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Download Thumbtack and start a project today. Did I hear you were shopping for a car? Because I've been at it for ages. Such a time suck, right? Not really. I bought it on Carvana. Super convenient. Oh, then comes all the financing, research, am I right?
Well, you can. But I got pre-qualified for a Carvana auto loan in like two minutes. Yeah, but then all the number crunching and terms, right? Nope, I saw real numbers as I shopped, found my dream car, and got it in a couple of days. Wait, like you already have it?
Yep. Go to Carvana.com to finance your car the convenient way. The good news is, if you call, we can finally take your calls again. There is no more CrowdStrike Microsoft crash of 2024 evidence anywhere in house. But boy, I was listening to the news on my drive into the office tonight and I heard early estimates.
These are early estimates. That whole mess from Thursday night into Friday morning, while cleaned up relatively quickly, meaning the fix was established and it was distributed to anyone who needed to use it. Various industries, airlines for the most part, banks, media companies, hospitals, 911 centers, all that kind of stuff. Most industries were able to climb out of the pit, if you will, relatively quickly. But the damage done because of the industries impacted, early estimates indicate this could be a billion dollars when it comes to the bottom line, what it cost these industries.
Now, I'm not exactly sure what that means. Maybe interruptions to business, remember this was global. Maybe having to replace software or having to redo some type of code or just the time lost, if that's translated into productivity which is equal to dollars and cents. I don't know exactly what that means, but I do certainly know that if you're interrupting business for any length of time, well then it can start to cost companies money. But here's what else I heard.
And this is not so. Delta is still canceling flights. They're still not back up and running without any computer glitches. Apparently their big issue is right now getting their flights and their pilots synced again on the same schedules. So that's the big deal is they're still trying to recover.
And because of that, the issue on, for them it was early, early Friday morning. Remember there was a ground stop and Delta's was the longest. American and United have recovered relatively quickly. Though they still had a few dozen flights that were cancelled on Monday, Delta had to cancel another 800 flights on Monday.
If you can believe it, 800! Again this is according to Bloomberg News, Bloomberg Money News, and I was listening on the way into work. And so Delta's not back to full capacity again. There are apparently passengers who are still stranded and unable to get back to their destinations.
And you know how it happens. There is this avalanche type of effect where you cancel a few hundred flights. Or in the case of Delta it was much more drastic. Cancelling a few hours worth of flights.
Maybe a full days worth of flights. And then you've just got this build up of all these people who didn't get where they were needing to go. Who now have to find alternate transportation or have got to get there as early as they possibly can.
And in some cases they're not home, right? They weren't at their original destination. They're trying to return somewhere or they're caught in between destinations. Meaning they're waiting for a connection to go somewhere else. And the other airlines, because the other two large airlines were also ground stop for a short time.
That means that they're taking care of their own passengers. So yeah there were a handful of flights among the other airlines that were still cancelled on Monday. But Delta 800 more flights cancelled. And so the aftershocks, if you will, of Delta and they're still not back to the point where they can say, alright we're starting fresh again.
Our pilots are all synced with the flights. Now it's still a huge disaster to the point where, oh surprise, the federal government might do an inquiry and an investigation into it. So yeah, what a mess. I feel so badly for people who are stuck and can't get where they need to go. Or worst case scenario, have had to cancel plans, maybe vacations, maybe family visits. Have had to miss major family events, probably in some cases. Think about what July is used for.
Not only is it vacations for families whose kids are not in school, but it's weddings and it's reunions and it's barbecues and it's all that kind of stuff. So there are a lot of people who have missed out or had to cancel their plans altogether. And it reminds me a little bit of 2021. This time in 2021, and really it happened in 2020 of course, but a little bit different because we're still in the thick of the pandemic at that point. But in 2021, do you remember how often flights were getting cancelled or changed or moved and people were just getting stuck?
