5. They're getting on to me on the switch because we're talking about a certain player. Like if they're bringing up Kareem Jackson, like the Texas tried that last year. You could barely get on the football field. Cap brings up Patrick Peterson, who is a free agent. All I see are like these guys are collecting AARP, I think. No one has Patrick Peterson on their rise of free agent. He actually played decent last year, didn't he? Decent? Kind of slow. He's a million years old. I understand that. But I mean, I think he was in Minnesota last year somewhere where he was he was starting for them. Starting doesn't mean it though. But I also think he had moved he'd been moved to safety. Like I don't think he was playing any corner. And I do think that the speed of the game passed him up. King of Twitch is calling me an ageist. Yeah, I admit it. I am an ageist when it comes to professional sports. Absolutely am. I do favor the young professional athletes over the old professional athletes. I am an ageist. I openly admit it. King of Twitch, when you say that, you are 100% accurate. True words have never been said by you. Well, I never typed at least. I've never heard the sound of your voice. Is there any sport words better to be an ageist than football? Football is up there. You know, basketballs. Yeah, but there's some oldies. I mean, LeBron James is still doing it. Yeah, there's this guy who's going to do a pretty well into the 30s. Those two are like the exception to the rule, though. But still, you got half the stars in the right there in the 30s. But compared to the NFL, I think that I think that age lasts a little bit longer in the NBA than the NFL. I mean, yeah, but we can say Brady made it to his 40s. Yeah, 45 or more of the outlier to me than it is. I think so. I think MJ and LeBron same way. Yeah, they could be outliers for sure. I think it depends on the position. Because like, there's certain positions that you can get by being an old. You can get by being an old. If you're a quarterback, that's, you know, cerebral gets rid of the football quickly, can read defenses, you know, Manning played for a really long time. Kicker, punter. Kicker, punter, long snapper. I even think tackles can play. Yeah. Like Whitworth went until he was pretty stinking old. So like, there's, there are certain positions that you can get by being an old for sure. Defensively, maybe defensive end a little bit like a, well, I'm like a niche defensive end that plays third down. Like straight handed it forever. Yeah, straight handed it forever. No, they did it forever. Vince can just clog the middle. Yeah, that's another one as a house. Yeah. But like the speed position. The quick switch position. Yes. Secondary, secondary is probably the worst defensive position for an old running back receiver, worst offensive positions for an old. So I would say it's positioned by position in the NFL. I think that's a good point. I was going to bring up boxing, but you see boxers kind of go for a little bit longer. Oh, yeah. Tennis back in the day, tennis back in the day you hit 30, you were toast, you were done, but like they go a little longer. They do. They do. Yeah. I mean, even a Federer and a dollar hanging on and yeah, and still holding their own for the most part, baseball is one where you go forever. Better more than the other sports. Yes. But you do see, you suit, you see a decline in hitters, especially am pitchers once they hit 30 contracts. They start going down contracts. It means something to me. Talked about Miggy and, you know, pooholes and guys that just were getting paid where you can't just weren't just going to cut them and they just hung around, but they were terrible. Yeah. Pictures. I think the pitch clock makes a big difference because we saw the Bartolo colognes and the guys that just pitched into their 40s that you don't see. Verlander's kind of the rarity now. Yeah. Like if you look at just like, I'm a nerd. So I look up these, these grass and these charts. If you look at the like the average age and then like their war, you see decline late 20s, early 30s, like a pretty sharp decline. Now, is it as big a decline as the NFL or the NBA? Probably not. Yeah. But I am an ages king of Twitch. I am that golf hangs on a lot. Yeah. And they also have a league that you can play in whenever you're older, but even still, you see guys that are in there late 40s that can still go on a run, not that often anymore. It was more prominent back in the day, but like this new wave of post tiger golf, it's much less. It's more after much less. Last year, Stuart sink went on like a three. He was he was running. He was winning these random events, though, like look at the majors, how often you get holes. You know what I mean? Like, but back in the day, you had guys in their 40s that were continuing for majors all the time. I think that the tiger woods wave because he did make, you know, support popular and you have a lot of young golfers that are now not even that young anymore. They're in their 30s that looked at tiger woods as the inspiration to play made golf cool. And after that, you look at all these major champions, very few of them are as old, especially when you look at that compared to the pre tiger