The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
11/18 Hour 2 - Should Houston Astros let Bregman Walk In Free Agency
"Your child's first step is a big step towards their future. With first step by college invest, every Colorado child born or adopted on or after January 1, 2020 will receive a free $115 contribution to their college invest college savings account. Plus, we'll match a percentage of your contributions in the coming years helping you save even more. Enroll today and start your child off on the right foot. Visit ColoradoFirstStep.org to get started and claim your $115 now. The Killer B! ESPN 97-5 and 92-5 proudly present, the Killer B! It's definitely a fan of the Killer B's. Don't sweat the technique. Broadcasting live from a mobile Veritex community bank studios located at Breber and Country Club for the Cougs Hardball Classic. Here's Joel Blank and Jeremy Branham. Killer B's live from the Cougs Hardball Classic. Thank you to you a little Woodrose. So is there a new plan B after Alex Braggman? If there is indeed life after Braggman for the Houston Astros, if they do not resign help, a new name has emerged. We've looked at the free agents. Their basement free agents are not very good. You look at Yawn Moncota who broke his hand. You're looking at backup. Sheila Ursula, who have not been relevant in quite some time. Well John Marosi dropped a new name that could be in the mix for the Houston Astros. John? It's the Astros if they do not resign Braggman. I love that idea by the way. You put a Domus potentially a third, haneat short Altuvus second. I would love that infield. The Braves are involved, I'm told. The Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays, who we know we've heard plenty about their link to Juan Soto. They want to get a major free agent. All right, so there you go. There you have it. A Domus has emerged as a potential name to watch for the Astros, should they miss out on Alex Braggman? What are your thoughts on playing Willie Adamus if Braggman goes somewhere else? Well, I think that we all were wise enough to realize Dana had a plan B if, you know, plan A doesn't pan out with Braggman, though, of course, their wish list is started with, you know, and there's a distance between, you know, Braggman and everybody else. But Willie Adamus is a guy that I question his offensive ability and no one Milwaukee, like I do, being in a smaller market, they're always looking for that quick fix, bargain rate guy, and the minute that they get good or show that they can play at any level, they let them walk and try to find the next guy just like it. I did not expect that Willie Adamus as a shortstop would come out with the offensive numbers that he developed into the last several years to say, "Willie Adamus is now a guy you have to respect as a power hitting infielder in this league, that if he's willing to play third base, I could live with the fact that I don't care if he's on average, you know, as good as Braggman or not defensively." And I think he can be in that category offensively at his age with the numbers he put up. I'd live with that and be just fine. Yeah, I don't. I'm really on the fence, which is a terrible place to be. He was given the qualifying offer and he's going to turn that down. So the fact that he's going to turn down a qualifying offer, that means that he's going to come with compensation, should you sign him? In which case, I think the Astros would lose a second round pick. I think that's what I was reading. So that would be the second time in a row you'd do that because they did that same thing with Josh Hader last year. The compensation you receive for Alex Braggman, if he were to go because you're going to give him the qualifying offer, he's going to reject that. But because you're above the luxury tax, you're going to only get a fourth rounder back in terms of that. So Adamus does have more power than Braggman. Like Adamus hit 32 home runs yesterday. I agree with you. I didn't see that power coming from early Willie Adamus. Braggman hit 26, Braggman's usually a more patient hitter, although he didn't walk a ton last year. He doesn't strike out at all, Braggman wears Willie Adamus does. So you're losing the long, drawn out at bats, you're losing a little on base, you're losing contact, but you are adding the power element from Willie Adamus. Now if you just went like OPS+, Willie Adamus was 118 last year, Braggman was 118 last year. Go two years ago. Braggman was 122. Adamus is 94. I think Braggman's slightly more valuable of an offensive player than Willie Adamus, but I think it is somewhat close. Defensively, I'm not really worried about it. Like if you can play shortstop in the big leagues at a high level, which Willie Adamus does, I think you can play third base at a high level. Will he match Braggman's glove? Probably not. But Adamus actually has a bigger arm than Alex Braggman. I don't love the qualifying offer here. If you're going to let Braggman go, I think that you should just go youth movement. Like to me, they're kind of similar in terms of production and value, or it's like, okay, if you're not going to get Braggman done, you might as well just go with the entire youth movement and go with the young guys at third in my opinion. Well, I think the other thing too is because the money matters so much. It also the position that they play in which you're paying matters too, because if you do go with the youth movement, keep it internal at third base, does that mean you can get that kind of offensive production or more for maybe a little less, depending on what the open market says, if it's a corner out fielder that you're trying to do or a first baseman or, you know, one or the other, if not both, that's where the money's going to play the most in this situation of one or the other, because I can move on from Braggman and I can put in either it's Matthews or, you know, or whatever I choose to send, however I choose to fill the role of third base, if it means that I can look for the same kind of numbers or more that Adamus put up, but at a lesser price than what he's going to command if there's multiple teams trying to bark and for his services and push the price up too high. The projection on Adamus is six years, 150 million, like that's, that's pricey there. Like I don't want to pay Willie Adamus six years, 150 if you're going to balk on Alex Braggman. Like if you're blocking on Alex Braggman, you might as well just do the youth movement. And look, I would balk on both of them. How old is Thomas? He's one year younger than Braggman. Yeah, that's that's not enough to get that six, it'll be 29 next year, 29. See that's where that six is going to come into play because you don't want to go there if you're the Astros and you've proven that, but with the other teams that are going to be buying for his services and literally buying not just buying, that's where you're going to get into where he'll play the fact that one of those teams is willing to go