Or even worse, having to cancel their plans altogether feels a little bit like that. But this is clearly linked to the whole CrowdStrike and Microsoft issue. And Delta, for whatever reason, was far less insulated and able to manage the issues than any of the other airlines. So if you've had a situation that you've had to deal with, I would certainly appreciate hearing from you as the stories out there are pretty extraordinary. Again, the ripple effects and the aftershocks still has not been completely cleared up in the case of Delta.
It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. I get so nerdy about this kind of stuff, the business side and just the impacts on real people like you and me. It's one thing to talk about some security update, some software update that didn't work and had this ripple effect. I mean, that's fascinating in and of itself to kind of think about the number of people, millions and millions of people that were affected around the country. Like we were here when we were trying to host our show and we lost computer equipment and all that kind of stuff.
But it's now days later and people are still impacted. So it's kind of crazy, but also can be really frustrating, I'm sure, especially for travelers. So if you have a story you want to share, you can do it online at ALaw Radio. It's where you can find me on Twix. And then our Facebook page, too, named after the show. Easy, easy, easy to find. Our YouTube channel is still operational, but at this point, not a whole lot that's new there waiting on the new producer whenever we have the ability to make that choice.
And man, talk about starting fresh. But the YouTube channel is also named after the show. And if you're looking for the podcast, well, the link is pinned to the top of our Facebook page. And then when it comes to our Twix, we actually when Ryan's working with us, he's posting the link to our podcast every weekday morning. Not all of the auditioning producers know to do that, or I guess to be fair, I don't give access to our social media to all of the producers. Ryan already had it, right?
You had it from having worked on the show before. That and Jay left like little note for fillings. Yeah, well, apparently you're the only one reading it because the others who filled in, I didn't ask them to do social, but I also don't think that they realized there was any kind of a cheat sheet.
Cliff notes, if you will. Apparently, Jay was in a golf tournament last week, and one of the managers here tried to reach out to him to ask him some questions about the job. And he because I talked to him over the weekend, he said that he actually did answer the text message or no call. He answered the phone call while he was on the golf course. Right. Good for him. I don't know that I would have.
In fact, my phone is usually on silent on the golf course. And man, I haven't yet played around this year. Goodness. I was just saying to my husband earlier on Monday evening that I hope we never have a year quite like this one.
Never again. It's it's been a totally insane seven months. We were dummies.
Well, I was a dummy, but I think he agrees with me. We thought it would be calmer after we got married and it's not been that way. So we are looking. We're now seven and a half months in and we are looking for the next six months to be much calmer. We only have one more set of flights ourselves.
One more set of flights. I won't go into details, but suffice it to say that weekend is going to be maybe more challenging than any of the others, because it's also the first weekend of the NFL season, of course, because who doesn't want to get married on the first weekend of the NFL season? I know.
I know. Not everyone sets their schedules by the NFL schedule, but yeah. So anyway, that's going to be quite the crazy weekend for me. Not so much for my husband, but for me, considering that, you know, here on the show, we do special Sunday night coverage and it's after 12 hours of watching and following football. And early in the season, every single game matters. It's not really until, say, week 13, 14, 15 where you start to have games between teams that are clearly not making the playoffs that maybe don't matter as much.
Right? But when you're early in the season, week one, every single freaking game matters. And so it's going to be quite the travel experience in week one of the NFL season. But that's first world problems. Most people don't have those issues.
That's just me. And so we'll deal with that when we get there. But otherwise, other than that, we have no more flights the rest of the year.
Which is good. I'm done. I'm done with flying. I'm kind of done with traveling for a while. We do have a couple of mini road trips coming up this summer.
Looking forward to next month taking the hubs to Fenway Park for the first time. He's never been. I haven't been in a couple years. I was there two years ago with Jay and my college roommate. But we're going to go. He's never been to Boston. So really excited about taking him back to a place that I really spent a lot of time when I was growing up in New Hampshire. But mostly excited to take him to Fenway Park and to show him a place that's pretty iconic among New England sports fans and really sports fans around the country. So still a lot of summer.
Real estate left. Let's not get distressed. Even though we are talking about the NFL season already. No need to get distressed that summer is coming to a close or wrapping up too soon.
