[MUSIC] >> Fan morning to 4759 of the van. >> Ben Ennis, Brad Gunning. >> Blue Jays with yet another opportunity to get to 500 for the first time since April. >> This afternoon, two o'clock in Sportsnet, Sportsnet 590 of the van in Milwaukee. Chris Bassett on the mountain against Tobias Myers. And a Brewers team that. >> I think I would be excited to watch that Brewers team. >> Lot happening. >> There's a lot going on. A lot of really fast guys, like all guy gets on first base. There's always a chance of stealing second base. Guy's on first and second with two out, down two runs like double steel. >> And that was just quickly on that. That was my favorite thing. If they must have had something on Garcia, no, that was a bad jump and they almost got caught. They're just doing it. >> Yeah. >> Bob Cole, the late Bob Cole should call Brewers games because it's a lot of old baby. >> Everything is happening. >> It is. >> No, you're right, it's the, it's just, it's just hair on fire baseball. >> Yeah. >> And sometimes you would want to set your own hair on fire. I'm sure after watching it right, because a team like that is going to run into outs. They're going to, like, if you're pushing, if you're pushing the pace, pushing the agenda in that way, you're going to make your share of outs in that regard. But yeah, a lot happening, bad, bad season for the managerial brethren of Major League Baseball and Craig Council gets scooped up by the Cubs, like, we got to get this guy. Sorry, Brewers, for the big bad Cubs, Brewers still good, Cubs, not a manager away from being good. >> No. >> Not even a former MVP and Cody Bellinger away from being good. >> Anyways. >> Yeah, but the fake former MVP, like you were ringing the alarm bells, it's like. >> Yeah. >> Oh, the Bellinger is not good. He hasn't been good for a while. >> You're right. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Juan Soto, quite good. >> You know, I want to disagree with you on a lot, but when you say things that smart, it's hard to. >> Yeah, and he is acclimatized pretty well to the New York market, I'd say. >> Shot. >> Had, like, the one little injury scare, where he missed a couple of days in the starting lot, he's back. Isn't OPS over 1,000? He and Aaron Judge are doing the thing that we thought might happen, where it's like the most dangerous 1-2 punch in the middle of an order, righty lefty. >> Yep. >> Maybe that we've ever seen. Like, honestly, it's terrifying. And they didn't quite look at the peak of their powers when they were in Toronto last. The Blue Jays, as you will recall it, it chances us, sweep them away. In fact, had a lead in the ninth inning against them, couldn't quite do it, still one to it in many ways. >> Yeah, see if they can do that next time around. When Aaron Judge looks more like himself, because remember, he was going through a little time. >> Yeah, a little harder. Aaron's now does Aaron Judge anyways. So Juan Soto, the traded forum, he's a pending free agent. You may also know that Scott Morris is his agent. He's also turned down a more than $400 million extension from the Washington Nationals. That's why they were like, well, what are we supposed to do here? And they traded him away to San Diego. And no doubt, the Padres also made intimations about extensions, because they give all the money out to even guys that aren't as good as Juan Soto, like the Andrew Bogart. >> Although they tell him they're like, we don't have it though, you've got to go to the bank to get it. It's like, we'll give you the money in theory, but it's like, we're then going to have to trade away all your teammates because we don't have any money. >> Sure, sure, sure, sure, anyways, but then they traded him away because he's like, okay, we can't afford to lose this guy for nothing. The Yankees obviously understand that that's a possibility here as well, but they, I think are uniquely positioned to give Joe Hayo, sorry, Juan Soto, all the money he so desires to- >> Despite squawking about otherwise. >> Sure. I mean, speaking out of the both sides of their mouth, Hal Steinbrenner, I think in the media availability before that was like, yeah, we're open to an extension. I know that's not how they do things, but let's talk extension, they's like, but we've got this payroll. >> So what happened there was the ghost of his father did the first presser and then his conscience took over for the second. >> Right. But anyways, it does feel like Juan Soto is going to free agency. That's happening. And since those Yankee comments have come out, Juan Soto has basically said, yeah, like, I'm for sale. It's like, I'll be happy wherever I'm going, which is basically like, give me the most money and I'll play for your team. >> He's doing the finger thing, because he wants the money. >> And it's the money. So the New York Post Joel Sherman has a call him out right now talking about what's happening with Soto and the possibility of him returning to the New York Yankees and what could happen to him in free agency and here's a pull quote from it. So, Shohei Otani offered unique opportunities, both as a player and for his marketability. Thus, teams might not be willing to extend quite as far for Soto. Nevertheless, the Cubs and Blue Jays were in on Otani. And I would imagine they would try to be aggressive on Soto considering his age and impact. Again, this player is 25. >> The marketability line in that was odd to me, is he just stating that no one show Hey, Otani? >> Yeah. >> Because I would say outside of Otani, and you know, you could certainly quibble with other players, but Soto is as sellable an asset in the sport as there is, like, for a baseball player. >> Yeah. >> He does the cool thing when he takes a ball. >> Yeah. >> And he drives winning, what's cooler than winning? >> Honestly. >> I mean, all the Padres didn't make playoffs on it. Anyways, this would be doing pretty well in New York with the Yankees. Does the Blue Jays outlaying and also in this story, he talks about the potential numbers and it's starting at $47 million a season, which would be $47 million a season is the real world value of the Shohei Otani deal. It's not $70 million, right? Like it's not 10 times 70 and the 700 million, it's because of everything's deferred. The