the extra mile of a sixth year, if you're the Astros, you don't want anything to do with that. Would you go 150 for six for Adamus 25 a year and see that's why the six is too much for me at one year younger than Braggman, you're still doing the same thing you didn't want to do with Braggman. I would rather live and try to see, you know, if I can get Braggman on a five or four year deal, then I and know what I know about Alex Braggman as opposed to, yeah, he broke out a little bit when he was with Milwaukee. He wasn't offensively like that in Tampa. You hope that these numbers are going to continue wherever he plays and I think minute made would be conducive to that, but I just don't have enough faith in it to say I'm going to give him six year. Yeah, I'm barking on the contract and to be fair, I'm barking on both of their contracts. That was the athletic projection on Adamus six years from 150. Their projection on Braggman and Ken Rosenthal had a piece today in the athletic where he talked about how Braggman seeking Manny Machado 11 year, 350 million dollar money. That's great. That's great. Because, you know, you aim for the moon. If you fall short, you're still amongst the stars. That's what Scott Boris is doing here. The athletic projection on a Braggman contract is seven years, 189. So are you doing seven years, 189 for Braggman? Because those are the two steps. I guess I should have asked them in reverse order. Are you paying Braggman seven years, 189 assuming you can get it done on the athletics projection? No. I'm not either. Would you, we already said we're not doing six years, 150 for a Domus. So we're, it sounds like we're both going youth movement. Yeah. At third base. Yeah. Yeah. Especially because of the fact that you still can get some of that repurpose some of that money to try and get up maybe a lot closer to that production. Just basic on looking at getting an outfielder or getting an extra bat that can help you in multiple with some versatility. And that would be what I'd be more, and I think you'd be more up to be able to get that for less years too, maybe half the years, and it would be a better deal for the franchise. Yeah. I'm, I'm bawking on both of those and using my resources elsewhere, 6 0 3 0, his strike out rate is terrible. Talking about a Domus, Alec bomb on the, on the block. What do you feel about his immaturity and his professionalism? You have to, you have to do your due diligence there if you're Dana. But if you can get him on pennies on the dollar, I don't hate that idea. I think they're going to try and get for everyone. I don't know. I think they think they can get for him because it's not going to be just draft compensation. McCormick, bring him home to Pennsylvania. I'm kidding. But if you want Chaz and one of the surplus of starters at the back end of your starters to choose from, I'm in on that deal. I'm making the call for sure. Like I'm, but I'm also going to make the call and do my due diligence about this unprofessional report of the security. But if you can get Alec bomb on 70% of his value, that's what general managers do. That's what good general managers do. Now you have to be convinced and you have to trust your sources that if you give, you get good intel on him that they're, they're right, a six zero three zero. How long are we going to ignore pain is terrible offensive capabilities just because he was post season MVP. Everybody loves him. A pain is a liability. I think it's good. Looks here probably helped too. If Jeremy pain, you'll look like Ezekiel stashio. Do you think he'd be such so up a love as he goes? As she was not very handsome, taking some straight, he did catch a strip and he was ugly man. He had some, he had some, some areas that, you know, he had some more parts than others. And I'm talking about his face. Yeah, he was, he didn't look like Jeremy pain. Yeah. He didn't look like Brad Ospis. He didn't look like Jake Mariznik. Okay. I think that helps him. I think that helps his popularity. I think the biggest. It helps my popularity. We've been talking about it a lot. Look, I just think from a shortstop perspective, he's still above average because his offensive numbers weren't horrible. His defense was better than a lot of people. And this year it was down. There's no doubt about it. But overall, he's a good defender to where you could do a lot worse than Jeremy Peña. If one or the other could play third base and maybe that's something that's coming down the road too, it's a decision he's going to have to make. We've seen a rod and others do it. He didn't have a bat to play third. But that's what I was going to say. That's where the bat would have to upgrade because the range is not a problem. But if he's going to be moved over, it'd be like Bryce Matthews is only going to play shortstop. And that's what the move was going to be to see if Peña wants to play third. I think at that point, you're playing Matthews a third though, right? And he'll probably let Peña walk because he's going to test the market and try to get more, he'll get money somewhere else. Peña is a valuable baseball player, mostly because of his defense. His bat is very average. His bat from Major League Baseball standards his average, but you can get by with an average bat at shortstop if he plays a good defense. That's why I don't want to move him to third base. If he is your third baseman, you now have an offensive liability at third base. And if you don't have the answer in short, what are you really doing here? So I don't think that Peña's future's ever third base because his bat doesn't play there. But I also, yes, Jeremy Peña, not a great offensive player, but Jeremy Peña is above average, major league ball player, mainly because he plays a premium defensive position at a pretty high level. And the other thing when we talk about this, and I don't want to say, I don't want anybody to misconstrue this to say that offensively, that they're even close. But the other thing that worries me about a guy like Peña, he's very much in the Breggman mold of, he's not athletic in the fact that the way he runs, even though he's fast, it looks like it's mechanical. It looks like, you know, he's got that little hitch in his giddy up. There's things where he's not as fluid as a lot of guys that, you know, you see play the position or when they're really athletic players, but he still gets it done at a high level. Don't get me wrong. But that concerns me because you're always looking for guys that it comes natural to them and he's so athletic that he can do so many things that would worry me with Peña as he gets older. His speeds elite, now, the computers don't love his defense. The computers don't think he has great range, which I don't really see that. Like I see a pretty, pretty good defensive shortstop. I'm not going to say great. I'm not going to say elite. I see a good defensive shortstop, computers hate him. The computers think he has a pretty poor range at short, which I disagree with