It's not. There's weeks to go still. But the big story coming out of NFL training camp on Monday is that Jordan Love, who had an exceptional second half to the season. He's a major reason why the Packers surged to a playoff spot. And then in doing that, ended up in Dallas wildcard weekend and not just beat the NFC East champions.
No, shellacked them, walloped them, ran over them. It was so lopsided. And if you didn't know about Jordan Love and the Packers and again, they'd been surging the second half of the season.
Well, then all of a sudden all eyes were open. Well, Jordan, do you remember, had to sit and wait behind Aaron Rodgers for a couple of seasons. This was his first full year starter. And it wasn't just him that needed the time and needed the reps. It was the rest of the offense, the O-line, all the adjustments, the coaching staff, everything. Because Jordan Love is obviously not Aaron Rodgers. We don't know what the future holds for him. But it took a little time for them all to get on the same page.
And once they did, boom, took off like a rocket. His numbers from the second half of the season are among the best in the NFL for 2023. Now, he did report for training camp on time. And he's going through meetings and all the different training camp activities that do not require him to physically practice. And early on in training camp, they're not doing a whole lot.
They're limited in the number of times that they can put on pads. He was part of the whole offseason program for the Packers, including mandatory minicamp. And again, it's taking place in all the meetings and activities other than actual football.
Sounds funny to say. So the reason is because he's earned himself some money and he wants a new contract. And he wants a new contract before he gets out there and puts his physical body at risk. So this reminds me a little bit of what Chris Jones did with the Packers last year.
Packers, sorry. What Chris Jones did with the Super Bowl champion chiefs last year. He was around. He was taking place in rooting for his team. He was taking part in being there when they would allow him to. Or when the Chiefs played that first game without him. Remember, he actually purchased a box so he could be there and watch the team.
Chris Jones was letting his teammates know that he was there for him and he was supporting them. But he wasn't going to put his physical body at risk because if something happened and he got hurt, everything that he works for and that new contract with all the guaranteed money, well that's off the table. Or at the very least gets reduced in terms of the money that they give him. And so as much as it feels like, hey, Jordan Love has a contract and he should be in camp. Well, he's certainly going to lose money by not practicing or not participating in camp. At the same time, nobody wants him to get hurt and it's a smart business move, especially early in camp when there's not a whole lot going on. Jordan Love has earned a new deal. He has. And it's interesting to hear some of the talk about what he'll get paid.
So we'll get to that coming up. But if you remember, Chris Jones missed the season opener because of the holdout over his contract. But he was in the building. He was there when they raised their Super Bowl banner. He was supporting his teammates, making sure that he knew that or they knew that this wasn't acrimonious.
He wasn't angry at them. He's not viewing himself as separate from the team. He just needed to get paid so he could get back to work. And again, the big deal is that if you have a guy who, let's say he plants his foot wrong, tears an ACL, all of a sudden you not just lose a year of earnings power, but you also end up forfeiting what would have been a bunch of guaranteed money. And that's where these guys really, because of the way NFL contracts are structured, some of the money, well beyond the guaranteed money, once teams get through that a lot of times, they'll just cut a player. They'll just make these type of salary cap casualties and salary cap decisions. And so the players are really about the guaranteed money. Because they recognize that if they make too much, franchises might end up cutting them anyway before they pay out the life of the contract. So when it comes to NFL deals, I'm not so concerned about, oh he has a contract, he should be in camp. Because A, there's not much going on. And B, NFL teams don't abide by the contracts, most of the time on the back end anyway.
And so this reminds me a little bit of Chris Jones, though it's not that drastic yet. Jordan Love's not missing a game. He's there, he's with his teammates, he's supporting them, he's going through meetings, he's prepping for the season.
He did everything in the summertime that all of his teammates did. But now, it's time for a contract. So we'll hear from Ryan Gutenkunst, I know he's your favorite there in Green Bay. The general manager coming up.