real world value of Shohei Otani's deal, I think everybody in the sport accepts to be an annual average value of $47 million. And that has been identified as the key figure in this that Scott Morris in going to free agency wants that to be the number that it starts at, whatever, 10 times 47, maybe beyond that. >> The first 25 years old, and he's been remarkably healthy, remarkably consistent, and market doesn't matter to him. He went to New York to the play for the most storied franchise in the sport, and he's having maybe his best season, stupid. Does he make sense if the Blue Jays were willing to outlay the $700 million for Shohei Otani, which they clearly were, like didn't feel like it came down to money, like everybody was on board. If you were in the Shohei Otani sweepstakes and you can quibble as to whether the Blue Jays should have been or were duped or whatever, they clearly had the money there, they were ready to do it. If he agreed, if the money was there for Shohei Otani, should it be there for Juan Soto? >> I, let me preface this by my general belief with all of these, and it has to be, this isn't a Cody Bellinger Blake Snell conversation. This is a Shohei Otani Juan Soto, you know, I'm sure there are a couple other players in baseball we could put into this if should they reach free agency that it's not a cap sport. Competitive balance tax, all that, but yes, you should. There's no world where it doesn't make sense unless you're going complete scorched earth and you are just tearing it right down to the studs and I don't think that is happening. So from a Blue Jays perspective, of course it makes sense. This team needs a bat. He is in a age where you can have several kind of mini windows within the contract that you're gonna sign. I look at it the other way, do the Blue Jays make sense for Soto? If the money's there, like to me, what seems pretty clear is the guy doesn't care. He'll play for the Toronto Maple Leafs at Christie Pitts if they give him $60 million a year. >> Would love to see that by the way. >> That'd be sick. But okay, so I guess what I go to that is where we ultimately always end up with the Blue Jays and these free agencies. The money will be there. And then if you're the Yankees and you want them, you know, okay, we'll match and he goes, yep, all right, that's fine. I'd rather, I just, what would it have to be or what would it spend the Yankees? >> Yeah, but does it not, does it not, or how high does it have to go to where the Yankees say, you know what, we're good. >> Oh, there's a number. >> Everybody has a number. >> Of course there's a number. But then if the Yankees are not willing to go there for a guy who, again, proof of concept has done it in that city, has proven it, I just don't know that the Jays will get to a point. I can't see the Blue Jays being more desperate to lay them on Soto than the Yankees if this season kind of plays out the way the season has for police. >> I can absolutely seeing them be more desperate. If they miss the playoffs, they just spent half a billion dollars on stadium renovations and people are sick of this team. And boy, the shocking number, shout out to Andrew Stoden who had the number on Blue Jays record when scoring at least three runs in a baseball game, I'm trying to find it right now. But something stupid, like 30 and 12 this season, when they scored like three runs, that's not many runs. Like a very low number of runs, if you won, if you scored three runs, if you could sign up for your team to score three runs a game, you'd be devastated. >> Yes. >> That's all they did. It's like every game, three runs. But the Blue Jays, once they get to that magic number, which is no giant heel to climb, they win a baseball game. So it's not outrageous to say that they're like one player away. One Soto himself feels like he's worth a run a game. >> For sure. >> Like how many times with a runner on base and one Soto coming up with the Blue Jays have reached that magic three run threshold this season, feels like more than a few. And again, like the investment that's already occurred in this team, I could see a world where the Blue Jays are staring down the barrel of yeah, a lengthy rebuild unless we figure it out with somebody who is transformational, that somebody being one Soto. But I can also see the other side of it. >> Well, Blue Jays are about to have about $50 million come off their payroll. If just like all the free agents walk away is $50 million. >> Concruity, Janum. >> Yeah. >> Everybody, Justin Turner is making double digits. >> That's right. >> Kevin, Cure Myers making double digit millions. Remember, this is baseball. It's not hockey. >> No, I know you're right. >> All these guys that stink on one-year deals. >> Yeah, everybody's making Austin Matthews money, even guys that are not even everyday players anymore. >> Exactly. They have $50 million just walking out the door, they just let the free agents walk. So that's more than $47 million from this. You also have, well, Ray is coming for Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., who's arbitration eligible again. >> Mm-hm. >> Bob Shet's number is locked. And we have the other guys that deserve raises in our arbitration eligible, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. >> From the bottom of the world. >> Plus, we have like a whole team to fill. And also, didn't we just go through an off season where it was like, Daniel Vogelbach, how do you guarantee him $2 million, but it's money and money out? No, like how do you get Joey Votto up here? If he does perform in the minor leagues, again, Joey Votto, it went into a black hole. >> The gold stuff, Joey. >> Anyways, like how do you, you can't even, it's money and money out to the dollar. How are we gonna, how are you gonna possibly add? We're done adding, like we heard that explicitly from Ross Atkins that we're kind of at our payroll parameters at the moment, which is they're spending into the luxury tax. I'm not saying that they're not spending it up, but we're already seemingly at a level that they're not willing to surpass. Secondarily, if you're ownership here, and you've been sold this bill of goods on the stadium, which has been unbelievable, Mark Shapiro has hit on everything that