woods. Yeah. The last, I think the last one you could say on a major was like Tom Watson at the British about five years ago. No, he blew it. He had it was longer than five years ago. Was it? That was probably 10 years ago. He had it. He had it in his hands and just completely jumped it off. Yeah. I thought I actually thought he had a good approach. I did too. Blue past the green. I thought I was rooting for him big time in that. Now there are certain courses. You can be an old British open. You can you can be an old and compete the masters masters a bit, although longer goes there every year and is like 60. He's never made the cut. He's not going to be competing to win it. He's never competing. But if you make the cuts a good painting, but you can be an old and have a better chance at the masters than go into this 800 and 500, you know, 8,500 yard course and having a chance. Right. All right. We got sidetracked there. If you can if you can make one move right now to acquire a player to help the Texans, what position would they play? See, for me, it's between two positions. And because of the fact that we're looking at a situation, as we talk about with short term, the short term ramifications affect what I would do in terms of getting a player that I also want long term. It would be linebacker. It'd be corner. And because of the fact that we don't know how long last year is going to be out, that's that kind of moves me to the front of the class of saying that's almost as top priority as linebacker to me. But otherwise, it's linebacker, especially in this week, when told told is probably not going to play with the concussion. We don't know if else Shire is going to play or not. And he's so vital to this defense. You already know that you don't know when Christian Harris is going to be back. So your depth at linebacker, no matter how much you think Hewitt is a guy that can fill in and do some things for you. I think that could derail when it's been a very, but we talked yesterday about the calling guard of this team so far this year has been defense. But that can derail a whole lot of that if you start getting too thin and lesser than at linebacker, I would start at linebacker and then I'd move the corner. Line backers can be so scary this weekend. It really like I am I am hoping to God that El Shire find somehow can play. I think there's a good chance. I wouldn't look at him missing today's practice as the big indicator tomorrow is going to be the indicator. Now I don't think Henry Toa toe was going to play. He's in the protocol and he's been in the protocol for three days. He's not going to play this week. You see, you're looking you if if Al Shire doesn't play, you're looking at an avel Hewitt, Jake Hanson linebacker. I wonder if they go a bunch of diamonds. I wonder if they go dime and just like they would have to. The problem with dime though is you don't have Jimmy Ward. And whenever they go dime, they play their three safeties. So now you're looking to go deep in your safety depth, but your linebacker. Yeah, pick your poison and then you've got problems because you know they've got a big time bell cow running back and Jake and so we're on all over them. And also they love the intermediate pass game with the four wide receivers they throw out there. I think they might go dime. And so Jeremy might be right. That might be the only alternative that they have simply because if you're going to trust those two guys that linebacker with what Green Bay is going to throw at you, you're going to problems. Yeah, it'll be interesting. But I like the two that you said. Now, the linebacker one that I'll push back a little bit now that I'm opposed to it just to put push back a little bit. You do expect help there. Like you're expecting this. I mean, Aziz, this doesn't look like it's long term. He came back into the game. Henry Toa Toa concussion going to miss a game, maybe two, but he's coming back Christian Harris, the calf fingers crossed. Don't know. You assume that he would come back, but you're not it's not a guarantee. And the Texans have played almost all nickel. They did have a few snaps for three this past game, but they've played almost all nickel. So you can get by with two linebackers and you feel like with the three you have coming back, that it's pretty good there. A corner be up there for me. I don't love trading for an offensive lineman, although I think the offensive line can upgrade because I think it's very hard to plug and play an offensive lineman in a scheme in a system in the middle of the year. I think that's very difficult. Some people are bringing up receiver to me earlier. I'm good, but I don't think they need some people was at some people on Twitter asking about Mike Williams, like I don't think that it's necessary. I don't think it's needed. But if you traded a seventh rounder for Mike Williams, would I be mad? No, I wouldn't be mad at that. I just don't think it's necessary. A texture saying can feature your current return kicks. I'm not sure what that matters, but I don't think I have ever seen her return a kick. I don't need to see him do it either. 