And it does seem like both sides are on the same page, that's good news. Also in the NFC North, Kevin O'Connell giving us a bit of an update on the quarterback situation. Another star QB in the league has been cleared for contact and cleared for practice after also suffering a serious injury. And I am excited to see Derrick Henry in Ravens purple. He's 30 years old, he can still truck dudes.
In fact, we should do an over under on how many games until he does a stiff arm of a defender and just knocks him off his mark. So yeah, there's a lot to talk about when it comes to football. Also, ACC Media Day is taking place this week. Baseball, of course, hurtling toward its trade deadline. There's a lot happening there. And Team USA cheering like little kids as LeBron James roars down the lane to save the day.
Again, of course, it's like a made for TV movie about a 39 year old. I can see it now. Well, if they don't win gold, never mind, all bets are off. But definitely LeBron is the driving force for the Americans at this point. Can't believe the Olympics are coming up. Just a few days, we'll have the opening ceremonies. What sports are you most excited about? You put that question out on our social. What sports are must watch in Paris? On our show Twix at Amy After Hours, we'll put the question up there, Ryan will.
And then I'll make sure it's up on our Facebook page as well. What events are must watch in Paris? It's nice little urgency, I guess the urgency or the draw to watch TV in the middle of the summer.
Well, unless you're like me and you're still catching up on your DVR from less winter and spring. Goodness, I'm so far behind. Eventually, I'll get there.
855-212-4227. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours podcast.
This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Ah, that's music to my ears. I don't even care which teams, who's throwing, who's catching, who's winning. I just like to hear NFL play-by-play. It's coming. It is coming soon to a radio or a device or outlet near you.
It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Yes, Jordan Love was tearing it up in the league in the second half of last season, 2023. Really a coming out party for him after waiting behind Aaron Rodgers for several years. Well, now he's at the tail end of his rookie deal, which is kind of funny to think about. Remember that night when he was drafted in the first round, the Packers moved up to get him, traded up to get him. And that signaled the beginning of the long, slow death of the relationship between the Packers and Aaron Rodgers.
And so here he is about to go into his fourth season. So as a first round draft pick, you can pick up the option for a fifth year. The team can. And the player doesn't have any say over it. Of course, they'd rather get paid instead of having to play on a fifth year of a rookie deal. But sometimes teams just aren't sure. Sometimes teams need another year to evaluate depending upon how much playing time or whether they've had injuries, that type of thing with their rookies.
But Jordan Love has proven that he is worthy of the faith that they can put in him. All 17 games last year, completion percentage at 64%, better than 4,100 yards passing, 32 touchdowns versus 11 interceptions, and then throw in four rushing touchdowns. He had a QB rating of 96.
So there's some room for improvement there in terms of efficiency. But the way that they finished the second half of the season was so good that they recognized it just was taking a few games for him to really be in charge after he takes over as QB won for the pieces to fall into place. So now that they know he's worthy of their faith in him, again, drafting him first round, moving up, shocking Aaron Rodgers and the world on that draft night in, what was it, 2020.
That was the one that was virtual. Turned out to be the biggest story of the draft. I wonder if the Michael Penix wrinkle for the Atlanta Falcons will turn out to be this year's biggest story, although completely different because Kirk Cousins just got to the Falcons.
Aaron Rodgers was established there. And now we find out that Jordan is not practicing with the team because he wants a new deal. Saturday night, they kind of informed us that until we get something done that he would not practice again. So unless something gets done here before practice starts here pretty soon, he will not be practicing.
But again, I think this is something we're all working on and we certainly understand where he's coming from. We'd like him to be out there. It's important for him to be out there. Obviously, you guys know how important practice is and working with his teammates. But as of now, until we get that resolved, he will not be practicing. He's taking part. He reported last week. He's taking part in everything else.
Brian Gutenkunst. Oh, goodness. The acrimonious relationship with Aaron Rodgers.
They put a nice kind of overlay on it. It was almost gold plated, if you will. And so they played nice as long as they could. But the two of them were definitely on opposite sides of the fence. It seems like it's good now.