he could have possibly told Rogers about what would happen to the stadium and how necessary the renovations were at Rogers Center. But that was supposed to be combined with, also, if you spend top 10 in baseball, look at what we'll produce. And I guess there's still time to figure it out, but last season, 89 wins, no playoff wins over this window. How willing is Rogers gonna be to say, yeah, all right, I know it hasn't worked yet, and we're in a downward trajectory, despite more money being thrown at this thing, sure, we'll give one Soto 60 million times 10, $600 million in real money. I don't see it happening. I think it's the best and easiest way to turn this team from snore, more often than not, to like actually good. And it is not unreasonable to think about one player making that kind of outsized impact when you just need three runs to win a baseball game. But it's just, it would be a hard sell. I'd almost be sheepish if I was this Blue Jays front office and say, I know it's all been a disaster. I get it. It's all in a nightmare when it comes to this roster building. But you know here, we have a solution spend more, but there's also like if you're, you know, in for a penny in for a pound, like you're already pot committed here, like throw it all all into the middle of the table. >> Yeah. So what the money and money out part of it, we've seen this from this team and not even just in this front office, but with this team that there is kind of two versions of that. Yeah, for a Daniel Vogelbock of the world, money and money out. Yes, for him, that's how you operate. But for a real difference maker, this team has proven that that's not how they operate. Obviously, and again, Otani is the difference maker of difference makers, both in terms of baseball and financially. But we've seen this before where there is a whole separate bucket of money that is for the whole separate bucket of money is for transcendent special players versus guys who fill out your 26 man. >> But I'm sure there was like a real financial case to be made for Choyo Todd. >> Yes. >> There were like real dollars in the Asian market and the amount that he brings in. And as great as Juan Soto is and as marketable as he is and like it, uncrustables is gonna push Vlad and George bring it to the side. And it's like all the Juan Soto now, even though Rogers doesn't recoup that money. But you know what I mean? I tell a bunch of jerseys, they're gonna do, he's gonna face the franchise, not the same as the guy that's like a global phenomenon. >> It's not the same, but if you are of the belief and I don't know that this is the right belief, I think again, it's not my money, it's not a cap sport, go get the players generally my belief on these things. But if they're of the belief that they are one bad away and, you know, again, I'm not necessarily there, but clearly they think that they built this team this way that if you're of the belief that that's what it takes to get into the post season and you're sitting here talking about whatever amount of money you've sunk into the stadium Renault, you want people to see it, you want people to enjoy it. And I think that's the element that could kind of be the thing that would tip ownership back into saying, okay, you know what, we are good to kind of check for whatever it be for Juan Soto. >> And maybe this team's performance the rest of the season, making the playoffs and hey, man, maybe winning a series or two, again, hard to imagine them winning a world series if the best team wins because I find it hard to believe that this team is going to look like the best team. >> That never happens in baseball anyways. >> Yeah, well, that's, yeah, I think, you know, we sell ourselves on this idea that it's just it's random, random, random, chip in a chair and I just I don't know if that's the case. >> I don't think it's random, random, chip in a chair. I also think it is like just like this is the case in all sports unless it's the, well, I don't think the chiefs of the best team, they just have the best player, but it does it. Like, I don't know that the pants, I guess Panthers, I don't know, like, I have no of the Panthers to the best team in the NHL. >> I think there's a pretty good case to be made and I think a lot of people were saying that going into this postseason, like the idea of them winning and looking like the best team in every series, even when they're trailing to the Rangers, like, I think, yeah, I think we sell ourselves on this random thing than like, yeah, you get to the postseason, this is a tournament. >> Yeah. >> I don't think there's a single elimination anymore in baseball anyways. >> Yeah. >> I've got your best team in baseball for like a decade and one fake one to show for it. >> Yep, yep, yep. It doesn't guarantee you anything. >> Yep. >> But yeah, it's hard to be like a really crappy team in retrospect and win it. Like I know the Rangers didn't have the best record in baseball, but who looked at that team and especially the way they were performing and thought they were undeserving champions. I think we could have said that about the Diamondbacks. >> Yes, very much so. >> They didn't win though. >> Nope. >> So we'll see if that impacts the way the Blue Jays go about free agency this offseason. We'll also see how this, listen, again, I'm on record of saying crappy teams make the playoffs and that indicates nothing to me that you're like a good team if you make the playoffs in this era of Major League Baseball, we're six teams in each league make it. But does it impact Ross Atkins' job security? If he can just point to, hey man, yeah, I know it wasn't the way we drew it up. We figured it out. We got into the playoffs with like 85, 86, 88 wins. >> Whatever, yeah. >> Like are we looking at a scenario at the end of the season where Ross Atkins is still the general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays because they made the playoffs? >> Not because they made the playoffs. If you win your wild card series and you have a hard fought, five game loss, maybe there's a world, but just get in, not a chance. Just compare it to the other team we talk about in this market all the time. Just getting in wouldn't have been enough, just winning around wouldn't have