the computers there. Now, his speed is elite. His speed's very good. No, but I'm probably led Jeremy Peña to play out his club control and then probably let him walk. I'm not signing Jeremy Peña to an extension like I once clambered for unless you can get him for a below-market deal. But not a third baseman. I think you're fine with Jeremy Peña as your everyday shortstop is he a great offensive player? No. I think people probably had the expectations after his rookie season way too high and specifically because of his postseason. His rookie year wasn't all that good offensively, it was just that postseason. Textures asking about Dubon at third base. I think they would all be in that mix. If you're not bringing back Bregman, you're not signing a Domus, there's really no other free agents. You're not making a trade. I think you probably have a four-man camp battle with Shay Whitcomb, with Zack DeCinzo. I hear they don't love his defensive third base with Bryce Matthews and then I think Dubon would be in the mix there as well because you're four competitors. This is the conversation we had before we knew Peña was going to be your shortstop on Karellef, like just insert Dubon where Allegmus Diaz was being inserted in the conversation if Peña wasn't ready at short. Dubon can be a short-term fix for you if he has to play third base offensively. I think it's the same conversation. It's Peña, really. Yeah, you have to worry about the fact that playing third base more frequently could he produce for you offensively, consistently, and that's where we're the big question mark today. Yeah. To me, to me, Dubon's bat does not play to be an everyday third baseman. I mean, even if he hit close to 300, which I'm not expecting him to be able to sustain and do, power numbers, he's not going to have the kind of power numbers to play in a third base at a major league level. Yeah. Yeah. He doesn't get on base and he doesn't have any pop. Like, he doesn't walk, he doesn't see pitches, he doesn't hit for any pop. Last year's OPS+ was 88. That's below average. And now you're looking at him playing third base, which isn't like the offensive position it used to be in the steroid era. You can get by with not great offensive players at third base unlike in the past, but an 88 OPS+ doesn't play at third base. Like, you're going to need an above average offensive player. So Dubon's bat would be a liability at third base. Jim Crane today, as they were announcing the ballpark name, Dyken, in case you missed it, which, how could you? He was asked if he was willing to go over the competitive balance tax. Crane said, quote, we've done it. We'll see where we end up. It just depends what we need and where the shoes drop. We'll let the powder get dry. Let me say that last year. This to me sounds like the crane quote of, I'm willing to do it, but only for very specific players. It's a sexy big splash moves that he really enjoys because he also went on to talk about how we were top five in payroll and the fact that the Astros aren't normally that kind of team. But he's already kind of giving you the backstory to say, look, we've been in the same zip code and area code as the Dodgers and the Yankees and the big time spenders, but it also gave you the feel of, but I don't want to be there all the time unless I'm looking at a World Series or bust mode. Yep. Yeah. He would do it with specific players. He's going to do it just for like your run of the mill free agent. He's got to, it's got to move. I don't think Willie Adamus is the kind of guy that moves his needle like that. Adam, I don't think so. I think it's borderline. I think he could be. I mean, Adamus, if 30 something home runs last year, like that's, that's kind of a needle mover. He gets over 30 home runs at play. He's more of a name game. For sure. He is. He is. Are you saying because he comes from Latino descent? No, I'm not saying anything like that. I'm saying the fact that he wants that big name in the bright lights that means something to him. You're saying, but letting Peña walk when you could probably get some pieces for him, wouldn't that be better? You still have three years of club control of Peña. So like, what's the urgency here? And then again, who is your shortstop? Like you're trading a position that you have an everyday starter, trading them away. And then what's the plan there? Like now you have a hole on your entire left side of the infield. Breggman's under contract. You're trading Peña. If, if, if Bryce Matthews isn't ready to play third, how is he ready to play short? Which I do think Matthews needs another half a season minute. Oh, yeah. I think the same thing with Jacob Melton. Yeah. The thing to me is the fact that it's not costing you anything right now other than what you would be paying them anyway. Write that thing out. There's nothing that says, hey, in the meantime, if you're looking for an upgrade and something really is an offer you can't refuse, then go ahead and consider it. But at the, at the same time with all the other deals that you're worried about making in the finances that are so important to you right now, don't worry about Jeremy Payne. Three, six, seven, they got to get better players in centerfield third base, first base, plus another starting pitcher. Okay. It's a lot. Do you expect them to improve at centerfield with somebody who's not currently on their roster? I do not. Do you expect Chas to be the platform at your starting centerfield? Bragman's not currently your third baseman. Let's say it's the four horsemen of those guys that we mentioned as competitors. Do you think they get better at third? I do not. Do you? Oh, so you think they go with what they have in house? Well, if they go with, I thought you said that was my option to stay with what they had. Yeah. Well, we're assuming Bragman's gone because currently not a team right now. If Bragman's gone, then I think that they will try to address third base, but how they address third base will not be better than Bragman. See, I think they address one of third base first base, like they're going to get better at one of those positions. It's Bragman third base and you go with what you have at first base. You miss out on Bragman. I think you could open up some names at first base. Do you think they'll add a starter? I do not. Yeah. I'm out. I don't think that they will either. I will say that if they do, the one it would be would be cocoochee. Bring it back because of the fact that they felt like what they do and how they do it took him to a level he hadn't been at in the major leagues and he liked being near to where they can make that make sense, no matter what the dollars are, to where I could understand that move because even for me, Verlander, no matter how sweetheart of a deal, it have to be one hell of a bargain deal for you to consider bringing Justin back with all the guys you have to choose from. Yeah. I'm probably out on JB. If I can, unless you're just desperate and you need like $1 