There's a lot more harmony and peace. That's what we heard from Packers Camp, no, Packers Nation last year. Now, Brian was asked whether or not a new deal with Jordan will materialize in the next few days.
And his answer was, I think so, but you never know. We're working really hard to get that done. I think it's really important for us.
At the same time, the thing that I have confidence in is that we both want the same thing. We want Jordan here for a long time. Give him that stability for him. And it gives us some stability for our group as well.
Russ is doing a great job with David Mulageta and their team. We've got two people who are very experienced with this. I'm optimistic. These are big deals. It takes time. They're not as easy as some people may think.
Oh, I can understand they're pretty complicated. And a lot of the chatter around this news breaking on Monday is that Jordan will likely end up as one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL. Whether he's the highest paid or whether he's right there kind of commensurate with what we've seen so far in this offseason. That remains to be seen. I don't know how important it is to Jordan and to his agents that he becomes the next highest paid for what?
All of, I don't know, three weeks until someone else gets a deal. But Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow right now share that title. Highest paid NFL quarterbacks if you're looking at average salary for the year.
So they call it AAV, average annual value. Fifty five million dollars is what Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow are worth to their respective franchises. Fifty five million dollars per year.
You've also got Justin Herbert. Fifty two and a half million dollars per year. Lamar Jackson reigning MVP. Fifty two million. And then Jalen Hurts. Fifty one million.
That was signed in twenty twenty three and it kind of set off the dominoes. Right. Hurts, Jackson, Herbert. And again, very short lived as highest paid players. Burrow, Lawrence, Trevor, Trevor and Joe are right now tied for first. Jared Goff, I forgot, he slots in there. He's fifty three million dollars per year.
So Jared Goff is in the top three, which is amazing. The Detroit Lions are paying him for what they believe will happen. In his future with the Lions, in their future as a franchise, they're paying him for that reason. They want the stability at the position.
They want the continuity. Of course, he's played some great football since he got to Detroit. But their excitement and their hope and anticipation is at an all time high in Detroit. So Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Jared Goff, then Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts. And then those are all guys that make better than fifty million dollars per year.
Then you get down to the the cheap guys. Kyler Murray, forty six point one million dollars per year. Deshaun Watson, remember when that guaranteed contract was going to break the bank?
I mean, still the Cleveland Browns may want out of it long before they can get out of it. But forty six million dollars per year. All of those guys ahead of Patrick Mahomes, who's making forty five million dollars per year. And is tied with, stop it, Kirk Cousins, who's making forty five million dollars per year.
My goodness, just Ryan, for reals, you don't have to give me the answer that you think I'm looking for. But of these quarterbacks, and I'm listing the ones again that are above Patrick Mahomes when it comes to average annual salary. Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Jared Goff, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray, Deshaun Watson.
How many of them would you take ahead of Patrick Mahomes if you could choose one right now? Nada. Nada, exactly. Not one of them. Not one of them. No. And even though Lamar Jackson has two MVP awards, not one of them. None of them have a ring.
No. And just the game experience and the ability to rise to the occasion over and over and over again. It's incredible what we've seen from Mahomes. His instincts, his field vision, his ability to make something out of absolutely nothing.
But then his ability to raise the level of play of everyone else around him. They have essentially changed the receiving core around him three years in a row now, except for Travis Kelce. And still, it takes him a little time at the beginning of the year, but then boom, there they are again.
Doesn't matter if they go on the road in the playoffs, it doesn't matter how bad they were in the regular season. It's astounding that there are that many quarterbacks who are paid more per year than Patrick Mahomes is. You gotta assume that he's gonna rework that to a new extension.
Oh yeah. He was the first one to get $500 million, right? Total for his contract? Right, well his was like an extension on top of what he had at the time, his rookie deal.
So he's gonna get paid a lot more. Kirk Cousins? Kirk Cousins. It's the Falcons, are we surprised?
That's true. And then Josh Allen is outside the top 10. Josh Allen, $43 million per year.
