After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

Coming up later this hour Fernando Tatis apologizes for the world to hear, takes responsibility for what sparked an 80 game suspension. Maybe this is what the Padres need to hear to trust him a little bit more.

How does he earn that and why is he having shoulder surgery? Yet another weird twist with Fernando Tatis, the young superstar for the San Diego Padres who are not making up any ground on the Dodgers and the NL West but could end up with a National League wildcard. We will talk NL, we will also talk a little more about what else is happening in Major League Baseball.

It's a couple of fun races that are coming into focus as we round the quarter poll so to speak and get set for this final month of the season. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We're live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios. When you need an expert to help navigate the home loan process, Rocket can.

On Twitter After Hours CBS, we're looking for your questions for Ask Amy Anything and at the same time you can send them to our Facebook page although I don't suppose you need to post them in both places. Maybe your persistence will pay off, potentially that persistence will pay off. It certainly has been a turnaround for the Yankees after winning just 10 of 30 games since the all-star break. They've now put together a modest three-game win streak and Aaron Judge is at the heart of it.

Pitch hit in the end and he bled. It is high. Oh what a judging blast. It went over the grandstand and way up in the bleachers. All rise.

Here comes the judge. Boy I mean he hit one out of sight in left field and the Yankees take a 1-0 lead. A good way to finish you know what's been a tough stretch for us to finish off the home stand with three wins against three great opponents and pitchers.

You know good way to head into the off day. Aaron Boone has got to be happy. The team is putting together a bit of a rally and is still protecting that division lead in the AL East. We are pleased to welcome Sweeney Murty who covers the Yankees and has been a long time insider for not only the flagship but our New York affiliate WFAN. Sweeney ever since Aaron Boone got a little explosive and pounded the table and got angry and got angry and said the Yankees were underperforming and that they had what it takes to be a better team they have not lost. What a shame since that moment on Saturday.

Yeah I think he just said it after the game on Tuesday night. He said you know we're scoring some runs that helps right. They scored four runs exactly and they've pitched well enough to make it hold up three days in a row.

So they were scoring one and none for a lot of that time. So they're not all the way back yet but you are you know listening they weren't going so bad Amy you're just looking for wins any way you can get them and that's what they're getting right now. They're getting wins any way you can get them. Aaron Judge has hit a couple of home runs they're scratching across some runs and even with a bullpen that's kind of you know out of shape and out of sorts right now they're managing to hold these leads for the last couple of days.

So things are going right when for a month everything was going wrong. Is it sustainable when you look at the pattern that they've had over the past couple of games? This isn't the best version of them you know this is this is what they're doing right now to win a few games.

The best version of them is a lot more players contributing offensively. It has them in a better state with the bullpen. I think that's the biggest thing is that you know their bullpen was a kind of disarray to the fact that you know it's kind of a good thing they didn't have any leads because I don't think they knew how to hold them.

They really wasn't in good shape. You know three days in a row they've actually held two red leads which is pretty amazing. So I think they're getting back slowly. Giancarlo Stanton is due back before Thursday's game in Oakland. Clay Holmes who was an all-star this year is due back next week before the series starts in Anaheim and if he's you know he's sound mechanically as well as physically then hopefully that leads them back in the right direction. Stanton back in the lineup certainly helps lengthen the lineup and pushes some guys down to the bottom that maybe put them in with some more comfortable spots. They were remarkably healthy in the first half of the season and everything seems to be going right.

So when they deal with a couple of injuries they run into a couple of problem areas and maybe that'll get them back in the right direction again as they get healthy bodies again. Frankie Montas is able to pitch into the sixth and only allows two runs to the Mets tonight. That's certainly a turnaround from what they've gotten from him so far.

How critical is he to their success moving forward? It was a great start for him considering how badly it started when he's you know he's probably one pitch away from having a blow up on him in the first inning and some of these games the Yankees have dealt with in the last few weeks their starter would have that one bad inning you know Garrett Cole anybody they give up three four five runs in an inning and the way the Yankees scored lately well that's too much for any team you know you fall behind like that that's too much. Montas had two on and two out managed to get out of it the first inning without a single run scoring and that was huge. He threw 27 pitches in the first inning I mean he's literally you know a handful of pitches away from from just losing you know losing the lead and not getting out of the first inning. So major props to him for getting out of that getting into the sixth and getting in a position where they could win that game.

