It is the JR Sport Brief Show on the Infinity Sports Network. Yeah, we just heard Terry McLaurin wants a trade from the Commanders.
Well, forget him Almost ninety minutes ago, a little more than an hour ago. The Major League Baseball trade deadline, it came and it went. We had some teams that were buyers, and then of course we had some loser teams that were sellers. To talk about some of the most impactful moves that we've seen over the past 24 plus hours, joining us right now. He's a host and analyst for the Foul Territory Network.
You can catch us writing on MLB all over the place. Joining us right now is Kyle Glazer. Kyle, how are you? Yeah. Doing all right, taking a deep breath after a wild last not even 24 hours, I'd say last 10 hours or so.
Just trades coming left and right. It was certainly an exciting deadline day. Absolutely.
Well, let's start off with one team. I feel like every deadline, A.J. Prella, the GM of the Padres, just buys a whole brand new team. What are your thoughts on what he's done so far?
Well, I can't even say so far. What he's done the entire deadline. The Padres went all in, completely all in. And while they've made some really, really big trades at deadlines before, you think back to 2022 with Juan Soto and Josh Hayter, they always kept a few interesting prospects in reserve. You think about they kept Jackson Merrill during that deadline.
They never really kind of cleaned out the entire farm system until this year. They completely cleaned out their farm system. There's pretty much almost no one left, Ethan Salas, but he has a back injury. And in return, they acquired pretty much everything they needed: two impact everyday bats, some left-handed starters, one of the best relievers in the game to add to what was already the best bullpen in the game. This is a Padres team that's not just going to be satisfied with making the playoffs as the last wild card and maybe making it to the Division Series.
This is a team and an ownership group and a. Operations group that is trying to win a World Series. This was going all in to try and do that today. when you think about who they're trying to get by, obviously the Dodgers. They add Brock Stewart to their bullpen.
They send May out to the Boston Red Sox. Have the Padres done enough to jump the Dodgers? And what are your thoughts on what the Dodgers have done? Yeah, the Padres are only three games back, the Dodgers. I think a lot of people are missing how close the Padres are in this race.
Look, the Dodgers are always going to be the favorite. They're the team that has the track record of staying strong through the end of seasons and ultimately coming out on top. We saw it last year. The Padres were right there with the Dodgers, and the Dodgers were able to come out on top, both in terms of the division title and then beating the Padres in the division series. At the same time, When you consider the struggles the Dodgers have had in their bullpen, you know, one arm and Brock Stewart's not going to fix all of them.
And their starting pitchers have really struggled to stay healthy. They're really banking on their starters staying healthy and their bullpen having a huge turnaround. I do think you can see a scenario here and a path here for the Potters with the additions they made to potentially pass the Dodgers. I'm not going to predict it to happen, but I would say the likelihood of it happening has jumped a significant amount. Oh, most definitely.
Kyle Glazer is joining us from the Foul Territory Network to stay in the National League. We've seen what the New York Mets have done. Just not just today and bringing in Cedric Mullins, but also adding Rodgers to the bullpen. Uh what are your thoughts? Do the New York Mets have enough?
At least they're all in. This is different from the Wilbons. Yeah, I think the Mets did a really, really good job upgrading their bullpen in particular. Ryan Helsley, I think, is actually one of the better acquisitions of the deadline. They paid a steep, steep, steep price for Tyler Rogers.
I was very surprised that that's what it took to get him. But nonetheless, he's a good reliever who can certainly help them fander games. Look, you talk about the National League. It's going to be tough. You have the Phillies, you have the Dodgers, the Padres armed up.
The Cubs are a really, really, really talented team, even though maybe they didn't add the caliber of starting pitching you would have hoped at the deadline. The Mets armed up. And I think at the very least, you can say, yeah, the Mets are right there in that kind of top five, top six teams in the NL. And they have certainly put themselves in a better position to contend down the stretch than they were going into the deadline. At the end of the day, that's all you can ask a contending team to do.
You talk about getting arms together on an arms race. I mean, what are your thoughts on? What the Texas Rangers look like adding Kelly to that rotation with a Valdi and an also deGramp. No one wants to see the Texas Rangers in the postseason. I can tell you that right now with how good the starting rotation has been.
And that was already the case. But now you add Merrill Kelly. And yes, I know he wasn't having the greatest year at the Diamondbacks, but now he goes to Texas. He's going to be with a great group of starters in an environment that's very conducive to pitching successfully. Right now, the Rangers are tied for the final wildcard spot in the American League with the Mariners, their division rival in the AL West.
I can tell you right now, every team in the American League field is praying the Rangers somehow fall short because you do not want to get into a short series with that rotation.
Well Kyle, we know how how important, but at the same time how fragile Pitching can be. The Blue Jays lead the New York Yankees in the American League East. They bring on a former Cy Young winner. And Shane Bieber, even though they don't necessarily need him, at some point they might. What are your thoughts on this embarrassment of riches for the Blue Jays when it comes to the starting rotation?
Yeah. When you consider the Detroit Tigers just lost Reese Olson to injury. Toronto Blue Jays can now say They have One of the two or three best rotations in the American League, along with the Rangers. When you talk about you can throw out Kevin Gossman, Jose Barrios, Max Scherzer, Shane Bieber, and Chris Bassett as your top five. And yes, I know Scherzer hasn't been his normal dominant self, but he's been getting a little better each start out since coming off of an injury.
We'll see what Bieber has, but those are five starters who on any given day, are capable of throwing seven scoreless innings. This is a very, very dangerous and scary rotation that has not only fortified the Blue Jays' chances of winning the East, but I think representing the American League in the World Series.