million, a $5.912 from all the early 30 year olds and majorly baseball free agency, who would you give a six to eight year do? Dear to none of them, unless you're Barry Bonds, you're juicing, then I would give that guy as much money as he wants. We've talked about the fact that from a hitting perspective, when you cross that threshold at 30 to the pitchers that are more times than not going to cost you more because of the games they're going to miss with their health as they get older, I'm not into the big deals and the big money for those type guys. All right. What do you believe after this college football weekend? What do you believe in college football seven one three seven eight zero three seven seven six? It is the bees broadcast in life in the Cougs hardball classic on ESPN 97 five and ESPN 92 five Cougar fans final home game of the season coming up on Saturday, you got to get out there. UH Cougars dot com slash tickets are called seven one three go Cougs right now to lock in those tickets used in Cougars taken on the Baylor Bears on Saturday November 23rd six PM at TD ECU stadium weather is going to be great Cougars trying to remain alive and bowl eligibility looking for back to back wins and back to back seasons against the Baylor Bears. So you got to get out there and of course this is your last chance to see the Cougs at home this year. It's the home finale and tickets at just $15 don't mix the action as we celebrate senior day cheer on the Cougars and their brand new Houston blue uniforms. I am wearing my Houston blue hat today. I'm going to be wearing it all week by the way. I bring your friends bring your family and let's pack TD ECU stadium with all the Cougar pride. Get your tickets now UH Cougars dot com slash tickets seven one three go Cougs you know for fifteen bucks come early be loud and wear red the winners the losers and all the best college football moments this week did you see it. Do you believe now you believe that with the killer beans do you believe now after this college football weekend seven one three seven eight zero ESP and HRP listener line seven one three seven eight zero three seven seven six. What do you believe blankers what do you believe the big twelve is up for grabs and I did not expect to see a team that I've been very high on it'd be why you play the way it did. But now as much as I've crapped over Colorado Colorado has a unbelievable path to do damage coach of the year you know the big twelve if the SEC was doing what the big twelve was doing to be all what a league what a conference cannibalizing itself big twelve is the SEC without the name brands. I mean it is I think that you know you see that all the high expectations of the entire conference in the SEC has been whittled down to a whole lesser than specifically because their quarterback play has been less than but at the same time. Big twelve look like it didn't have a whole lot big twelve got some talent you call this one right Brian. What was that? BYU losing. No no I actually bet on BYU. I thought they were your cash them last week. No no I've been both Sean makes some money when they were at LaBurgis last week to bet on BYU. That's a sick flex. No I lost. That's not a flex at all. I mean I guess it's something we probably should have seen come into because Kansas hadn't been healthy much of this year they got some of their guys back they just picked up. No they're good. Yeah they I mean this is the Kansas team that took the field this last Saturday in Provo was not the team that had been playing most of the year and they got a big win last week that the JHOG said so perhaps we should have seen this coming especially after BYU got a close win over Utah and struggled to be the Utah team without Cam Rising but all credit to Kansas to get the job done on the road a very very tough place to play. So I've never defended the SEC in fact the opposite usually I like to go after them as much as I possibly can. I can't do it here if I'm being as honest as I can with you and with everybody else no not the standings I feel like the SEC is getting a raw deal from the college football committee. The big 10 in the SEC have no problem saying of the top two conferences and all of college football and you look at some of the teams from the big 10 and where they're ranked Penn State who they beat number four Indiana they beat one team of the winning record they might not even have a winning record anymore is Nebraska fall to 500 if they're if they're above five hundred five games yeah they're right around five hundred maybe they're one game above five hundred Indiana that's their best win they're ranked number five you're telling me Penn State at four Indiana at five or better football teams than Ole Miss who was eleven last week better than Georgia was twelve last week Alabama who was number ten last week I can't believe that me of all people is saying this but I feel like the college football committee is screwing the SEC I can't believe I said that I said that but Penn State or Indiana on our neutral field yeah tell us what Vegas says against Georgia it gets Alabama it gets Ole Miss guaranteed all of them are favored by at least the field five and least the field yeah probably closer to five or six maybe not a full touchdown but pretty close yeah I hundred percent agree the big ten as of now obviously new rankings come out tomorrow but it probably won't change yeah it won't change yeah but the big 10 has fell not until next weekend yeah the college football committee is giving preference to the big ten and it's sick from an SEC perspective and again I've always argued against the SEC so this is very very strange uttering this for my mouth but the big thing is going to be that it before it's too late it'll all play out because I said to you guys I don't I mean not in seating I think I think I think from the standpoint of this weekend I think Ohio State will send a clear message about where Indiana is okay and that'll bump them out Penn State is a different story that's the one Penn State's the one that might be the difference maker in it because you're from otherwise I've said all along I thought it was a two team conference I thought it was going to be the same two teams we already saw once and that Oregon and Ohio State of the cream of the crop Penn State might be able to finagle their way into staying relevant enough what is their best win what's Penn State's best win I'm West Virginia Illinois one of the U.S.C. was the other one and S.C. is falling off it's it's it's a two team league and they have four teams in the top five and if that's that's where it's ridiculous you have to look at you know well how is there any way to change that because again unless you get a schedule where they're playing more of every team in the conference and less of the you know the cupcakes and the other things and they don't because the conferences are so big you're not going to get the kind of matchups you need to kind of get the water down this