0 3 1 2 says we need an offensive coordinator. So I just called a great game against New England. And then someone else saying Cody saying tight in if and only we could trade Schultz. I'm done with that guy. I think you can't trade Schultz this juncture. I don't think they'll be in the market for at least a starting caliber tight in. I could see them like to Brian's point the other day of trading for a blocking specific tight end to add to the mix healthier one game. You obviously lost Brevin Jordan earlier in the year. Kate Stovers a rookie. Maybe he's still getting his feet wet. He's not really to take on a lot of reps yet. And Dalton Schultz is frankly shown an unwillingness in the blocking game quite a bit. So yeah, that would be my off to board me because I think you guys are right. Line back and corner of the top two. But there's another one. There's another one. But tight end would be my tight end. Your tight ends. But a tight end too. Yeah tight. I know they're going to show they're going to shoehorn Dalton Schultz in the starting lineup. Give me a blocking tight end shoe horn. Well done. I'm curious which way the other one is you thought you talk in safety. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now I think that because of the position corner matters more than safety. But if you could give me Buddha Baker on this. Oh my god. That's a no brainer. Give me Buddha Baker. So I would put safety on that list. Alright 7 1 3 7 8 0 ESPN HRP listener line 7 1 3 7 8 0 3 7 7 6 Mickey story national champion manager for the spacers in Sugar Land joins us next the bees on ESPN 97 5 and ESPN 92 5. First of a moment on HRP their champions in their field. Human resources and payroll. They're the best. Cougar owned by my colleague Chris Fisher over there. All fantastic people at HRP. You could say they're the bees knees. Business owners let HRP help you whether it's HR compliance benefits administration payroll onboarding HRP can help in all of those areas that can help in one of those areas whatever you need. They're going to take care of you. There's no boxes with HRP doesn't matter how small how big HRP completely customizes the plan for what you and your business needs. If you have a problem and issue you want to take a little bit off your plate a lot off your plate HRP will find a way to help. They do it in a way that's unique technology meets service. They have the best tech you'll love that. But you will love their service guaranteed fulfillment. You'll never talk to a stranger. You'll be talking to someone who knows you and they know your business needs. Get HRP in your life. That way you can spend your time and your energy in the things you care about in your business. Get a call right now to 818806525 let HRP customize the plan for you to 818806525 or check them out at HRP.net the HRP.net. Your 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. Gary Green's final call of the Sugar Land Space Cowboys winning the national championship in Triple Ambe and joined by the space cowboy manager now. Mickey's story. Congratulations on winning the title coach. What was different about this year's team than the others you've had in recent memory? A lot of things. I mean, I think, you know, you leave spring training every year and you get a roster and you write your first lineup and, you know, the expectations are always high. But the continuity, the cohesiveness, the group just seemed to be so engaged, you know, on a daily basis, you know, enjoyed each other's time, you know, cherished, you know, wins, you know, took offense to, you know, criticism, you know, played with a chip on their shoulder, had something to prove, you know, all those things you hear about, you know, you know, teams that end up having special seasons, this team seem to have it. And we kind of noticed it pretty early on. It's, I'm curious from your standpoint, the challenges and the extra challenges when you've got a team like the Astros so close and they're bringing guys up with injuries and everything so frequently. I mean, you were challenged all the way to the end in terms of bringing up guys to the Major League team right before you went to Vegas and who your pitchers would be and how that extra added kind of challenge for a manager in that position is. Yes, it's definitely a challenge because I mean, the ultimate goal and the objective is to feed the Major League team the best we got, you know, our job is to get them prepared and have them ready to contribute at the big league level. And at times, that means we lose our best guys. So the season, the season kind of goes to those moments where you may have all your guys at one time and you may have none of those guys at a point. And down the stretch, it seemed like we were losing guys that are at the rate. Well, we got, you know, we had guys from double A come in and spill in and we had some guys who were kind of staples there in Sugar Land all year really step up, you know, and then at the end, we made some switches. We lost gusto, but we gained shape with gum. We lost the Zenzo, but, you know, got big outings out of, you know, other guys. It was just your quintessential guy stepping up at the right times that made this team, you know, be undisputed and be undeniable, you know, winning the most games and then running playoffs and ultimately