Joe Sheehan: Ton Of Fun To Watch Shohei Ohtani

In my best life. Yeah, yeah. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Here's the other surprising part. With guest host, Brian Weber.

Yeah, big shoes to fill. Eisen's a legend. Live from The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. The Rich Eisen Show. Do you know who I am? I'm a guy on television. I have my own show. And now, sitting in for Rich, here's Brian Weber. You can always carve out time for your interaction.

844-204-7424 is the phone number. You can X me on the X platform. B.W. Weber. Weber with two B's.

Maybe I'll make that Weber with two X's. We've only had one guest so far in our two hours together. Enjoy the basketball analysis provided by Kurt Hedlund, NBA writer for NBCSports.com. We did that in the last hour. Looking ahead 40 minutes from now.

We'll say hello to guest number two to wrap up the program with gusto. If I'm talking baseball, I'm focusing on the stars. Otani, Judge and the rest. Looking forward to rounding the bases with Joe Sheehan. Long time baseball writer. You've read his work for Sports Illustrated.

Other leading platforms. Now be sure to check out his work on his own. Joe, like Rich, betting on himself.

Go to JoeSheehan.com. And subscribe to the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter. Because after all, as we go oldie Magoo.

And you can go to my Twitter feed to find out how old I actually look. B.W. Weber.

Weber with two B's. Memorial Day, not too long ago, was dominated by baseball and the Indy 500. Kids, it was a simpler time. We watched Brady Bunch reruns because it was the only thing odd.

Still, I understand. Baseball in very small and digestible sample sizes. It's no longer a national sport other than the postseason. It gets crushed by the NFL head to head. Somebody is still going to these games.

$10 billion in revenue each year. And the pitch clock has been magnificent. Mentioned in passing, but I realize the audience always change. I watched the game the other day. Dodgers because I'm here in L.A. Who's gonna watch the Angels even if you lived across the street in Anaheim? Just over two hours. In some ways, if you go to the game, it might be too fast.

Because if you meander in, waste some time getting a hot dog, although with all the upscale technology now, they'll come to your seat if you're in the right tax bracket. Man, the whole world has changed. There are a lot of salient topics across MLB to get into. And that is coming up in just under 40 minutes. I'm Joe of Record, and I am here to make sure that there is no damage done to the brand that Rich has worked so hard to create. We'll get back to the NFL. We talked about Dak Prescott saying, ah, I'm not a money guy. In fact, I've never cared about money at all in my career as he's looking for a new contract extension. We'll use that as a pivot to expand our focus.

Who else is on the cusp of breaking the bank? We'll get into Tua Tanga Violoa, who stayed away from the majority of the voluntary offseason program in Miami, showed up this week to quote unquote do the right thing. Is Mike McDaniel fully sold on Tua?

Because remember, and we'll get into this in substance in 20 minutes with the NBA less than two minutes away. McDaniel is part of that Shanahan coaching tree going back to Washington. In fact, Mike Silver, I'll name drop here, another NFL network alum, along with yours truly, enriched the face of that network from day one. Mike now columnist in the San Francisco Bay Area for the Chronicle, California alum. He knows that area very well, having grown up in Northern California. He's got a new book coming out detailing the Shanahan coaching tree from that staff in Washington. We know all those guys.

Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur, most especially Sean McVeigh are very particular about the quarterback. So we'll talk about Tua's future in Miami coming up. But it's the most wonderful time of the year for NBA fans. So I'm going to try to hammer home more thoughts on what happened last night in Boston as well as look forward.

Let me reach over and hit the button here. The countdown to tip off is underway. Game two between the Mavs and Timberwolves tonight. Dallas already with mission accomplished, ripping home court from Minnesota in game one.