Not to mention the double play to end the second also a big deal that seemed to fire him up so what are the chances Sweeney that the Yankees brass or even the Yankees clubhouse are paying attention to what Jordan Montgomery is doing with the Cardinals? Well they have a pretty long history with them I think they obviously know what's happening right there you know the thing is though let's remember they haven't been on this crazy losing streak because they haven't pitched well. The pitching has actually straightened itself out from the starting rotation. Starting rotation for about the last three turns now has actually been pretty good. They weren't scoring and guess what when Jordan Montgomery was pitching here they weren't scoring for him either.

So that's not the biggest issue. The biggest issue was scoring runs and relief pitching. They were actually okay lately in the starting rotation.

So listen they and it's their bad timing and bad luck that the that they're on this run right now while Montgomery is dealing and the guy that they're hitting for is hurt right they knew that going in Harrison Bader is the center fielder they've been looking for for pretty much you know since last winter and he just happens to be hurt right now and they're they made the deal with you know a lot a large degree of confidence that they're going to get him back in September but when they do he's the last piece in that whole defensive shuffle that the Yankees made when they brought in Jose Trevino as a kind of a left move Gleyber Torres back to second base they tried to get strong defensively up the middle and Bader gets healthy again and he's the last piece there it moves Aaron Judge back to right field where he's a better fit it will move Jean Carlos Danson back to a DH role where he's a better fit and you know we'll see if they can get that you know Bader believes he can really be a lot closer to being ready when you get close to Labor Day here not saying he's going to come back on Labor Day but he really feels he's going to be in a better position to to get himself close to being ready at that stage so we'll see how that goes over the course of the next 10 days here. Sweeney Murty is the Yankees reporter for our New York affiliate and the Yankees flagship WFAN in New York and he's with us after hours on CBS Sports Radio the the Yankees obviously has set this unbelievable pace and standard for themselves in the first half so maybe it wasn't realistic to expect them to keep that up however the fans actually were booing Brian Cashman and other members of the front office at the day in which they're retiring Paul O'neill's number over the weekend how were the crowds these last couple nights then? The crowds were actually playoff caliber the last couple of nights I mean they're the largest crowds the last two nights for the Mets series that the Yankees have had uh in nine years.