out of the fact that the Big Ten is really only two teams and Penn State may find a way to sneak through well I mean look at Penn State's remaining schedules Minnesota and Maryland they're in the they're in the they're in the tournament and they're probably gonna be the top at large team they're gonna be the five seed and they're gonna host they're gonna obviously host obviously and then they're gonna play the four seed in the if they win in the in the quarters yeah yeah it's and they're miss eating yeah it's it's it is and because they're not very good and it drives me nuts when we get these teams in these conferences because following the Big Ten like I do I just I knew from the start of the season that every year this is what Penn State does and somehow they find a way to get into a bigger bowl game now when it's talking about a berth in the in the championship playoff that's a different story I believe that Georgia offense is kind of back I mean the Georgia offense had been they're kind of a train wreck most of the season I mean Carson Beck had a stretch where he threw 12 picks in six games they're running backs for turning the ball over but going into that game against Tennessee this last Saturday Tennessee hadn't given him more than 20 points all year yeah Georgia goes and or not goes in there the game was in Athens but they scored 31 points Carson Beck doesn't turn the ball over made some incredible throws also made some incredible runs very ran over defensive backs and really got the Georgia team fired up if the Georgia offense starts to get things turned around because I mean even in blowout wins like the Howdy against Texas they didn't really do a whole lot if the Georgia offense starts to turn around this becomes a much scarier team because that team has not been winning by offense yeah ETN did he play yeah he didn't play and you look at that team and say look that's the scariest team that's out there to me is the fact that you're right if Beck just figures it out to some degree doesn't matter who they play and on what field that they play it on they got a chance against anybody with the talent that they have on that oh yeah Georgia Penn State who who would you who has a better chance to make the final Georgia yeah Georgia's outside of the top 10 in Penn State's number four of the two quarterbacks here questioning the consistency of a quarterback in back that already showed you that he can do the things Brian was talking about whereas at Penn State I look at the quarterback and I don't care who they're playing against I think it's more of a liability than it is a lot of pro throws on Saturday against Tennessee he was unbelievable Indiana or battery chucks is Indiana plays a lot of state this Saturday we'll change a lot of things I don't think it's gonna change a lot of things like Ohio State I don't think it matters Ohio State's gonna beat Indiana they're gonna drop down to somewhere around 10 to 12 and they're gonna be very much in the mix to be an at-large team that makes it anyways because they're gonna have four big 10 I'm gonna tell you something the spread the final score of that game is gonna matter because this is well yeah if Ohio State just completely shows that Indiana should be in a different league and just squashes them by like 30 plus then I think it changes things yeah but if it's semi-close then Indiana ends up 11 to 1 they're in I think so too all right what else do you think you what do you believe blinkers I think the one team that I never would think about saying might be the best three team three-loss team in the country South Carolina's playing unbelievable football right now one of mine yeah unbelievable football how they're playing it on both ends and both sides I should say and the fact that the beamer has found a way to kind of get into these guys heads to believe they are playing great football and they're a team that they're lucky that they got that no one wants to see anywhere no matter where they play the postseason they won't get in but they're they're really playing good people they got three losses they're not going to get in but well Nora Snellers sellers have been unbelievable second half of the season they're gonna be a legit problem next year they would have beaten LSU beating it hurt in that game he got hurt yes playing the second half speaking of LSU they're I believe their fans are already tired of Brian Kelly oh yeah they're tired of telling Kelly down in the bayou we're ready to get rid of Brian Kelly down in the bayou yeah I mean he's gonna be out he won't be out he won't get fired I don't know I think you still got at least two more years they're six and four right now they're not firing Kelly no way they're like eighth they're like seventh or eighth and they're not firing Kelly they're not firing maybe maybe next year if they're around five congratulations day you're eight before ceiling LSU that's what to me you're under Brian Kelly right now they're they're tired for ceiling they're calling Brian Kelly to get out of theirs what they're doing what else do you believe Brian I believe the Tennessee wide receivers are extremely soft I don't know if you caught this in the Georgia Tennessee game but you know how they they've got this has happened across college football but they've upgraded a bench on the benches where it has the shade it's like the heat or cool depending on the weather situation apparently the Tennessee wide receivers in a game where the temperature was 55 degrees were complaining that the heat got turned off and they made the other positions switch with them so they could get warm with the heater on their bench in that it's 55 degrees outside but wide receivers a diva position that's my point it's a diva position the offensive lineman donated defensive lineman the making my point they're soft the dainty diva receivers are the ones who need that I know that's what I'm saying they are soft by design they were made that way that's why they're receivers anybody else got some more beliefs Billy Napier may be saving his job yeah I think lag way saving his job he's saving his job he's turned the quarterback to come to Florida which is big so from the recruiting standpoint he made a little a little mark that helped him and then he's playing better they're playing better football I don't know if I should say this one yet it's I think it's gonna take too long I'll say anyways I believe we should get rid of conference championship games I'm with you especially in the college football playoff era yeah what's well teams like these teams are gonna be penalized based on what happens in the in the college championship game like you're gonna lose one of those games and you're gonna drop down and seeing a little bit it might not hurt like in the big 12 or the big 10 or the SEC although it will impact seating but you're gonna have two teams that might have been into the ACC some years or might have been into the big 10 some years and they're gonna one of them