Although if you watch that game, and I hate to be more cliche than normal, certainly could have gone either way. Credit Dallas, especially for the defense they played and what they got from their big two, especially Kyrie in the first half, maybe motivated by Aunt Sam, quote unquote, I want Kyrie Dallas looking like the team with more playoff experience. I realize it's a revamped roster because of the moves that brought in Gavin in Washington prior to the deadline. But just watching that game and as we discussed in the last hour with Kurt Heelan of NBC Sports dot com, Minnesota did look gas to a degree, especially Anthony Edwards, because they don't have the same kind of playoff experience as Dallas sandwich in between couple runs to the conference finals, not making the playoffs at all last year as Dallas went.

Thank you very much. Last couple games to protect their draft standing. As for Boston, they're playing like a team that was clearly the best team in the regular season. 14 wins better than the Knicks, perhaps a reflection overall in the disparity between the East and the West.

But for all of my fascination on what Jason Tatum failed to do with only four points in the first half, candidly, Celtics did not need him because Jalen Brown was absolutely locked in finished with 40. And it's not just their big two. If you have tracked the Celtics through this outstanding playoff run, that's had some mini dips. Remember, they dealt with the conundrum on a big word Friday, the challenge of game twos in the previous two series, blowing games almost inexplicably. Both to undermanned Miami without Jimmy Butler. And then they blew the game to Cleveland. Didn't burn him in any way.