been enough quite frankly. And we're getting to the point in the tenure here where that's the case. I mean, people are clamoring for his job now we're in the middle of the season. I don't think that's going to happen, but there's no world where making the playoffs should be enough to save his job at the end of the year. Not a chance. I don't know that it's true. I don't know that that is ultimately what will happen. But if I am the, if I am the designer, no way, no how. By the way, yeah, that status 32 in San the Blue Jays are when scoring at least three runs. I'll talk more about this one sort of thing, but Dan Schulman later on, but it's US Open Week. We're gonna talk to Adam Steinling just a second. And some reports on the speed of the Greens like outrageous like tigers like, hey, don't lean on your potter too much or it'll slip out from under you and you'll go face planting into the turtle shell greens at Pinehurst number two. Obviously, Scotty Scheffler is the favorite and like historic number when it comes to the betting markets. And you know, the big joke by all the players at Pinehurst and some of the media availabilities is that he's like spending time in a jail cell away away from being in search of his third part of the season slam. I would say parenthetically to that in the like jail round, like he was pretty good. Yeah. No, it was the aftermath of jail. Yeah. Yeah. He was like a delayed reaction. He sat and was like, I was in jail. Yes. What? And then it came crashing down and Andy didn't have his man Ted Scott on it like that. We joke about it, but he didn't have his caddy for the one round. Yeah. Stunk at it. And that's not nothing. Whose legacy is most on the line here? What do you think about when it comes to a legacy perspective this week at the US Open? Scottie Scheffler, obviously the best thing that could happen for his legacy. Like, let's not, let's not get too cute with this take is him winning. That's the best thing that can happen is just him to continue to rip off majors, him win a major that's not a master. That'd be super important for him as well because no one's going to sit here and begrudge Scottie Scheffler. If he ends his career is four time master's champ and nothing else in the, in the majors, but you would like to kind of check another box here. But he, if he's not going to win, I don't think he can really afford a non big dog to win in the 10 majors since he is one. Half of them have been half of the major champions. It now, or when we look back with even a few years of hindsight can look pretty underwhelming. So the year he won his first masters, he wins the masters Justin Thomas wins the PGA. Okay. Those are both great winners. No one's going to sit here and quibble with either. Matthew Fitzpatrick wins the US Open. That was a great win. I enjoyed watching him. Matthew Fitzpatrick is a good player. When we look back at 10 years from now, we're not going to say, oh, you know, to old Matt Fitzpatrick. It's just not the way we're going to talk about it. Cameron Smith felt like he was ascending to become one of these guys that we talked about in this way. That's who won the Open Championship that year. He left for live and has kind of been a non factor since he's had his moments where he's popped up with like a top five in majors, but he's out of sight, out of mind completely. The next year, you get Ram and Kepka winning the first two majors. Those are both legit guys, but even John Ram, you know, he's a two time major champ. We're going to look at him that way, but this is a guy who is also kind of lost in the wilderness here. And then you have Wyndham Clark and Brian Harmon winning your majors. And then this year, Scotty's won the first ones, Andrew wins the second and Sandra Schoffley's an incredible player, but he was also the perennial choker of his time. There is a world where if it's Rory, if it's Kepka, you know, there, there's a pretty wide breath of guys this could be even if it's speech or somebody like that, that it makes this stretch look more impressive for Scheffler than if it is another, you know, Wyndham Clark, honestly, even a guy like Max home, a super popular player, everyone's loved to see him win. But if it's somebody like that, there's a world where we look back on the Scheffler stretch in a different way that he was kind of beating all the live jobbers on the PGA tour. And yeah, he won a couple, he won a couple of masters in there like it's crazy to say, but a legitimate winner outside of him is actually the best thing for his legacy this week. Yeah, as long as he's also in the mix, right? Yes, of course. Yeah. Well, no, he can afford to have honestly, he can afford to completely bow out of this and that and not have a not be a factor this week. So long as the at the open championship, he's back in the mix again. Like I think there is, I don't think he needs to be there every single time to kind of carry this legacy forward, but I think he needs to have other guys at the top of these boards that we will look back on and remember a certain type of way. I'm old enough to remember when it was like the live tour needed one of their guys to compete at the majors to legitimize themselves. Mm hmm. I'm kind of at the same place with the PGA tour now, like the PGA tour and what? Scheffler's amazing. Yeah. He's having an amazing run and he's a great golfer and he's obviously a major champion already and he's he's contended at other majors outside of Augusta and the only ones he was one is that Augusta National, which is like, that's the one if you had your druthers, I think you'd pick it for sure because he had to play there forever and it's Augusta. Come on. Let's get real here. Yeah. But if that's all he wins and again, like it's a good one, Masters is weird because the short field as well. And it's just like so local knowledge that like, yeah, you can get, you have Freddy couples making the cutted, you know, quadrillion years old, longer. Sure. Like, yeah, it's a little different. But if we keep playing out the string here with majors after the guys at a historic pace when it comes to PGA tour victories with five already before the US open, it's it's going to, for me, paint the picture. He's not a fraud. I don't know. Nobody. Nobody's