Well, the New York Yankees are well, they're they're behind the Jays at this point in time. They're going to bring on some reinforcements that they didn't have to trade for, guys like Heal, but then they've also fortified their bullpen. Are the Yankees you plan you think they're going to be in this at the end? Or are they running out of gas? I will say, I actually think the Yankees had one of the better trade deadlines of any team very quietly with the bull 10 additions they made.
I mean, you look at Camilla Duvall, you look at David Bednar. These are guys that, at their best, are two of the better back-end relievers in all of baseball. Oh, by the way, Jake Bird from the Rockies, again, not going to get a lot of love because no one watches the Rockies. He's a really good sinker baller. I think the Yankees did a great job fortifying this bullpen.
Again, this team has some other flaws. They need to start playing clean baseball for one. Aaron Judge needs to get healthy, but. Look, I'll say this. Are they a better team today than they were going into the trade deadline?
The answer is yes. Are they the favorite in the American League? No. Are they the favorite in the American League East? No.
But they are a better team today than they were when they woke up this morning. That's all you can ask for at the trade deadline. Kyle Glazer is joining us home. Host an analyst from the Foul Territory Network. It's impossible for us to go through all of the trades.
Carlos Correas going back to Houston. What are your thoughts? What's a trade that did not take place that surprises you? Given the Padre's financial situation. there was a strong likelihood of them trading Dillon Cease.
Yeah. Recently has deep into last night. Talks were progressing very, very rapidly with the Houston Astros. They had a basic framework in place in terms of a player return. There were some things they still had to work through.
The deal wasn't done or anything, but. Momentum was going, and as one executive told me, it was becoming more and more of a real possibility. And things cooled off. The Astros pivoted to Sandy Alcantar. And in the end, neither Alcantra nor Cease got moved.
I think I would say I'm surprised that Dylan Cease is still a padre just because they need to clear up salary space at the same time keeping him, even though he's having a bad year. Makes the Potters the best possible team they can be. And now you look at this rotation and say, yeah, this is definitely a World Series caliber rotation. When you think about the Dodgers, we know they sit at the top of the totem pole. We know they won last year, they've been dealing with their own injuries this year.
What team do you think has made the best jump To go ahead and knock them off. Is it the Padres in their own division? Is it another team? Yeah, I mean, look, the Padres are definitely. making moves to do that.
Again, the National League is a very, very good league. There's a lot of contenders here. But there's no question, the moves the Padres have made have put them in a better position to do so. You think about the American League, the Tigers have certainly gone on the skids a little bit. And it doesn't appear anybody in the Central.
Is is going to catch them. What are your thoughts on kind of the runway that they have to turn things around to what they look like about a month ago? Shh. Yeah. Obviously, losing Rhys Olson certainly hurts, but you still have good rotation with Terek Skubel, Casey Mize.
You know, Jack Flaherty won't pitch as poorly as he has a little bit this year. I expect him to turn it around. This is still a really good team. They've built such a cushion. We see this sometimes.
Teams build these huge, huge cushions. It maybe starts to slow down a little bit, August and September. They rest some guys, they play things kind of cautious with some guys. And then they pick it up, you know. Back half of September and into the postseason.
I wouldn't really worry about the Tigers. Again, this is a good, talented team with a deep lineup with a lot of weapons that can hurt you. A great starting rotation. The Tigers will be more than fine.
Well, Kyle, we know that Major League Baseball adjusting the playoffs allows more teams to say, hey, you know what? I want to be a buyer. And I I want to compete. At the same time, we still have some of the same old teams that year after year. They kind of just sell.
I feel like at the beginning of the season, we know the Pirates are going to sell. We know the Marlins are going to sell. As we approach the expiration of the CBA next year, What are your thoughts on how Major League Baseball could potentially adjust any of this if it's even possible? Look. In order to win a World Series which is every team's stated goal, You have to spend money.
There's no way around it. 27 of the last 30 World Series winners all ranked in the top half of Major League Baseball in opening day payroll. And two of the teams that didn't, the 2017 Astros and 2015 Royals, made trades at the deadline that pushed them into the top half of payroll by the end of the season.
So, as much as we talk about teams like the Brewers and the Rays and even the Guardians and how they're able to compete, every year they're first-round fodder. Realistically, If teams like the Pirates and Marlins, et cetera, are not willing to spend money, which they've shown they're not, winning is a pipe dream. And nothing in the CBA that they do is going to change that. If these teams aren't willing to put in $100, $120 million payrolls, which to be clear, they absolutely can. It's just not going to matter.
It comes down to ownership, having the intent and willingness to spend what it takes to win. Again, a CBA is not going to change that. It's about the owner's personality and, frankly, if they're willing to change their ways. Yeah, everybody can't be the Dodgers, but we see what they're spending is certainly got them. Your pick, given what we've seen over the past 24 hours, to win the World Series, are we looking at another team?
My pick before the trade deadline was the Philadelphia Phillies. I think that I would stick with that today. They fortified their bullpen, going getting Jawan Duran. I still think when you kind of take a step back and look top to bottom, what is the most complete team, lineup one through nine, starting rotation, now the bullpen? I do think the Phillies are the best, most well-rounded team.
Okay.
Well, Kyle, thank you so much for your time and your your expertise. We got a couple of months to see if that bears true. Please tell everybody where they can keep up with you and all of your work. Writing Foul Territory, fill us in. Yeah, absolutely.
You can catch my writing for MLB.com and you can catch me podcast and TV on Foul Territory. Go ahead and check it out. And you can also follow me on Twitter at Kyle A. Glazer. Lots of stuff everywhere.
Kyle, thank you so much. I want to tell you to take a deep breath, but hey, there's more to put out. I know, I know. Absolutely.
Appreciate it.