Wow. So they are and listen a lot of it's Mets fans too obviously right because their team in the first place shows you the excitement this is this is playoff atmosphere you have two first place teams coming here and they played some some tight tense games you had I think it was important for some of those the newer players in the Yankees to see that you know Frankie Montas and Andrew Benintendi you know Benintendi's played in the world series played in Boston he knows a little bit about it but it's important to see that perform you know Ron Maronaccio got some big outs and Bobby Peralta got some big outs and Clark Schmidt got some big outs and these are guys who have not been in you know in that kind of atmosphere so to be able to play there and perform in that spot I think was helpful good crowds big crowds energetic crowds um yeah I think you know that probably helped play a little bit apart and getting them focused and getting in the right direction. A massive roar there at the end when they get out of that bases loaded jam to wrap up the game in the ninth. The Aaron Judge piece of this is so intriguing right because it seems like once they got into some trouble and and only won 10 of 30 games then people stopped asking about the future because they're more concerned about the present. I like what he had to say on I guess it would have been Monday night when he hit a home run and someone asked him about a drought and he said home run drought I don't know what you're talking about he continues to handle this all in stride even though we know a couple months down the road regardless of what happens there's this big question looming about their star in the face of their franchise. Yeah I mean listen it's a good retort for him to say that but because because I think it's he's been deflecting from his home run pace and whatever race we want to make it to 61 70 73 whatever we want to do it he's been deflecting off of that all year so I think that's probably another way of him deflecting that saying home run drought but make no mistake he knows how many he's hit he knows how many he needs he knows how like this plays in a in a contract gear he knows all about that he knows he went nine games without one how he portrays it and how what he's actually knowing I think are two different things but good for him that's what he needs to to get through this and not have to keep answering listen I made my own run at him I had a conversation the other day about stuff that you know about chasing home run records and he deflected Ben too that's what he needs to do he because he knows these questions are here and they're coming and it's you know there's it probably doesn't do any good to entertain them especially at a time where the team is not has not been playing well so but listen he hit home runs two days in a row guess what Amy the Yankees won both of those games that's not a coincidence they need him to get going again Sweeney Murty covers the Yankees for their flagship in our New York affiliate WFAN it's after hours on CBS Sports Radio three straight wins for the eggs they now sit at 76 wins and some of the questions that have been asked about the team would have been just unheard of in the first half of the season like Aaron Boone's status but I keep hearing chatter about it let's just say for the sake of argument that they do peter out in the playoffs and don't end up in the world series is he brought back in your opinion or would they make a change he just signed the new three-year contract at the end of last season he's not going anywhere this team does not operate that way anymore a few teams do you know you don't you don't pay a guy not to manage with two years left on his contract three years up in his contract because there aren't very many teams that that operate quite in that fashion and the Yankees haven't for a very long time they decided last year when they got bounced in the first round you know in the wildcard game that they still like the direction they were in with Aaron Boone as their manager and I think everything that they've said has backed that up that the overall record and some of the reasons behind why they have slumped lately they think have legitimate reasons behind them not simply this guy is not the right manager now we're trying to say what happens if they lose here looks like I mean you have to get there first you have to show me you know you can't listen if you're going to tell me they're going to lose the next 40 games in a row yeah I think maybe they might fire their manager but are they really going to lose the next 40 games in a row no so I think that you have to you know we can paint these things and say what do you think is going to happen like I I I don't know but I can tell you that there is not a lot of momentum for the Yankees to fire a manager in the after the first year of his contract because they decided to bring him back after what they went through last year a season in which they did not hit all season long and lost in the first and only playoff game so when they are looking like they're at a pace that okay it's a reduced pace they maybe they'll only win 98 or 99 games but there's nothing that tells me that that that is going to signal to them that they need to change what has been their course of action history for the last couple of decades now and like tell me that they think you know you have to paint the bleak picture for me I have to see it play out before I tell you oh yeah this guy's job is in jeopardy because nothing indicates that it is so then the questions must amuse you or or the chatter because it certainly comes up almost every time this team stubs its toe well I understand because like if it's from a generation who watched George Steinbrenner do this and but you know frankly how Steinbrenner talked about this a year ago you know when he explained you know not everything my dad did back then worked or was well received he got criticized for it let's remember that there was when the announcement was made and you saw this if you guys watched episode one I think of the captain you saw some of the history of George Steinbrenner in the era leading up to Derek Tear and the rest of that uh uh dynasty team when it was announced in 1990 that George Steinbrenner was going to be suspended for baseball the crowd at Yankee Stadium cheered he was the problem they cheered that he was going to be suspended um so I think we forget about that his way of changing managers and changing everything didn't work it was stability that worked and that you know I think that gets lost nowadays but it's not Watson House Steinbrenner who said very frankly last year that he doesn't respond the way his father did uh for a variety of reasons and included you're just reminding us that it didn't always work and he was often criticized for it yes Sweeney Murty is with us here after our CBS Sports Radio before I let you go what are a couple of other storylines either individual or team around the majors that you're really interested in seeing play out the next five weeks of this regular season the Orioles trying to make the playoffs you know I think that's an interesting thing here where does the you know the American League with Houston currently holding the best record the Yankees can can jump up there again and figure out a wrestled home field away I think that's very important the central is really interesting right now with Minnesota Cleveland and and Chicago really fighting there um and and only one of them making the playoffs at this rate with you know uh two AL East teams and maybe three uh Seattle all the wild card mix you know that's all pretty interesting here the National League is interesting because the Braves are starting to play like defending champions again and posing a little gap on the Mets uh the Dodgers you know the Dodgers are ignoring this idea that you can't play at 115 win pace right so they're going at that right now but listen there are still there are extra rounds and extra games to play in the playoffs it doesn't mean that you're you know that you're advancing straight to the World Series so there's a lot there's a it changes you know there's still so much that changes as soon as you get to the playoffs and start facing other good teams in these you know win or go home kind of games um that part is kind of interesting here too. Sweeney Murty covers the Yankees for their flagship in our New York affiliate WFAN and the Yankees have now put together this modest three game win streak and 49,000 plus on hand along with Sweeney at Yankee Stadium to watch Tuesday night's victory over the Mets you can find him on Twitter at Yankees WFAN it's always good to grab a couple minutes Sweeney thank you so much.