a scottie. Scheffler's a fraud. But to be like little undertones of fraudulent with all the accomplishments that he's picked up on the PGA tour this year, if like, if he's not at the tippy top of the leaderboard or close to it at Pinehurst number two on Sunday. If you were calling him a fraud, I was going to, I was going to call officer Gillis up here from Louisville to, to arrest you for that because that's just such a such an atrocious take. But you didn't say it. So we can. No, no, no, he's not a fraud, total fraud. So just, I was looking back at Rory, always think of him in major weeks. He had all four of his majors in the three year span. And it's just something I like to remind everybody of how fleeting this doesn't last forever. Yep. Hey, David Duvall. What a run he had. And then said someone. Yeah. Became nothing. All right. Rogers has announced an exciting new national contest brings Stanley home to send Rogers customers and hockey fans from across Canada to the Stanley Cup final in Edmondson. Rogers customers have the chance to win 10 VIP trips for two to attend game four in Edmonton on Saturday, June 15th. This prize also including travel and accommodation plus premium viewing the game day concert featuring Shania Twain outside Rogers place visit Rogers.com slash Stanley Cup to enter for your chance to win and for more details. When we come back from Pinehurst, Adam Stanley, sports net golf reporter as the fan morning show continues, Ben and his prank gunning sports at 590 the fan unrivaled insight analysis and opinions on all things blue Jays Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And that means a wild summer for Adam Stanley jet said and all over the place currently at Pinehurst, North Carolina, getting set for the US Open Pinehurst number two, which starts tomorrow. Nothing no better Father's Day tradition than the final round of the Masters on the Sun or of US Open on a Sunday on Father's Day. It's Adam Stanley sports net golf reporter. How's it going? It's going pretty good guys. How are you? I'm doing all right. Okay. Do we have an update on like the security affair outside of the gates at Pinehurst like what's what like has there been an adjustment made since the little debacle in Louisville? Did they put like a sticker on Scotty Sheffler? So it's like if you have this sticker, you can go through. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Scotty actually has a very special credential. It's just like do not do not arrest everything's okay. It's the green jacket. Actually, he's just wearing it. Yeah. He is a turquoise land. You're doing else has one. No, again, it's so I like Scotty did his media presser yesterday and he's like slanked by three three police officers like being just escorted into the place like I don't know. It's just so it's so funny like the story just never never dies. He was even real quick. He was asked yesterday. I don't know if you guys saw it. It's been like all over the Gulf meme accounts, but somebody played like a member guest in Louisville on the weekend and they arrived at the golf club. I saw this. Yeah. With like a stuffed like the police officer like attached to his his car like on the side of the car with like the best son and stuff just like getting dragged like an air quotes getting dragged into the in the parking lot of the member guests and somebody asked Scotty if he like saw that and he's like, I shot, you know, in the moment, not that funny. Now, thankfully we can laugh about it, but he's like, I saw it like that's great. It's great that you thought that was that's amazing. That is amazing. And we can all have a laugh about it now that the charges have been dropped only after Scotty Sheffler agreed to not sue the pants off of nope on intended police department. I always drop. Yeah. He is unreal right now. He's already five time winner like we haven't reached us open. He's he's he's done all the things and he has a major and maybe he would have had a second if we didn't spend some time in the clink in Louisville, but we'll never know. I don't know that the almost the more he wins. The more I need it legitimized by a major championship. Like I understand he's great and he's already won at Augusta a couple of times. But yeah, it's hard not to think about, hey, where is the challenger to him on the PGA tour? Like how much does he need like to enter the conversation for, you know, one of the greatest runs of professional golf and nobody will ever be tiger, but like to be like second tiger, how much does he need to keep rocking up these majors? Yeah, I mean, I think at the end of the at the end of the career, at the end of the time, like he's going to be judged by how many major championships he's won. He's not going to be judged by how many signature events he's won and because those are basically just made up. But if you kind of zoom out and you realize like the golf courses that he's won on in like a four month time span, you know, Augusta National, TPC Sawgrass, Arnold Palmer's event, Jack Nicholas's event, he won a Hilton head like if you take that and say like that's someone's career, like that would be absolutely incredible and Scottie Sheffler has done that in like four months. So it truly is a historic kind of run from Scottie Sheffler that we haven't seen kind of this side of like peak tiger woods. You know, if you're looking at the odds, there hasn't been shorter odds on an individual in men's professional golf since Tiger Woods in in 2009 to win the PGA championship. I think Tiger was like plus 190 to win that week. Scottie's plus 300 to win this week at the US Open and it's just like pick pick a statistic, pick anyone and he's leading or, you know, within the top three of it pick any golf course that would challenge these guys, unlike any other on the PGA tour and he's already won on that. Pick the mental fortitude, pick the golf swing, pitch, you know, pick the driver, the the ball striking the putting, which is now significantly proof like everything is just so truly incredible and so much better than everyone else that like, yeah, we could really be one overzealous police officer away from like Scottie Sheffler not winning the grand slam this week because if he does not win this week, I think