We're not that far away. I could see that the Chiefs would value Mahomes at $60 million per year, except that Pat has made it very clear what he most cares about is winning. What he most cares about is trying to catch Tom Brady for the most number of rings. That's clearly what he cares about and we'll see. I think there's been at least one restructure in there where they've moved some money around.
So he's clearly willing to do what's best for the team. And obviously that's how you win is you've got a quarterback who cares more about winning than he does about his own pocketbook. No one carries a pocketbook anymore. A tote, a wallet, a clutch, pocketbook. Such an old school term, pocketbook. Even older ladies would probably use the term purse. My mom uses pocketbook. Pocketbook, does she? It's a purse, but she holds a pocketbook. Pocketbook, interesting.
Alright. It's one of those words that you say it enough times and you think, what is it even? Pocketbook, pocketbook, pocketbook. Doesn't fit in the pocket. Definitely doesn't.
And it's not a book either. Alright, at Amy after hours is where you can find our Olympics question. It's a special query if you will.
What sports, what events are a must watch in Paris? So that's up on Twix and we'll get it up on our Facebook page as well. Thanks for hanging out with us. Hope you survived your Monday.
It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Here's our latest sports update. We'll see you next time. We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature. Whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to or the succulents that adorn our homes, nature makes all of our lives, well, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it. But the outdoors is closer than we realize. With all trails, you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently with offline maps and on-trail navigation.
Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with All Trails. Well, we got a minute. I'm going to buy that truck I've been wanting. Wait, don't you need like weeks to shop for a car?
I don't. Carvana makes it super convenient to find exactly what I want. Hold up, you're buying a car on your phone?
Isn't that more of a laptop thing? You can shop wherever you want. I like to do my research, read reviews, compare models. Plus, Carvana has thousands of options. How did you decide on that truck? Because I like it. Oh, that is a great reason.
Go to Carvana.com to sell your car the convenient way. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. The throw in from Ramos. It will not be in time.
Teo time. He breaks the tie with an RBI single. The Dodgers now lead it two to one in the six. Two balls, two strikes. Two on, two out. Game tied at two. The pitch. Hernandez with another base hit into center field. Teo time and again comes through in the clutch. The Dodgers lead three to two.
This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. On the Dodgers radio network. Yeah, Teosca Hernandez not only had quite a showing in winning the home run derby, but has been lights out since the season resumed. The Dodgers have now won, is it five or four? Four since the All-Star break. Well, since the post All-Star break portion of the season resumed. They've turned into a team that looks much more like the one that they were expected to be. And were wildly inconsistent in stretches in the first half, if you will.
But now, as I say, have won four since they came out of the break. And Teosca Hernandez has powered them to their 60th win of the season. And this one against their arch rivals, the San Francisco Giants. So he has a home run, ends up driving in all of the runs, but also has that tie-breaking hit that served as the big blow in the eighth inning with a, I think it was just a run scoring single, but still it was exactly what they needed and he's given them a great jolt.
It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The Dodgers right now, and this blows me away every time it happens, but they're threatening to do what they did last season. An eight and a half game lead over the San Diego Padres. A nine game lead over the Diamondbacks. Those two teams are barely above.500. And then the San Francisco Giants, who have fallen back now 12 games behind the Dodgers, if you include tonight's results. And because of how they played going into the break, yeah, just a scattered handful of wins here and there.
It's really done damage to them as they think about the rest of the season. By the way, they were honoring Willie Mays on Monday night and his son was on hand. And as Ryan tells me, I was tempted to use it, but I guess they played a video, kind of wide ranging video, that told a story about Willie and the greatest catch that he ever made, according to Vince Scully. So it wasn't the One in the World series that was over the shoulder.
Although Freddie Freeman had one of those in foul territory on Monday night, it was pretty impressive. I know a lot of people were making the connection because they were honoring Willie Mays. But yes, it's the great Vince Scully. I haven't heard it, was tempted to use it.