Thanks for having me Amy appreciate it. So there your questions answered about Aaron Boone and whether he gets das boot if the Yankees do not live up to expectations Sweeney says no way this current regime this Steinbrenner is not going to make that move but of course there's a long way to go anything can and will happen over the course of a 162 game baseball season and the playoffs all right coming up Fernando Tatis he's apologized is this the first step toward making things right with the Padres man talk about a long way to go he's barely scratched the surface on his PED suspension you can find me on Twitter a law radio also on our Facebook page we see your questions for ask Amy anything that is now about 45 minutes away so chop chop it's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to listening to the after hours podcast we enter to Tatis here's the pitch from Smith that's it in the air out to deep center field Duvall's going back looking up this one is gonna go home run Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Padres are back in front in the seventh it is six to five San Diego this is after hours with Amy Lawrence. Fernando Tatis is not hit a home run this week or this month or this season nope not going to be hitting home runs for quite a while because he is early in the stages of an 80 game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs or I guess more appropriately in his case since we don't actually know what the issue was we just know the substance for which he popped positive he has tested positive for a banned substance not just a substance banned by Major League Baseball but a substance banned by WADA the World Anti-Doping Agency and one that has been on the list for a long time nearly 20 years actually when it comes to the baseball protocols and for the first time on Tuesday he sat and spoke to reporters I don't know who timed it somebody did 250 seconds is what I've seen online this is at Petco Park and he had a bunch of microphones stuck in his face he did not have a script according to those who were there and he was down his facial expressions his body language all of that seemed to indicate that he's still processing he's still dealing and in this case he's still accepting the fact that he failed really everyone associated with the Padres not to mention those people who know and love him personally. I fell to the front office of the San Diego Padres and Peter Seiler, H.A.