This one feels like at worst gentleman's sweep, perhaps even more full, full, full kind of stuff as we go old school. And at that point and I thought Kurt Heelan had a good reaction to my question about the strategic choice made by Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle once it was clear Halliburton wasn't coming back. He effectively tapped out. He put a lot of guys on the floor that you never see play. Now some of that seemed to be by design because Carlisle thinking worst case realizing that his main guys and in this playoff run it's been mainly Pascal Siakam validating the aggressive move made by Indy before the deadline to pick him up from Toronto not only because he's got a ring with the 2019 championship when Kawhi could actually show up and be available in the postseason and think about this playoff overall takeaway. What's the one thing that stands out if I asked you okay you've been watching these games 40 games and 40 nights what's the thing that stands out the most to you to me it's been who's not on the floor. This postseason has been absolutely abused by injuries and if we're going to offer fair thoughts on Indiana certainly the draw to use the tennis term went their way when Giannis couldn't play at all Dame was dinged up early in that series but continuing throughout all of the stars that were scratches no Jimmy Butler no Donovan Mitchell towards the end of Boston taking care of Cleveland I mentioned Kawhi and I'm not kicking Kawhi while he's down if you went through the all NBA teams he showed up once more on that list because when he's healthy he's a remarkable game-changing talent the problem is when he's healthy dot dot dot and unfortunately he's just not reliable in the postseason still you play 82 games and he played a lot of them wasn't about load management this year still wasn't there when the Clippers needed them losing to Dallas round one did I mention the Knicks the entire team felt like they were in a body cast and then unfortunately saw Halliburton go down last night and it felt like down goes Indy as well so since we're gonna have plenty of time to talk about Boston moving forward just a quick quick tip of the cat on Brian Weber trying to get the words out in for rich odds and still time for you to pick up the phone 8 4 4 2 0 4 7 4 2 4 and the conversation is always in full effect on the X platform B.W. Weber Weber with two B's Indy I had a schedule this was a team that decided to get younger and think about the deal for Halliburton Porsche bonus the rare trade that worked out for both all teams both all-stars unfortunately for Tyrese in my view someone watches a lot of regular season NBA he was never fully the same because of that hamstring injury in fact he was completely honest about I'm coming back to make sure I can play the 65 games necessary with a new tweak to the rules to be eligible for an all NBA selection but the watch him go down again it felt like the plug was being pulled from Indiana now we've seen them rally repeatedly against the Knicks and to get it done in game six and seven with no margin for error and to come up with not only a game seven victory at MSG but to do it in dominant fashion I'll give Indiana a smidge of a chance but it feels like it's a foregone conclusion for the most complete team in basketball to move on to the finals with loads of rest NBA finals cannot be moved up this is a commitment the league makes in advance they won't start until June 6 meaning that if we get a cameo from Kristaps Porzingis let's say in game four just to get the basketball conditioning moving in the right direction again he's gonna have plenty of time toward his legs rest up from a little bit of trauma getting back on the floor it's not just Brown and Tatum very quietly in addition to his defense and I hate to be the old school we never talk about defense but Drew Holliday is one of the best on the ball defenders in the league well he looked very good offensively in game one and the supporting cast comprised of guys like Derek White Boston and I'm not doing the gambling show yet because I've not been paid to go into that line of work but I'm ready you can download my podcast the sportsbook would be web wherever you get your podcast Boston would be a considerable favorite this is not breaking news especially the way they played during the regular season remember 37 and four at home this year making the losses in game two to Miami Cleveland all the more galling Boston's gonna be a favorite irrespective of its Dallas or Minnesota now who's it going to be coming out of the West I'm riding with Dallas and this comes to you from somebody who has had a lot of material derived from some lunatic views from Kyrie Irving and we're in a good upbeat frame of mind heading into a long holiday weekend unofficial start of summer so I don't need to go through everything that Kyrie has said especially the highly objectionable thoughts but Kyrie for lack of a better term could not get out of his own way verbally in the past by all accounts a very bright guy if you hear him and he showed up on the TNT said after the game one victory Minnesota he can be outgoing he can be charming I don't know him on a personal level at all I am just viewing from afar but it's so interesting to have the major contrast from Kyrie especially in Brooklyn to Kyrie this year in Dallas he's not said anything that wasn't basketball related and maybe that's by design maybe he's looking for some reinvention whatever the motivation is how can you be critical of what Dallas has done in a Western conference in which candidly I didn't give them much thought now understanding they had made the finals just a couple years ago but as we were going through and I did this I'm sure in my numbing detail because I was with you during Christmas week and I'm not only gonna talk NFL as much as now it's hijacked Santa's Day as well but if we were just slotting teams in the West well not a hot take to go how about we lean into the reigning champs from Denver and I'm still baffled as to what happened in the third quarter when Denver could not close Minnesota out with a 20-point lead at home and yes Denver was missing role players from the championship run the year before I'm not saying Bruce Brown or Jeff