winning the championship. So many guys out of hand in it, it was, it was very, very much a, a full team effort. Mickey Story, manager of the Sugar Land Space Cowboys National Champions of AAA, you mentioned take offense to criticism and the criticism we kind of heard some of the players take offense to were minor league rankings and these prospect lists and the MLB pipeline and all of that. Having the perspective of being a minor league manager, what do you have to say about prospect rankings and what is it about the Astros that, you know, they don't always have guys on prospect rankings, but you look at a yiner, a Jeremy Peña, a Fromber Valdez, they're always able to develop their own even if they weren't highly touted. Yeah, you know, prospect rankings are one of those things that, you know, it's part of the games, part of business, but it doesn't define the player at all. It kind of just put, it puts it out there that this is what we got and a great deal of prospect status has everything to do with, you know, what round you're drafted in, what, what your signing bonus was, what, you know, what scouts in baseball America and all the, you know, pretty much what they think you could be instead of what you actually are. And at any given moment, you can, you can put yourself on the map. And the Astros seem to have a great deal of those players throughout my tenure here that, you know, play above their status and become performers. And really, at the end of the day, you just want performers, you don't need prospect. You know, if you want, if you want to wow baseball rankings, then with prospects, that's one thing. But if you want guys to perform and get results, that's the whole different thing. And they don't always go hand in hand. You know, the Astros have had a great player development system for some time now. And we've, we've seen to get the best out of guys that aren't overly, you know, ranked high in those prospects by ranking. So it's, it's kind of a testament to, you know, player development or scouting, you know, finding these diamonds in a rough player development, you know, implementing things that weren't there when we got them. And then ultimately the player being able to buy into what we were trying to accomplish. And like I said, play with a purpose and improve people wrong. We've had a number of players that weren't prospects get to the big leagues and be very impactful players. I was going to say how gratifying is that for you when you see it and also kind of the pit it leaves in your stomach with a trade like for Kakuchi, when you know, well, you know, Joey's been up and he's been up and down and, and you had Will Wagner and you had, you know, blocks, all these guys that were contributing to your squad, then they were up and down, but you kind of knew they were going to be around. And then all of a sudden in wall, one fall swoop, there are three, some of your main cogs that go away. But then you see them actually progress and flourish once they get to the big league level, even if it isn't within the organization. Yeah. And obviously those, those are the players that it's extra special to see, because when you have, you know, players like Kyle Tucker and Yoran Alvarez, who I had in the minor league, you know, what's going to happen there. Like you, you know, that they're going to be major league players at the bare minimum. And then the field is all stars, MVP, Hall of Fame, like the sky's the limit. But when you have players that, that, that script's not written for, but you see something in them, you know, like a Will Wagner or a Loper Fido or Zach DeCenzo, where they're, you know, middle of draft guys or even back into the draft guys. And then you see the day in day out, you know, the makeup of the player, and then you see the, the production, you know that, you know that as this is going to be a major league player. Now to see it come and go, that's part of it, you know, let's just see Will Wagner and Lo, you know, get traded for a piece like Kakuchi. Yeah, it hurts because you're putting in work with those guys and you know what they're capable of. But that's, that's, sometimes that's what's best for the player and what's best for your organization. And that's, and that's what the trade take place. You know, you make a relationship with those players. And, and all you want them to do is maximize their careers. And that's, you know, they're, they're definitely on pace on doing that. But you know, it's, it's one of those love hate things. Like I said, you put in a lot of time with the guys and, you know, you, you build a relationship and you, you want it to be with us. And ultimately, you know, we're in this game to help players get better and reach their goals. So it's whether that's with us or, or with another team, you know, it's, it's one and the same. It's great to see, you know, Mickey Story joining us on the HRMP guest line champions with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys in AAA this past season. You hear and see the revolving door of minor league coaches and maybe the Astros are going through this a little bit right now. You get a general manager that might want to do things a little bit differently. What are the challenges