is gonna beat the other and force their exit look at the playoff look at your conference well this one I think it's a one team league anyways I don't it wouldn't work this year well theoretically okay I mean in Colorado I think if they went out they're in right BYU wins are we are we saying with their championship game well yes yes with their championship game but I think if they have two losses really Colorado yeah if they didn't win if they didn't have the conference championship game Colorado was 10 and 2 BYU was 11 1 I think they'd have a chance to get both of them in maybe but with the conference title game obviously Colorado loses that they're they're done they've got three losses and I would probably say BYU with the disrespect of the the committee members have already shown BYU what they think of them I think with two losses BYU's out see I think it's more I think you see it more in the ACC I don't I disagree but I think it could affect the big deal maybe so but Miami and SMU by the end of that by the end of the regular season they're probably they very could well both be in the top 12 I agree and but they might be like 10 and 12 where the loser is going to be eliminated yeah like they're having these quarter final matchups in the college football like in the college championship game it's a conference championship games that are going to impact the college football rankings and the playoff I don't think that they should do that I think they should get rid of the college football championship games for the conferences they'll never do this because it's way too much money but they should for the sake of you know the interest of fairness and then just play an extra conference game play an extra conference game have one more conference game league country wide see the solution and it goes back to the Penn State conversation too that I like that just because of the schedule and the amount of games you play and the fact that because the playoffs matter so much that you don't want to have that kind of intensity it would be the top two seeds on each side and and then just have the ones play the twos first to see if they are capable because then you would have the cream rice to the top and you wouldn't have the Penn State Indiana conversation the two teams that played for the conference championship basically do the elimination for you of the the two teams that lose yeah and they're not in the play but the thing about it like you know the big 10 like you're gonna have Oregon Ohio State that are gonna play a rematch what's the point in the big I'd say if those were the two top seeds yeah then they would be the one seeds playing the two the the next team in line on both sides and then basically in your conference you're settling more of it before it gets to the playoff but it matters in the sense that you get a buy but you get a buy and it wouldn't like it's to me it's not entirely fair that Ohio State can beat Oregon in the pack in the pack well and the big 10 championship game then all of a sudden they still a top four seed whenever Oregon was the regular season champion like they're gonna be impacted if they lose the big 10 title game to where the regular season games almost redunded it it's almost it's almost irrelevant in fact yeah I don't like one game undoing what 12 games already told us and although I mean this is going way too far for this conversation but I would say the same thing about college basketball too I don't know how you yeah I actually grew with it I hate this we play 33 games or whatever it is and now we're going to take five right five five games in a weekend yeah then throw all everything we saw happen it doesn't matter well it doesn't matter too much in the big leagues you see that more like the mid-major right like the one two-bit leagues like you have a six-bit seven-bit league it's not gonna matter that much right because you're not I mean the team that wins that conference was already in the NCAA tournament anyways now you start talking about the team taxing your body I think that we overrate the seating and the impact that it has with the conference tournaments I think we see that like oh this team's on the bubble if they win this game they're in they win that game and then they're not in it's because we put way too much importance of that once you know the weight of it is it's got to change a little bit because it is it's a travesty when you bust your ass to Brian's point especially as it relates to basketball you bust your ass all year for like a three-law season and then it's all gone in a weekend if you're not playing your best basketball because your confidence only gets one bit yeah it's uh it's interesting 71370 0ESP let's whip through the attacks I believe Garrett Nusmeyer is the worst quarterback in the SEC Tyler Conroe shots fired there what are you talking about Brian the SEC's been cannibalizing themselves this year too I'm just having a little fun 0 9 7 9 Colorado's the best team in the big 12 very well could be I mean they have two top five potential top five draft picks maybe they should I believe that Colorado can win it all when they have two potential top five draft picks they're probably one the highest one probably I don't know if they want it yet probably he became the front runner real quick and we remember like Cam had a bad bad weekend and I just think that um the kid at Boise's not going to get the kind of exposure he had a big he had a big but again with who they're playing I don't think he's doing enough though like he needed to have the very son Sanders numbers and he's not quite there all right 71370 0ESP and what is your question for the killer bees Mel bag Monday what's your question 713703776 killer bees broadcasting live in the coach Harbaugh Classic on ESPN 97 5 and ESPN 92 5 guys I'm just telling you right now you got a game tonight with the Texans playing on Monday night football if you're having people over to the house let me make a quick recommendation last minute that might 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pick up last minute things or the next time you get people together because stellar Rosa wines can make you the hero no matter how the game turns out in the end check them out today available at your local retailers and your liquor stores stellar Rosa wines and always celebrate responsibly ESPN 97 5 mail call it's a mailbag Monday with a killer bees you've got mail killer bees broadcast live coops hard walk classic presented by little woodros time out for our mailbag Monday what's your question for the bees 713 780 ESPN 713 780376 mailbag Monday 834 wonder you guys believers yet that the rocket to win 50 games 5 0 50 games this season not this year i believe in 50 we had the conversation last week though you might be i am not i was i do i did that the over uh on the rockets this year which was like what 44 i think it was 44 and a half yeah 43 and a half oh no i said they'd win 43 i think it was 44 and a half yep they're