Preller. I have failed to every fan of this city I have failed to my country I have failed my family parents but there's no other one to blame than myself I haven't made the right decisions and this past few weeks month even started at the beginning of the year I made a mistake and I regret every single step. I made a mistake and I've regretted every single step or I regret every single step so he lists the number of people he lists groups including his teammates and his family those that he failed by testing positive for this banned substance. He also vowed to make amends he vowed to fix this to get back into a position where his teammates and and the fans can trust him. It's going to be a very long process to gain everybody's trust again to gain that love back that have stabbed straight to the heart straight to the heart sorry fans baseball fan I'm learning I'm maturing but it's with actions it's the action that I'm gonna start beginning doing and action is gonna speak for myself in the future so there's gonna be a whole new story out there and there's gonna be changes out there and it starts today. Tatis did have A.J. Preller who's the president of baseball operations right there with him and so he wasn't by himself alone on this island of media he went on to say I've seen how my dreams have turned into my worst nightmares and he said that when he found out about the 80-game suspension that was on the horizon so when he found out that he tested positive and that baseball was about to hand down the suspension quote I freaked out I freaked out. He said that in meetings with his teammates in the Padres clubhouse it was actually earlier on Tuesday right before he addressed the the media there was a lot of tough love but he felt like there was great communication that his teammates were fair and that they are giving him a chance now he did stick by his initial claim that this positive test was triggered by a medication that he was using in the Dominican one that's not available in the U.S. not necessarily ringworm so he didn't he didn't blame it on ringworm but that he'd had a skin infection for quite a while and that the the Padres medical staff was not the one that gave him this medication so he can't blame it on the team that it was something he picked up in the dr and he said he did not make sure the medication was clear or did not contain a banned substance he just took it and he labeled that a stupid mistake there's no excuses there's no excuses I need to do a way better job on what is going inside my body there's no excuse for these actions so he says it wasn't about PEDs said over and over that it's because he was careless and he was reckless it wasn't about boosting performance or recovering from injury more quickly and remember he had wrist surgery in March and was in a rehab assignment was getting closer to returning to the Padres now we find out he needs shoulder surgery but this is an injury that's lingered and has bothered him actually bothered him for a good portion of 2021 so nothing related to the motorcycle accident though I suppose that could have exacerbated it exacerbated it he did think about appealing and actually went about the whole processing of this and thinking about the appeal without the knowledge of the team so kept it from the team for quite a while but then ultimately his people not the team but the people around him advised him and convinced him that he wasn't going to win an appeal so he should start serving that suspension immediately again spoke with his teammates had a private meeting in the clubhouse absorbed what they had to say and then apologized for his failures for his stupid mistakes and says he's going to rewrite the story so what was Manny Machado's reaction to Tatis ultimately at the end of the day um you know we're all human beings and uh you know we all make mistakes and uh you know it just sucks that he was you know it's in in our situation his situation uh you know it's it's it's it's all over the world but we're all human being we all make mistakes and you know we all forgive and we all move forward and try to try to learn from those mistakes and um you know ultimately that's that's that's all we can we can do so Manny Machado was the one who was bold about saying we don't trust him right now we can't be trusted and then hey we've got what we need in this clubhouse we heard that with Machado as well as with Clevenger Mike Clevenger but now having heard from Fernando Tatis I can understand these guys would want to rally around him yeah they're moving forward without him but his apology seems sincere he seems contrite as I mentioned his body language was such that he looks so dejected and disappointed and angry at himself still but is determined to rewrite this story moving forward coming up top of the hour your chance to ask Amy anything so you can send your questions to our show twitter after our cbs that way producer jay can see them or to our facebook page did you hear the story that Dana White told about Tom Brady and how things could have gone so differently when he was determined to leave the New England Patriots huh we've got it there's always a Gronk element to this isn't there you are listening to the after-hours podcast off the play fake ready look at the throw back at the end zone wide open Gronkowski 23 to nothing Tampa Bay is on top with 738 to play in the third quarter this is after hours with Amy Lawrence we can't go back and rewrite history nor can I imagine that the Buccaneers want to that Tom Brady or Rob Gronkowski want to but we now know there could have been an alternate ending to Tom Brady's career the New England Patriots weren't going to be able to keep him but as it turns out there were more than one or two even three four teams in fact there was another team that was damn close to getting Tom Brady into town it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS sports radio just a few minutes left for you to send your questions for ask Amy anything we've bumped it up just a little bit moving some stuff around and so you will find that if you delay and you procrastinate your question will not make it under the wire will not be part of producer Jay's group so he's looking for creative and actually if you make him laugh or make him smile you have a better chance right now because he's not feeling the the mirth or the joy this particular edition of the hump show uh so send your questions to our show twitter after hours cbs or to our facebook page this is probably going to make you laugh jay i'll just read this one to you because it's funny chuck wants to know will you get a new theme song theme song i'm assuming he's referring to american woman and the answer is hell to the nah nope that is the song we've been using it since the very beginning and it's not going to change and i'm thinking those 90 seconds maybe not even your 60 seconds that you have to hear it every week night or if it's uh early morning for you is probably not going to ruin your life so no i'm associated with it and i'm not changing like it's a sitcom nor am i changing the nor