of that for these minor league coaches? And then for also for the decision makers at the big league level, whenever you have this revolving door in this turnover, when it comes to minor league coaches in the organization. Yeah, it's one of those things that you got to deal with when you are a perennial organization. We, you know, seven LCS is, you know, this is the first year we've come up a little short in the playoffs, but this is still a team that's been a playoff for what eight of the eight last previous eight years, it's, or in nine years. And when you have that much success, everybody wants secret sauce. So with that coaches are coming and going, you know, other teams are trying to pluck them while they're trying to do that. Other coaches, you know, have ambition to, you know, potentially see what they could do elsewhere. It's, it's tough, you know, it's tough, but you don't, when you have something so good for so long and then you have some change that the dynamic could possibly be a little bit different. And coaches come and go. It's, it's just like players. It's, it's not a whole lot different in the sense where, you know, coaches have career aspirations also. They want to get to the big league. They want coordinated roles. Maybe they want for an office role. Maybe they want to change the scenery, you know, and, and, you know, it, when the contract stuff comes up, you know, it's, it's something I'm not too familiar with because I've, I've always been, you know, taken care of for the most part. And then, you know, some other, you know, on the other side for the front office, it's who they want to retain, who they see is a good fit like that. That's completely their call. So it's, it's hard to say, but it's, it's definitely, it's, it's tough because you, you want to continue to build with what we have. But at the same time, you know, over this, this good run, we've, we've lost a ton of coaches. So it's a challenge, for sure. Mickey, at the end of the year, you know, you just said you had tuck and you had yord on. And now you're looking at this squad and you're looking at guys that kind of catch your eye. Can you tell us a little bit about a guy that we've heard really climbing the system quite quickly and Matthew's in the fact that he can play multiple infield positions and that he was a high draft pick. But what do you see in that kid? Yeah. So obviously, I mean, it, I hadn't seen him much. So I saw him in spring training. He came in and filled in a couple big league games. I got to spend a little time with him there, but obviously didn't get to see him play a ton. So, you know, we had a, you had a good run, third year high A play well in double A. I mean, they're in, in like we spoke of, there were times where we were losing players to the pretty, pretty rapid face to the big league team. We lost Shay Whitcomb. We lost Leon. We lost the Zenzo. And I was kind of wondering, man, is there a chance that we get Bryce Matthews up here just because it's getting thin. And I know he's having a pretty good year. So when we got a chance to get him, I wanted to just play. You know, I didn't want to try to, you know, fix things and what I heard and what he needs. I wanted to just see him play. And found was that Bryce is a guy that is, he's a, he's a tooled player. He's got, he's got some real raw ability. He's young in his career, but he likes to play the game. Like he has a real passion to play the game. And, and he's going to be a really, really solid player. He just, he just needs to figure out pro baseball. It, it happens fast. You know what I mean? Like this guy I dropped last year before you know it, he's going to triple A playoff, you know, playing every day. He's playing shorts. He's playing third base, you know. He's in big situations with a team that was, it was as close to playing, you know, Major League caliber playoff baseball as, as any team I've been around in the Meyer League. Like it was, it was really, really a big deal for that club. And he fit right in. Like he, he did miss a beat, which was a great experience. So I, I, I love, I love Woods the head for Bryce. The makeup's really strong. He's a, he's a ball player. He's gonna, he's gonna continue to work. You know, I think, I think Winter ball was in the plans for in this offseason. They kind of continue to fine tune some things, but he's a really, really nice young man. He's a, he's a good looking player. He's, he's one that we're excited about. Can he handle the hot corner at the big league level skip? Yeah, I think he can. I think he can. That's kind of where he end up settling in with us down the stretch. Mostly because of the way it's shaped out for us and line of construction on my end. It wasn't, it wasn't necessarily by, by any other than that was the way it worked best. But I think the third base looks good on them. I think the shortstop will continue to play. Third base, sure. I mean, it, it definitely going to be a, a left side of the infield with a potential to play second base. Maybe if need be, however, it fits with us. Obviously second base isn't as much of a fit because of the whole favor we have. But if, you know, if he needs to play third day shortstop, you know, the, the kids and