currently winning 714 of their games they're currently on a 58 and a half win pace so i mean they're kind of putting themselves ahead of the curve a bit where 50s in play when you start to win 50s in play if they stay at that pace they're still at that pace on january first draws that when you buy him nope okay so Joel's got to get me got to get me after the all-star break i need to start buying it that's 80 games in after the all-star break nowadays they play that two thirds of the way through the year okay so then what if they're what if they're winning 714 percent of their games at the 40 game mark then they become that sonic team that i always talk about where sometimes it's just insurmountable and then it that i'll have the conversation with you but at least they got to get to the midway point and be overachieving like that for me to say at 41 42 games in okay there's a there's a they have a legit chance now they've done it for too long for me to not say it i think i think that it's in play i think that it didn't play for them to get 50 i like their team i like their team like they're tough to they're tough to be like their team because of their defense though like their defense is going to keep them in games almost every single night and they have enough offensive guys where you need a couple of them to have big games or even just normal games and they're gonna rack up wins but but like you said that as good as they've been playing they have to play better teams the schedule's gonna get tougher and some of the teams like dallas which they caught at the right time are going to be better than what their record shows right now yeah so i think those are things that factor in okay see got you before that they lost chat that's going to help them the rocket's case and the fact that maybe that helps catch stay closer okay see but those are the okay see's not the team you're chasing yeah i think it's in play i'm going to say yes i'm going to go ahead and say yes i'll be the rocket homer i am the homer all the time people always say that uh ocho why do fans in the media feel the texas need to publicly address their issues which throws their players under the bus what good does that do you're not going to solve the problems and you don't pay to get the inside scoop on their issues so why do fans in media feel the texan need to publicly address their issues you've said this yeah i've said it over and over again counter bill that yeah that there are you know there's a uh an overwhelming belief that they owe you something and they don't but i think a lot of franchises from a standpoint of wanting to appease the fan base have always encouraged that you know you say enough and the true hardasses like bellichech are the ones that say i don't care do you want me to win football games if i'm being here to appease the fans then get me some noise makers and some fireworks and some free food but if you want me to appease win football team football games that's what gets the fans fired up the most then i don't care when i say it a press gun respectfully you've said do you want the texas who publicly be accountable for their issues their mistakes you talked about with tons i'm saying but i'm talking about game planning wise i'm talking about from a standpoint of telling me that you know are you looking at a certain area taking advantage of it or no one's going to give you game plan information and a lot of cases what we found out this year across Houston sports teams are they're not going to give you injury information you're right from be accountable from an organizational standpoint you should always have to own up because the dollars and cents are going to own up for you if you don't i kind of i'm on ocho side of this i think that press conferences and people that re and we play press conference clips here uh for me it's content for me it's like is there anything that's being said that it's entertaining but in terms of like anything tangible coming from a presser whatever like i don't really care what they say and it doesn't matter what they say like i'm going to be the best player on sunday great go do it like that to me the actions what matters not what some dude is saying like quite frankly i couldn't care less what a dude saying at a press conference and nothing that can be said at a press conference to me is going to influence their play like i remember when lovey smith was hired by the houston texan oh he won the press conference what does that do what does that mean what is tangible about that what if i went up there i was hired by the houston texan i win the press conference i'm never going to win a game as a head coach in the nfl so what does it matter that i won this press conference it's it's it does not matter it's mythical almost adam gase didn't win his press conference with the jets no his performance lived up to it so i think the biggest thing for me is is what we were talking about from an injury standpoint if you know that there's legit injuries there's always going to be that fine line of gamesmanship and you don't want to give your opponent anything more than what they they they need but at the same time you that's not what ocho said though he said why do fans in the media field of texan need to publicly address their issues what's best what the issue is well i mean it could be accountability it could be play calling it could be injuries i guess to your point uh i just i don't put a whole lot of stock in press conference and now if entertaining then we're going to play it and have fun with it and mock it and do all that because it's fun it's what we do we have fun zero three one two how many yards and touchdowns will nico have today i want to say that nico's going to get a hundo and yep i think he's going to get a hundo i think dallas's defense i think he'll get what he needs to get well that would definitely be an over yeah when he was the overall i i was just pulling that up but it's gonna be it's gotta be it's gotta be an over seven one three seven eight zero esp and what are your questions for the b seven one three seven eight zero three seven seven six i hate doing this whole prediction stuff uh do i think he scores uh sure sure over under is uh five and a half catches for seventy six and a half yards i'll go over on the i'll go over over those things yeah why not the touchdowns are kind of random mostly random like yeah i mean it's like most guys his lines are half a touchdown because that's pretty much the line for everybody now he's a great red zone target catches touchdowns but yeah i would i would take the over on catches especially i feel more comfortable with the options i think there's a chance he hits the default yeah probably he's their best default guy for sure probably don't sleep on Xavier Hutchinson i'm kidding seven one three seven eight zero three seven seven six i take the over on that score prediction from tonight seven one three seven eight zero three seven six what is your score prediction