that's going to be one of the biggest surprises of the year. Yeah, we could. I'm not calling this, but we could also be looking at a world where in three years time Scottie Sheffler has three, maybe four career majors and for most people, that'd be incredible. But for him, it'd feel like a disappointment, you know, obviously, you know, where I'm going with this. I look at Rory ripped off the four majors in four years and if you would have gone back then even even if we would have gone to our mutual friend Sam McKee, the biggest Rory hater we could think of even he would have said that, hey, he's going to have more than four and 10 years time, obviously, he's going to run in to just one or two that I wonder how much Sheffler is feeling the pressure of half in a strike while the iron's hot. And you know, I think he just looks at not that he doesn't appreciate the majors, but obviously he understands the importance of winning. But I just wonder how he's able to kind of balance the because every player has this in this sport, you know, it doesn't look like Scottie Sheffler's peak, but guys need to take advantage when they're in this kind of special zone. I just wonder how much he feels the pressure or because of all the success that's come. If you think he kind of feels like he's almost to a certain extent playing with House Money at this point. Yeah, I mean, it's a great kind of two part question and I almost compare it a little bit to Brooke Henderson in the most, you know, complementary kind of way. She has very quickly become a bit of a victim of her own success. I mean, she's the winningest Canadian in the history of this game. She's got two majors, you know, I could et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And yet, you know, when she, you know, when she doesn't win and when she doesn't win a major, when she doesn't contend, it's like, what's wrong with Brooke? And people are asking me that now, what's wrong with Brooke? Brooke has five top 10 in like 10 tournaments this year. She finished, she finished in the top 10 50% of the time. There's nothing wrong with Brooke. Golf is hard. Golf is very hard. So it's kind of one of these comparative to Scottie Sheffler because he has been doing so well for so long. The body of work is just showing that like this guy should be winning a lot and he has been, but to your point from a major championship perspective, you know, if we get to 2027 and Scotty's only got, you know, three majors in a 15 or 20 major, major run, there's going to be some questions about how did he not, how did he not do it? Now I will say quickly from kind of a Scotty Sheffler compartmentalization perspective from a mental approach perspective, you know, he is probably just the strongest mental guy out here as well, just with respect to like, I'm living in a moment, you know, I'm having fun with my friends, I'm enjoying being a first time dad, you know, I'm kind of figuring it all out and, you know, life's great sort of thing. And if that's, if that's his perspective on just golf and life and what have you, then, you know, then that's okay. I mean, we are all thinking Scottie Sheffler should be winning every major ECU's for the next five years, but for him, he's kind of like, well, my life's awesome. I don't really care if I win or not. That's the worst. Honestly, it's the best and it's like absolutely the correct perspective. Isn't it? Well, in pro sports, we're not used to having it both ways where it's like, you're either the best and you're a psycho, right? Like your, or you're like, or you're closer to like the correct perspective and you don't win as much. It's not really fair, honestly, Adam, that he gets to do both. Yeah, because we've, we've only known from a complete and utter dominance perspective, we've only known Tiger Woods. And the way that Tiger Woods won with the hellacious fist pumps and the screams and the complete domination of, of wins, you know, you won the US over by 15 shots or whatever it is, right? Like it's all gas, no breaks. And when a singular individual has been responsible to inspire a complete generation of guys in the sport, all we have is to compare this generation of guys to the man who came before them. His winning, like, in, like, he's basically pillow fighting his way to all these major championships. And Tiger Woods is like uppercutting his way to all those major championships. So it's a completely different way of doing it. But at the end of the day, they're still lifting trophies. They're still, you know, playing better than anyone else has. And I think that's, you know, I think that's a little bit part of it is kind of like we're waving for Scottie. Do you just go and like step on someone's neck? Like I said, but it's like, no, I'm good. I'm just awesome. Yeah. The good thing is the Roger Maltby call from that Tiger major stands up for both of it's just not a fair fight. It's just not not a fair fight. Somebody who was back in the fight at the last major we saw, I couldn't believe I found myself pulling for him. And I think it might be the best story for golf if this player won. What are your thoughts on Bryson D. Shambo heading into the US Open? This is a guy who's won a US Open. Now he wanted it a very different venue with no crowds present. What are your thoughts on Bryson heading into the week? Yeah. I mean, Bryson's distance, no matter what tournament it's going to be, especially at a place like this, it's going to be ultra crispy by the time we get to the weekend. Like it's going to be an advantage for him. But I think I've long said this. Maybe we've talked about this before, but like, you know, the masters just kind of befuddled him a little bit because you got to be, you got to be an artist around there and he's more of a scientist. And I do think that Pinehurst is a little bit of the same. Like I was talking to Nick Taylor yesterday and he was saying, you know, I might be putting from off the green. I might be using a hybrid. I might be using wedges. Like I might be using long irons. There's all these other things that I could be doing. And yes, Bryson D. Shambo has a unique brain and he's tapped into different parts of it, you know, to kind of be that mad scientist to try to maximize what is available