Green would have made a huge difference but it was clearly a deeper team that won that title but if we were just going through off the top of our heads the teams with the best chance of making it out of the deep and competitive Western conference it would have taken me a while to get to Dallas understanding they had another 50-win season and I'll be upfront with you as I said with my baseball thoughts I get distracted by stars and maybe that's because I'm in the storytelling business and it's much more straightforward to connect to an audience when we're talking about marquee names it's not sexy to break down the impact that Daniel Gaddford and PJ Washington have had for Dallas unless you were paying attention against the Thunder and saw Washington be a difference maker in a couple games there but as I was thinking about how the West was going to come together well I'll give you another injury I thought this was the year for Zion because he had gotten in much better shape and when healthy was playing outstanding ball down goes Zion in this year of injuries in fact we've already had more player games lost due to injury in this postseason at this stage we're still in the conference finals mind you then last year's postseason in its entirety just a bad run of luck for the NBA as much as so many of you think that everything is scripted they don't give me the handbook maybe when you got to page 97 it said okay the hockey talk man will have a run-in and then there's going to be a bunch of injuries let's just call it misfortune but if I was going through the teams that I gave a legitimate chance to emerging from the West this year I would have got Denver Minnesota OKC I thought as the fool that I am that Kevin Durant at least would show up in the postseason didn't like the addition of Bradley Beal but how can you dissect KD's resume prior to this year so Dallas snuck up on me but because I actually try to watch games I know it's a novel concept it is my job after all a lot to like about this team and I think if you want to play NBA conspiracy theorist there's two ways of looking at how the league would like this to play out Minnesota it becomes the coronation of Anthony Edwards right he's the new face of the league at the age of 22 and we know LeBron's always going to be in control as long as he's going to play he's probably going to play two more years he might hoodwink and pressure the Lakers into drafting his kid I'm based here in Los Angeles I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen jot down the phone number if you want to give me a call on Monday 844-204-7424 or you can X me BW Weber Weber were to bees I went to grad school at USC I watched Bronny James play a lot let's also provide the important context he dealt with cardiac arrest he needed a heart procedure the fact that this young man is even playing college basketball is remarkable that said he made no impact on a lousy USC team he doesn't look like an NBA prospect to me but we know how it works if my old man had been more successful I probably would have chosen a different line of work just to be thoroughly upfront with you so I'm not endorsing Nepo moves I'm just telling you like it is and since LeBron as much as the Lakers can claim that they make their decisions independent of LBJ if LeBron makes it clear that he wants JJ Reddick to coach that team not only because they're boys and co-hosts on the podcast it's going to get done and candidly as a viewer I would prefer JJ to move into coaching or just stick to his podcast I don't enjoy him calling games because it doesn't seem like he's having fun now he's staying in character that's who he is and I understand that decision from a network perspective because they had to get somebody when Doc said hey I really enjoyed working you these 12 games this was great Mike Breen good to see you Doris I'm going to Milwaukee to run that franchise into the ground but JJ's a tough listen there's got to be some joy to what you're doing especially in the playoffs but just thinking about the West and how much time we devote to LeBron watch watch watch watch and what he's going to do with the hammer of free agency Dallas is largely overlooked so I think if you're the NBA you'd enjoy Anthony Edwards but at least Dallas has the championship pedigree of the past this is the franchise that has won before and Luca is one of the top five players in the world I think you could sell Luca and Kyrie to casual fans more than here comes ants and a bunch of guys that unless you follow basketball you don't know unless you want to blame COVID on Rui Gobert the day before the world came to a halt I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen we'll talk more basketball but we're going to shift gears in large measure coming up I'm about to check out the Twitter feed the X feed so if you want to express opinion over there it's BW Weber Weber were to be 20 minutes we talked some baseball because Memorial Day weekend belongs to baseball those of us stuck in the mid 80s Joe Sheehan of the Joe Sheehan baseball newsletter will be our guest coming up few more NBA takeaways and because this is the football show of record I mentioned Dak Prescott and his contract situation if Jack is not on the clock right now if he's not going to get paid soon who's the next marquee quarterback that could jump the line to break the bank next and will Aaron Rodgers hypocrisy ever come to an end I'm Brian Weber always a delight to keep the chair warm for Rich and the fellows we continue right here on the Rich Eisen show afford anything talks about how to avoid common pitfalls how to refine your mental models and how to think about how to think while certainly you can mess up on a million dollars a year it is far less likely than it is on $30,000 a year I would meet wonderful people that were struggling with a budget that was super tight it was a hundred percent you need to make more money make smarter choices and build a better life afford anything wherever you listen what's up everyone it's reality Steve your number one source for all things bachelor nation and reality TV every day I'm giving you the behind the scenes juice and your info on all your bachelor nation stories and also interviewing some of your favorite reality