am i changing the version that we use people ask me that sometimes too why don't you use this version or that version because i like the one we've got so chuck the answer is no free battery testing free battery charging and replacement batteries that fit your knees that's what makes auto zone america's number one battery destination get in the zone auto zone once again last minute questions for ask amy on either twitter or facebook data white was a guest of course on the gronks speaking of sitcoms it's an alternate broadcast similar to the mannings the monday night mannings i call them it's an alternate broadcast that runs along with ufc fights and apparently it's not going to be every time but when there are ufc broadcasts featuring a fight card you got the gronks who are essentially a running stream of consciousness it's the brothers and friends on espn and espn plus just what i always wanted i will love him and squeeze him and call him george i will name him george and i will hug him and pet him and squeeze him so dana white as the president and and face of ufc was a guest on the gronks on saturday night and he was asked by rob gronkowski got to be careful which you can't just say grog because there's many of them he was asked by rob gronkowski to tell the story of how tom brady almost landed in vegas and i've watched this broadcast this uh part of the broadcast data white was taken he was caught off guard he was taken aback but he told the story i worked to put that deal together for brady and gronk to come to the raiders and it was almost a done deal and at the last minute gruden blew the deal up and said that he didn't want him and whoa all hell blew man it was crazy and and and brady was already looking at houses and it wasn't being said yet that gronk was coming so las vegas would have had brady and gronk the year that the bucks won the super bowl except gruden blew the deal up and there's so much story that goes along with this behind the scenes and i i i was never going to tell that story till gronk just said it but uh yeah and dana let me tell you what exactly what happened and you just told the story wow i don't know how you could not laugh when there's a bunch of other gronks all laughing at the same time so we hear dana white say he brokered the deal uh he was the one who was convincing brady and i mean gronk would have been an easy sell but convincing brady and gronk to play for the raiders after leaving the new england patriots and brady was sold on it he was ready to go he was even looking at houses at homes there in vegas and according to white at the last minute john gruden obviously no longer the coach of the raiders but at the time was early in a 10-year deal to coach the team gruden blew the deal up said he didn't want him and all hell broke loose man that's a quote from dana white it was crazy so las vegas would have had brady and gronk the year the bucks won the super bowl except gruden blew the deal up now gronk confirms it but i did hear rob gronkowski say this he's glad it didn't happen that now he wouldn't change a thing so instantly when i was listening to this i was reminded that tom brady himself went on his own show but also went on this podcast or i guess it was a tv show hbo's the shop it actually confirmed that there was another team that was very interested and it wasn't just the bucks or bust you let me know j if you okay or oh i had it and he drops a hard and i just yeah you let me know you believe it out and we can use it okay so how about more from data white then because later in a press conference for usc he actually doubled down on this so this wasn't just some story he was telling for entertainment on the gronks i didn't want to talk about that no but uh he sort of sucked me into it on live tv um yeah it's true and and you know i talked brady into playing for the raiders and uh gronk was coming with him and they were negotiating the deal and they were really close to getting it done and then gruden pulled the deal and brady was not happy about it neither was i and um yeah and that's that he went to the buccaneers and won the super bowl i don't know box there i wanted brady at the you know what i mean crazy but yeah it's true and i thought that i would never tell that story publicly but uh what the hell gronk was doing tonight that he that he brought that up but uh yeah yeah well it doesn't surprise me at all that rob gronkowski brought it up because you give him a microphone and him and his brothers they're all jazzed up the adrenaline they're excited about fight night of course this kind of stuff is going to come out because gronk does not have a v-chip at all it's after hours with amy lawrence on cbs sports radio so white doubles down on this press conference and says yeah i never thought i'd tell the story i thought it was going to be something that we would keep private and keep under wraps but yeah that was true and as i say gronk confirmed it on the broadcast as well so what about derek carr what does this mean for him now he's dealt with a lot of trade rumors and speculation over the course of his career with the raiders first in oakland now in vegas and he was asked whether or not he's immune to stories like this except there's never been a story like this about tom brady it is what it is uh you know for me like i didn't even hear about it uh we actually had within the building someone lost a family member so like i was so immersed in that and just talking to that person and that kind of stuff that it really was it was a moment to really put things in perspective at this point he's one of those quarterbacks like atua who just has to roll with the punches when it comes to trades when it comes to speculation when it comes to him constantly being replaced by another quarterback derek carr's not the problem for the raiders he hasn't been the problem for the raiders he may not be the best quarterback in the nfl but he's above average as a qb and he's good for 4 500 yards and 20 plus touchdowns maybe more than that all right so jay tells me he's cleaned up tom brady there was a story in free agency one of the teams they were interested and all of a sudden they weren't interested at the very end i was sitting there thinking you're sticking with that mother are you serious so now there's no way to know he did not confirm that this was the raiders and derek carr there was a lot of speculation that it was the niners and garoppolo that he was talking about because the niners were also interested but but now knowing what we know from derek white and rob gronkowski the fact that the raiders we know were close according to dana this was a done deal those are his words not mine so if it was a done deal wouldn't that jive with brady saying they were interested until the end and then they weren't ouch though if you're derek carr and that i mean we know brady's uber competitive we get it but all this time people thinking it's jimmy garoppolo and instead it might have been derek carr that he was referring to ask amy anything is next it's after hours the hump show cbs sports radio you