to him to play good golf. But I do think that the thing that might hinder him this week, despite the fact that, you know, he's going to hit it longer than anybody, is just kind of be the around the green shots. I'm just not sure if he's got them. Now to your point, real quick about kind of entertainment value, 100% agree. Bryson and Shambo being in the mix of the PGA Championship was great. I'm not alone in thinking that when Mr. J. Monahan snatched some of my walk and talk time with Rory McElroy at the Canadian Open. I overheard Rory saying to J. Monahan, like Bryson was the, you know, was the entertainment value at the PGA Championship, right? Like he was, he was the guy that people were, you know, Xander Schofle, a deserved winner, incredible career, finally broke through and got the monkey off his back. But the entertainment value really came from Bryson and how he played. And I think the same thing is going to be true, you know, this week, if he gets in the mix, people are going to tune in because they're going to want to see what he does next. Yeah. I can't wait to see it. It's weird how he became such a, like, almost lovable character. I forgot what the line online was, but there really does need to be a case study done on how he was able to take a hundred plus million dollars from the Saudis and somehow get more popular. It's jarring. Yeah. The returns haven't been so good for John Rahm, though, right? Like, since he took the live money, we got a T-45 at Augusta, a missed cut at the PGA Championship. Now we got a foot injury, which is keeping him from the field this week, which is hard to put on the live tour stuff, but it's like, I don't know, we watch sports at him. Like, does it not feel like he just hit, like, the karma point at the wrong point? And that he's just, it just feels like his career went totally sideways in signing that check. A million percent. And I think, like, you know, you look at, you know, Jordan speed, missed the cut of the master's, finished tied for 45th or whatever was the PGA and you're kind of like, you know, these things happen. You know, golf is hard. We talked about that a few minutes ago. But as you zoom out and as time goes by, like, yeah, like, is this, as it stands right the second, the bigger, the big, the biggest differentiator between 2024 and 2023 is that John Rahm picked a bag. He took the bag from live. And this is how he's played this year versus, you know, how he played last year, a completely different kind of scene for him. Another curious point. I'm so glad he brought up John Rahm after, after Bryson because somebody posted on, on Twitter, which I thought was fascinating that, you know, if these two tours do end up coming back together, we may see John Rahm playing extremely well again. In the mix of the, you know, PGA tour events or whatever, kind of this new thing looks like. And Bryson, the Shambo may, may people may be playing poorly like the move to live has allowed Bryson, the Shambo to just be Bryson, the Shambo and maybe that's exactly what he needed to become popular to make content and to play golf at a high level. John Rahm, I think maybe assumed, I guess that, you know, his, his needle moved the game or would have moved the game a lot further down kind of this road of unification and it just hasn't. And, you know, he's had to go and be the three round guy with the music and the dumb uniforms. And I don't think that that's something that he personally ever would have wanted to do. No, I mean, you could, you could see it from, I mean, when he told us his honest opinion on the matter before he took the money and then I keep going back to those interviews he did with Marty Smith at Augusta. He looked like he was Ron Burgundy in the bear pit. Like I cannot believe what I have done. I've made an incredible mistake. He just looks kind of shell shocked. Honestly, you mentioned the, the crispy nature of Pinehurst. Are we going to get our bloodbath US open? I am, you know, not that I'm not wholly engaged in this conversation, but I've been watching Johnson Wagner hit some chips on golf channel while I've been talking to you. And it looks tough out there. We love a bloodbath of, of a US open, are we going to get one this year? Yeah. Short answer. Yes. This is the director of golf here at Pinehurst. You know, I had a conversation a couple of days ago and he said that if it's going to be firm and fast, which it does look to be that way, winning score is probably going to be even par may, may be one under it. If it, if we're, if we get any weather, he said it might be kind of five or six hundred par, but no weather is going to be coming. Like guys, honestly, over the next couple of days it's going to be like 34 every day. And I walked, I walked around yesterday and it was like, I was like walking through a bowl of like clam chowder. Like it's so, it's so, it's so, it's so hot and it's, and it's going to be that way for the next few days. So it's going to be rip and quick, you know, pick your adjective. And Nick Taylor, again, you know, I want to share kind of insights from, from the guys because they're the ones that actually doing it, but he was like, honestly man, like, take the pins out and just try to fire at the middle of every green. And he's like, that's my plan this week, because if you get too cute, if you get kind of too, too anxious or too eager to try to score, you know, you're going to, you're going to miss it. Corey Conner said the same thing. He was like, honestly, if you're on the green, but you're in the wrong part of the green, like it's going to be better if you just miss the green completely. So yeah, the guy, some of these guys, the best players in the world, PGA Tour winners, they're saying like, I'm just going to try to fire at the middle of every single green and see what happens. That doesn't really sound like it's going to be a recipe for birdies. And I think like a lot of the viewing public, you know, once, once birdies, they want to see scores. But I think this golf course is such a like shining star that the creativity, the uniqueness of the layout, the shots of these guys are going to be hitting the fact that there is no PGA Tour venue like this at any other spot in the calendar. I think that's what's