athlete, he's, he's utility. I know we've tried to make, you know, guys well rounded. I'm sure, I'm sure he could put on an outfield glove and play out there. If need be, one thing is bright as a heck of a ball player. So he's gonna find a way to get on the field. Really appreciate the conversation. We'll keep that line of construction conversation to a different time. But I enjoyed the chat. Thank you for the insight and congratulations again on putting that national championship. I appreciate it, guys. Mickey Story, the manager of the Sugar Land Space Cowboys Triple A affiliate, of course, with the Houston Astros, national champions of Triple A. And you can catch the Space Cowboys once they get back to playing some baseball on ESPN 92 five. Speaking of an Astro, Justin Verlan, does it make any sense? Is there a plausible scenario that exists for Justin Verlan to remain a Houston Astros 713 7803776. It is the bees on ESPN 97 5 and ESPN 92 5. You're listening to ESPN 97 5. 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. Does Justin Verlander make sense for the Astros? Close the micron yesterday, Michael Shapiro. Does Justin Verlan make sense for the Astros 2025 rotation? Is there a scenario out there 713 780 ESPN? Is there a scenario out there? We're bringing back Justin Verlan to the Astros makes sense at all. I think the only way that you even consider it is if you still have issues with some of the guys coming back from injury, you don't want to spend the money or you spend it elsewhere to where you're not going to go look for a starting pitcher out on the market and he gives you a substantial substantial discount and/or crane gets involved because other than that, you still have a surplus of starting pitching. You're expecting to get a lot of guys back for next season. Even some of the guys that were supposed to be back this season, Allah Garcia more than McCullers, but both of them and whatever happens and whenever JP France is supposed to come back, if he factors in at all, you just have options galore at starting pitching and the fact that he was not very good down the stretch and he wasn't close to the Justin Verlander, we've seen throughout his career and because you know at the last that we've had to deal with Justin Verlander from a price tag standpoint, it's been very, very high. So a whole lot of like the sun and the moon ref to line up, but I just, I don't think that the only way that that's even factored in is he gives you a monster hometown discount and you've got some stumbling blocks with the injury guys come back from injury. That's about where I'm at too because if we don't assume that the Astros make this splashy trade, like we we picked around the idea doesn't make sense to trade a Fromber Valdez, which I think it does, I just don't see the Astros actually doing that. Would I encourage them to? Absolutely 100%. Are the Astros going to make that type of move? I don't think so. When pigs fly, when frogs get wings, all of those things. I don't believe that that would be in the cards. So you're looking at a rotation of Fromber, Hunter Brown would be back. Renelle Blanco is going to be back. Eric Getty is back. That's all the starting pitchers that you had healthy at the end of the year. You had you say Kakuchi, but you say Kakuchi's a free agent. So he's no longer a Houston Astro. I didn't miss any other healthy starters that were factoring into the opening day rotation, right? Healthy starters, right? I don't believe so because Luis Garcia is throwing bullpen again. He should be back at some point. I don't believe in the ghost of Lance McCullers until Lance McCullers proves me wrong. So I'm even going to mention him. Although I did see sports map had a our courtship map had an article about how Lance McCullers is opening a new text on that restaurant in Houston. So the entrepreneur cook the picture to the breeze. I would say entrepreneur. I don't think he's going to get in the kitchen. I don't think he's going to be throwing down the fajitas. No, I think yeah, he's either a restaurant tour. Yeah, or an entrepreneur. Yeah, he's more of that than he's pitching right now. It's been manure. It's not even manure because that exists. Well, because we haven't seen it. It doesn't even exist. It can't be bad because there's been nothing to be bad. Social media exists in full uniform. Not in a while though. No, not in a while. So Lance McCullers, we're not going to put in this conversation because we're not going to fall for the Lance McCullers trap. But Luis Garcia should be back. Arkeeti's not going to come back until the summer, Christian Javier, not back into the summer. And then we fell for that with Lance McCullers and Luis Garcia. I didn't miss any other starters there. I think I nailed your starters. Your opening day rotation. If you bring nobody back, should be Fromber, Hunter Brown, Renelle Blancos, Spencer Araghetti, and Luis Garcia. Assuming Luis Garcia comes back, assuming you don't have any injuries and spring training. Now, do the Astros want to go five man rotation? Do they want to go six man rotation? So that's like your first question. The second one would be like, I do want to see them make a run at, you say, Kukuchi, do I think they'll be