I'm going to go back and find it and listen to it just because Vin is one of my favorite storytellers in the entire history of sports. He's amazing. So for the Dodgers right now, while they don't have all their pieces in place, they're still waiting for Clayton Kershaw to return this season. They don't have Mookie Betts in their lineup right now.
They're not a whole team either. But Shohei Ohtani is hitting better than 300. He's at 30 home runs. He also leads the team in RBI. Oscar Hernandez is picking up a bunch of the slack without Mookie Betts. We know what Freddie Freeman is capable of. They've got guys who can rake, no doubt.
That never seems to be an issue with them. The pitching has been a challenge for them. But there's still a long way to go. They like what they've gotten from Gavin Stone. But still at this point, he's the leader with just nine wins in their starting rotation. So not great. So they really are looking for some reinforcements. It's been kind of hit or miss with their starting rotation, which is why they need to produce so many runs. Jim is listening in Connecticut.
Jim, welcome to After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Hey, how's it going? Should the Giants be sellers at the deadline?
That's a good question. I know the deadline is just a few days away. I think at this point they are definitely skating on thin ice, just looking at their stretch before the All-Star break. We'll see what happens against the Dodgers, but they're falling further and further behind.
The thing is, I wouldn't want them to just go on this massive selling spree, I suppose, because that's going to really alienate fans. I don't think you should just throw in the towel because then you kind of ruin the rest of the season. And in the National League, all but two teams are within four games of the wild card, the last wild card.
And that includes the Giants. Again, I wouldn't want them to just go hog wild and get rid of everybody that's worth any type of value because that tells the fans that you're throwing in the towel, that you don't care, that you're kind of done with it. And in the case of the National League wild card, if you're only four games out, now there's plenty of competition, it's not like it's just the Giants. But if you're only four games out, you're obviously still within striking distance. I would need to see some kind of a positive push in the next week.
And I would need to see that the team cares about it, right? That you've got guys that you believe in and that you feel like are able to turn this around. All right, Jim, good to talk to you in Connecticut. Ryan, was that one of your friends?
No, no idea who that was. Short and sweet, got the question in and wasn't. Actually, I don't mind those types of interactions with fans, but I wasn't expecting to not get a response.
Either I was so boring and monotone that he fell asleep right in the middle, or the answer was so damn good that he really was, he was overwhelmed and didn't have anything to say in return. He was thinking about the lack of future that the Giants have. Yeah, that's the thing. With the way they played before the break, as they say, they're now five games below.500. They've lost a bunch of ground. Now they're taking on the Dodgers. And let's just say for the sake of argument, they get swept.
I don't know that they will. It was a tight game. It's always a tight game between these two rivals. But if they get swept and they fall to say 14 games behind the Dodgers, we know at this point they're very highly unlikely to win the National League West. But yeah, they are within four games of that final NL wildcard, but so are the Reds. The Cubs are three and a half games out, and they're planning to be sellers at the deadline.
They've got their eyes on the future, they say. But to me, that tells your fans, we're not going to worry about this season. We're not going to invest in this season. We don't care what you see the rest of the way in 2024. We're already focused on the future. Now with the Cubs being in an iconic, legendary location like Wrigley Field, they do not have to worry about selling tickets. So it's a little bit different there, but I don't love the message it sends to your fans. Why do you have to do anything at the trade deadline?
I would say you wait for deals that completely blow your socks off. I wonder where that phrase came from. It's one of those cliches that I don't really know the origins. One hour down, it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. When it's caught, cooked, and eaten outside.
The Meat Eater Outdoor Cookbook by Steven Rinella is available now. Okay, you can do this. I know, I know. Carvana makes it so convenient to sell your car. It's just hard to let go.
My car and I have been through so much together. But look, you already have a great offer from Carvana. That was fast. Well, I know my lessons played into it in my heart, and those questions were easy. You're almost there. Now to just accept the offer and schedule a pick-up or drop-off.
How'd you do it? How are you so strong in letting go of your car? Well, I already made up my mind, and Carvana's so easy. Oh yeah, true. And sold. Go to Carvana.com to sell your car the convenient way. on your favorite podcast app.