going to make for interesting TV and that's what's going to make for interesting entertainment. Yeah, bloodbath, US Open, a soupy US Open, it's going to be, it's going to be quite, it's going to be, I think we're coming down the wire to like an all-timer major championship just because of all the things that are happening and where this particular major championship is happening as well. I can't wait for it. I mean, and then add on to that the Canadian subplot of this being the final week to qualify for the Olympics, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin in it. Only two guys get in, Corey Connors was just leapfrog by Hadwin last week, Taylor Pendreth still in the mix. I guess Mackenzie Hughes still in the mix. I mean, how much does it mean to those guys to be flying the Canadian flag in Paris this summer? Yeah, I mean, in general terms, it means a heck of a lot and especially like all these guys are deserving, don't get me wrong. I do find it fascinating that Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor have maybe come out and said a little bit more like how much it means to them and it's just purely because of how old they are. They're the oldest of this incredible generation that we're seeing on the PGA Tour right now. You know, when the next Olympics comes along in LA, Nick Taylor is going to be 40, Adam Hadwin's going to be 41. So both of them kind of know it's probably going to be this year or not again. So for them, I think it means a little bit something more for them just given how old they are, which kind of we've seen over the last little while. Nick Taylor's spot, I think, is pretty much confirmed, but this race, like forget the fact that we're Canadians, we're Canadian golfers and we care about it. Like, you look at those standings, there's not another team that has a close race out of any other country other than ours, like for two spots. The American race for the four spots, it's pretty tight as well. But for two spots, given how many guys there are, there's fully six of them that could make it 10 to 66 in the world, Hughes is 65. Hadwin obviously in right now, and Nick Taylor's obviously in and Corey Connors is just on the outside looking in too. Any good, really good result this week at a major with all the extra points on the line could completely shake up the entire makeup of the Canadian men's Olympic golf team, which is pretty thick when you think about it. I love it. Man, what a week at Pinehurst. You'll be all over it. We know. Thanks for doing this, Adam. No worries. I appreciate the time. All right. There's Adam Stanley, sports sent golf reporter on the grounds at Pinehurst, where they will play number two, where the greens are stupid fast. And I don't know. And Adam's talking about like, maybe there are people that are like, give me all the birdies. I want them. Twenty five under finish. I, man, I love seeing the frustration on the faces of these guys. I love the like, who's going to be the first to whine about it being like, oh, it's, it's all over the line. It's unfair. It's unplayable. The greens at Pinehurst. Unfortunately, Taylor Guich won't be there. Yeah. He was my first blush guy to just complain about something in general. We haven't had a U S open that's finished, forget about a positive score, even anything close to it since kept guy in 2018. That was when it was at Shinnecock. The layman golf fan may remember that from Phil Mickelson putting a moving ball because he was set up. It's a good move. Great move. I'd love to see someone get so annoyed. They do that this week. I, I, I am not someone. This is such a common thing of people loathing the low score in a major. I don't care if my masters, if my PGA championship finishes at 16, seven, I don't care. That's fine by me. Absolutely not for my U S open when I'm sitting on the couch on father's day. I want to think these guys suck just as much as I do and I want to watch it. So please, please give me a bloodbath again, it's been, it's been six years since we've had a May, a U S open that's finished at a positive score. Give it to me. Yeah. I feel like it could be coming. Be a bummer, honestly, if it's not after everything that's been talked about when it comes to these screens. All right. Time now for the Wakenrike presented by Sports Interaction, your homegrown Sportsbook 19 plus bet responsibly blue jays looking for their second consecutive series victory as they wrap up in Milwaukee this afternoon, two 10 on sports net. It is crisp acid on the hill against Tobias Myers. And it is the blue jays and brewers coin flip Vegas is no idea minus one 10 for both of these teams, the total eight and a half just quickly. That line is as damning a thing for the NL central as I could possibly think of. But in terms of this game, let's do it again. Let's give me the under eight and a half minus one oh five this time. You get an even better price than yesterday. You paid off the blue jays can't score the brewers aren't that good. Bass it on the bump. Give me the under there and loving it. Yeah, I don't know how you do anything but bet the under in blue jays James games in general. But yeah, against a more than capable baseball team in the Milwaukee Brewers, but the pretty good pitching staff, not the race on the hill. But yeah, pretty good starter today. And also us open hot before the tournament starts. We mentioned it's Scottie Scheffler, the favorite ridiculous plus 333 to win his second major this season. Xander Schofli, the second favorite plus 1100 who do you like? Kepka plus 2200 there. He has the great line of I know there's only 10 guys that are can even win this thing. That's probably an even smaller number at a course like Pinehurst that's going to play so tough. He's mentally tough. Generally speaking, major winners come from that kind of odds range. Give me Kepka to 22 to one. Give me Bryson just slightly shorter odds at plus 2000 to win his second US Open title. That was the Waken Reich presented by Sports Interaction, your homegrown sports book 19 plus bet responsibly. When we come back, the Stanley Cup final shifting to Edmonton tomorrow. We'll talk to Renault La Bois of TVA Sports next as the fan morning show continues Ben and his Brent Gunning Sportsnet 590, the fan.