able to sign you say, Kukuchi? I really don't. I don't, I don't, if I had a predict gun to my head, I don't think you say, Kukuchi is a member of the Houston Astros next season. No, I agree with you. I think that when you look at some of the projections and what people were saying about the top 100 free agents, he's going to command upwards of 25 to $30 million a year, at least that's what they're guesstimating. And I don't think that's in your price range to get a guy that you really essentially are going to put somewhere. Yes, he was good for you. But with the guys that you already have, I just don't know where he fits into the rotation. Even if you put him up higher, it doesn't matter. I don't think it's worth spending the money and allocating the funds in that direction. That's the thing to cost. Like we would all love you say Kukuchi and just go six man rotation. But whenever you have a starting five and then you're adding a six guy, yeah, Kukuchi might be better than some of these guys. But are you going to add a guy who's now part of a six man rotation? That's not your one, not your two. Maybe he's your number three, but he's not as good as from or he's not as good as Hunter Brown. Are you going to pay that guy 20 to 25 million dollars a year? That's why I don't think Kukuchi will be a member of the Astros, especially because of the fact that you're, you know, Verlander's going to walk, but you're looking at what's going to happen with Braggman. And then you have a, you know, you're going to need money if you're going to go external on the free agency market for a third baseman. Not that that's a law. No, but also if you want to bat, we talked about, do you want another bat in the outfield? There's not money to be spent there as well. And those are everyday players as opposed to every fifth or sixth day if we're talking about rotational guys. I would be pretty stunned if the Astros signed you say Kukuchi. I think they will kick the tires on Kukuchi. I know Kukuchi likes to be an Astro, but I just don't see them spending 20 million dollars on a starting picture whenever they already have a former five man rotation. So there will be options that they like more than Verlander that I think that they're probably going to be priced out of, whether it's you say Kukuchi, whether it's some other free agent starting pitchers that they might kick their tires on. So the scenario that I see that exists where Verlander is an Astro is if the Astros want six healthy starters at the start of the year, which I'm okay with that idea. I like a six man rotation to limit the innings of some of your, you know, your best pitchers, especially with the Astros having, you know, deep postseason runs this last year notwithstanding. So I'm in favor of the six man. So you'd have to be in favor of the six man rotation for a majority of the season. You have that mindset. You have to swing and miss part in the pun on a lot of starting pitchers that you have higher than Justin Verlander. And then the final thing is that you would have to have Justin Verlander on a very team friendly contract. Now I'm looking at a one year deal. I'm not signing Verlander to a multi year deal and I'm looking at probably like five million dollars. Now, I don't think the demand for Justin Verlander is going to be all that great. I think that the what he didn't wasn't able to do and didn't show at the end of the season is going to have a lot of buyer beware on the market. I think that as much as he's done what the back of his baseball card says, going forward, I just don't see a situation where teams are going to throw anywhere near the kind of money that he was last time he hit the open market when he crossed the 40 million dollar a year threshold that teams were willing to give. And we saw that even that for the Mets backfired so much so that they got rid of him, you know, pretty quickly. And now he's fallen off so much. I tend to agree with you. I don't think it's I don't think there's ever a situation Justin Verlander's ego is going to settle for five million dollars. But I think that it's definitely going to be significantly significantly lower than what he might be looking for or what he got last time. That would definitely be a I want to be an Astro. So I'm signing for less. No doubt about that. If Justin Verlander went into free agency with the idea, I'm going to sign with the highest bidder bidder no matter what like maybe Alex Bergman's doing. What do you think that the most Verlander could get per year? He's probably not getting more than a one maybe his two year vesting option mutual option type of deal, but would be the highest AAV that Verlander would get on the open market if he went to the highest bidder. I would save 15 to 17. Okay, I'm about 12 to 15. Yeah, I was kind of thinking around 15 to same ballpark though. Yeah. So somewhere of a killer B range of 12 to 17 million. How much of a discount would Verlander be willing to take to stay with the Astros? Not much, but I'd say maybe 10 10 11. 