i think the Texans oh boy i'll say twenty eight seventeen see i hope so that means they probably score some points in the second half that's a cover although you just jump out at them um i have a feeling i hate doing the score stuff too as you can tell i have a feeling the Texans are going to win what is a we're not going to feel great about it tomorrow i have a feeling mix and ugly it up yeah well even even just like a uh who would they be like jackson bill type of win yeah now i don't think they're gonna necessarily last second i don't think they're necessarily gonna come from behind and have to come from behind to win but i feel like they're gonna win a game where the city tomorrow is gonna be like yeah i still really don't believe in them there's yeah i i think that when i saw the spread too at seven and a half i think that's just dangerous enough to where i think the Texans could win by a touchdown and people aren't going to be nearly satisfied with a win like that then if they blow the doors off the cowboys and win like when we have deejay and he says i feel like they're gonna win by three scores i hope you do and i hope you're right i don't seven one three seven eight zero esp and one two three four says what is your favorite golf club in Houston oh boy uh just to play as a course mine's braver obviously yeah okay you went for the cheap pop yeah i'm gonna i'll give you the true honest as i can be a pro it's braver Carlton Woods yeah it's not that one Carlton Woods that i think that's not bad with the equipment they trim with the toenail clippers that it's manicured so well i thought you meant james harden blade there and Donald sterling nine five eight two how do you drink your whiskey i like mine over big rock die coke coke i like mine over the big rock the best uh seven one with coke you can put a like a good whiskey in a coke for the die coke either that or neat i like mine i like mine on a big rock crown and die nice and cold if it's the right whiskey you can't doesn't really matter which way you can't drink good whiskey with a mixer i'm always great i've always had crowded so a crowded diet well that's not i mean that's that's not a great whiskey okay like i'm talking about like a top shelf whiskey yeah like you can't have a top shelf i mean if you've never had it there's uh there's a brand of whiskey in the hill country called her becca creek uh they they're fantastic and that that's what i would drink but it's a good whiskey like that you can really drink in any way you want it's fantastic no matter what seven one three seven eight zero espn what are your questions for the bees what do you think of the new ballpark name that made it made i guess it's not made it made anymore me to me it's i think i should call it the dyke i i think they should call it the big unit uh to me if we when you see some of these parks over the years that have changed names i mean you've got all the ones that at and t when it was the first the first time around with the giants it's changed multiple i think at least one time more than that you just have to understand that it's not about the stadium's name it's about the ambiance the atmosphere and stuff like that because if you don't settle in on any names that's that's way too serious of a take no it's true though i mean it was very serious is camped is it still camped in yards or is it a sponsor i think i don't know i know that they're reconfiguring the dimensions again no but seriously i think that the dyke in park call it the dyke at the dyke is a long wall or embankment built to prevent flooding from the sea our dyke in downtown houston's gonna prevent runs from flooding minute made park right well that's our new run right coordinator yeah i think it works i think it works hand-in-hand just call it the dyke we're gonna prevent runs from flooding minute made park i just don't smile at that why i can't because i know that's a great name for a great name i know how much fun the houstonians are going to have with that nickname for that ball park i think i i think that's a perfect three years before the people stopped calling it minimade anyway no you know how we are people are so good i still call i still call it in run for exactly i didn't like the minimade minimade name at first but over a period time you just get used to it you don't care anymore you don't like my nickname it's fine yeah we're not gonna we're gonna prevent runs from flooding minute made park from the opposition are you gonna put your thumb in it what would i do that is that's an expression gotta put your thumb in the dyke that's an expression yep never heard that never heard it what do you what do you stop to stop the leakage to stop the how poor is your dyke the dyke designed if you're having to put your thumb in it it's just an expression brian from where okay rosio donnell yeah okay all right wow four two six zero how much how how much does play to your opponent use the german brain how much does play in your opponent come into play tonight phillip 68 look i think that for a lot of reasons the cowboys on the outside there might not be a lot to play for the cowboys don't want to get embarrassed tonight and it is national gerry doesn't yeah and we know that gerry cares when they lose to the texan does that matter though i don't want to lose by 30 like the parsons has extra motivation there's going to be enough going on here that i i think that in this specific case it's not like you're playing tennessee although there's something that's i'm sure a lot of the jags yesterday were like we're not going to lose to 30 by the lions and they get beat by 46 like the whole like i desire to keep this game close like this what is the actual weight in it yeah it's kind like the same momentum is only as good as your next day starting picture like the desire to win is only as good as your quarterback is i mean cooper rush trade lands i don't think it matters all that much yeah what the motivation is zero nine seven nine seven nine seven nine seven nine seven nine seven nine i think i think i think i think there's still something to it just for certain players zero nine seven nine's explaining to us what uh dyke and park means no i think that's the name show as to which should it be it's something that you build to prevent flooding from the sea we're going to have our very own in downtown houston to prevent flooding of runs from the opposition well what's wrong with that it's short for the actual name i don't know why i think it's so funny i really don't i think you do i have no idea why else why i think that's funny i love how committed to the bit you are one was a fight like tyson jake paul uh the other one was really a fight john jones and steppe what's next for john john and what are we making the fight that's what we're really going to talk about you guys watch it uh we'll talk about when we come back brian don't ruin my tea seven one three seven eight zero 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