10 million you think we get it done? Yeah. If he'd give you much for what I want. I agree. If he gives you the deal that Charlie Morton took what six years ago now two years 14 million. So seven million per year. Would you take that second year would need to be a mutual option or some sort of vesting option that's triggered by accolades. I think his ego would say investing. Yeah, because I don't think that's fine. Yeah, but if you want to do a vested option for two years at that money, I'd consider it just because you have so many uncertainties about health with coming back from injury from so many pitchers. Yeah, I could sign up for that because I don't want to fall into the trap that we have the last couple years about looking at five healthy starters and go, Okay, we're good. We don't need him anymore than a month into the season. Half of them are gone like the last couple years that has happened. So I'd be willing to talk to Verlander, but I think I'd cap out at the Charlie Morton deal. But here's the other thing too, guys, the fact that we know he's got an ego. We know he's chasing some personal goals and one of them is 300 wins. And if he's going to be in a six man, exactly, but it's also from a standpoint from his standpoint, he's looking for a team where he maybe doesn't want to pitch every sixth game. Maybe he wants to pitch every fifth game because he's trying to win an average of 10 to 14 games a year. So it's got to there's so many different kind of elements from what he's looking for that I don't think many teams fit the bill to be able to match up with that. What his motive is matters a ton when it comes to who his next team is for sure. I think that his ego has taken a backseat though. I really do. I think the playoff thing in all of the season ended. I think being older, being older, being more pedestrian, I think that that takes a hit to the ego. Like Verlander was talking about, hey, I want to just whatever I can to help the team win. If I have to be in the bullpen so beat, if I'm not on the roster, so be it. So I think that Verlander, it's probably fair to say the ego thing with Verlander. I just think that the maximum of Verlander ego has been cut like in half, at least in half. I feel like the Verlander ego thing is kind of an old conversation. I just think from the standpoint of his ego says he still wants to win 300 games. Maybe so. Yeah. And I think that's the bigger thing. I don't know if that's necessarily ego. Like that might just be the motivator. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's where I was going to say it's semantics on the terminology because I think that he is driven by the fact that yes, I think he wants to part of him chasing his individual goal of getting to 300 wins is he's got to play with a decent team. So winning is going to factor in from that standpoint alone. Now, how does that factor into him making a decision and maybe going to a market that he and the wife and the family don't want to go to or aren't, you know, enthusiastic about going to because of the fact that again, his, I think the teams are going to be limited. 8693 of JV once those wins, he's got to go to a good team. That part is true, but he also probably has to go to a team that's willing to pitch him every fifth day and not every six day. 8693. I know it's not realistic, but Kakuchi owes the Astros a discount for pitching or for fixing his pitching arsenal. I mean, I guess anybody anything but a tip of the cap and a thank you very much, but he's going to go cash in. Yeah, I do think he likes Houston, but I think he's going to be too much. Is it possible for Verlanter to sign with the Astros and relief role, he can make spot starts against bottom feeders and otherwise try to farm wins and relief? Yeah, he's not going to be a reliever because of the 300 wins. 8693 even if JV can pitch well, I don't expect him to stay healthy at his age. So no thanks. That's fair. It's fair. He's had injuries in each and every single one of like his last three years, 409. If he cuts down the ego and signs a $10 million deal, it's worth bringing him back. So 10 million one year to strike out on some others. Dodger? He's a Dodger. I don't know. Dodgers have a ton of pitching woes. They've been notorious for doing these kinds of moves. He get he and Kate get the LA scene. He gets a winning team. He gets a chance that where he doesn't have to be fed with that lineup. He just has to be decent. I see him as a dog. I don't want to see him. I don't want to see him. But I think that I think that's going to be they're going to be suitors for him. What percentage chances JV have to be in an Astro. Oh, 25%. Okay, I was going to go 20. And I feel like that's high too. All right, seven one three seven eight zero ESP. And we return Myron Fader, the author of the dream. You book about Akima Laju one. So join us next. It is the bees on ESPN 97 five and ESPN 92 five listening to ESPN 97 five. After countless steps and more than a few miles, her dog drives you forward one last time to make that final climb. And as the rising sun peaks out from the horizon, you know, incredible happens here because it starts here with a fuel that makes it all possible. Pro plan sport. Discover advanced nutrition made to fuel strength and stamina and active dogs like yours at proplan sport.com. Welcome to the financial quarterback podcast. I'm Josh Jielinski. 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