stars my name has been synonymous with spoilers but I'm so much more than that give me a listen the reality Steve podcast part of the believe network just search BL EAV on YouTube or wherever you listen welcome back to the Rich Eisen show radio network I'm Brian Weber and I'm proudly sitting at the Rich Eisen show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry Grainger has the right product for you call click Grainger.com or just stop by we have reached the business end of the program in 15 minutes if I'm talking in baseball I'm doing it concisely with the goal to entertain and inform and I'll have some assistance from one of the most insightful baseball minds available it's Joe Sheehan you've read his work for Sports Illustrated other leading baseball outlets over the years Joe hanging out his own shingle now be sure to support the brand JoeSheehan.com and think about subscribing to the Joe Sheehan baseball newsletter and as I was told millions of years ago on radio my man play the hits so we'll be talking Dodgers Yankees I will not be breaking down the NL Central in granular detail and I try my best never to drift too far away from football this is the football show of record after all although I had to go NBA Heavy now I know other shows would have found a way to make it all football all the time but as I mentioned I love hoops as much as I love football still I understand how the world works and with OTA is going on around the league running into mandatory minicamps the primary benefit of that as football fans is we get dudes at podiums and we get some of the biggest names in sports talking about things that do not involve X's and O's so in the first hour of the show we devoted a good chunk of the first 60 minutes to Dak Prescott's contract situation in a quote that I just can't read enough because I love the 12 dimensional chess that Dak is trying to play quote I don't play for money never have cared for it you know there are things I don't care for in life I don't like getting a colonoscopy necessarily that that would be something if you just threw out there hey fill in guy what don't you care for you know how long it would take me to get to money on my list of things I'd never care for it and I chose a career primarily out of passion I'm a freaking dummy okay so if I was solely money motivated I would have done a lot of other things in my life still even I as I try to justify a series of terrible career choices would never trot out you know money I never care for it so how about guys who are interested in money and we know Dak is just in the spin factory because he's miffed deservedly so that Dallas has mishandled his contract situation again after the franchise tag situation then the summer of deck as a fill-in host I had way too many shows talking about is he going to get paid if not where's he going so at this stage wake me up when his name is attached to the dotted line but we knew and this is how it works in the NFL they're slotting when it comes to quarterbacks and when Jared Goff got paid and good for Jared I don't root for individual teams or players but I like redemption stories and Jared Goff was left for dead by the Rams now I can understand Sean McVeigh's thought process because he felt like he had maxed out with golf as his quarterback it's not golf's fault that the Rams overdrafted him I watch a lot of West Coast football spent a lot of time in the San Francisco Bay Area never once watching golf play for Cal did I ever think oh that's a number one overall pick so that's on the Rams and the old regime led by mr. seven and nine Jeff Fisher but when McVeigh had a chance to go after what he thought was an upgrade they kicked golf to the curb as quickly as possible landed in Detroit part of that resurgence and isn't it great to see Detroit as a football town I know Stevie Eiserman is not walking through that door but think about the Lions remarkable transformation and almost three-quarters of a million people watching rich and the crew at NFL Network handle the NFL draft Detroit is back baby in a major way we got a new axle Foley movie coming out in a few weeks it's all about Motown but once golf got his well-deserved deal the question became who's getting paid next so Dak is in his own category because this gets down to the dysfunction of the Cowboys plus he's already gotten multiple deals I think it's more interesting to look at players on the cusp of that second contract which is the Powerball money in the NFL the situation of Miami with Tua remains interesting and I think fluid to a degree I think a deal will get done and I'm not just trying to stir things up as a fill-in guy from a distance I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen keeping you company on this Friday heading into the long holiday weekend and we'll do it again on Monday we're live in this very chair again here on the Rich Eisen show but I do think it's fair to wonder is Mike McDaniel all-in on Tua remember Tua is a byproduct of the previous regime I just gave you the comp guff and Sean McVeigh and a relationship that deteriorated they got to a Super Bowl together Miami as much as I love watching them you know how lousy they played against teams with winning records last year and unfortunately they ran into Kansas City and no one's going to be Kansas City at least not frequently in the playoffs in this era so I'm not saying that Mike McDaniel is out on Tua I'm just wondering if the deal will be structured in a way that Miami has outs because remember you're going to hear some insane number but it really comes down to the guaranteed money and guaranteed years you want as much as you can up front with a signing bonus because that's the generation of wealth and you can monetize that for decades but most of these contracts especially with quarterbacks become a series of one-year deals after say year three so I think a couple things are in play here what do the Dolphins do on the field this year nice marginal pickup of Odell Beckham Jr. and what feels like the twilight of his career just because he can't stay healthy but you know it's all about Waddle and Tyreke stretching the field but let's say Miami in a division now that has pending Aaron Rodgers availability we'll talk about Rodgers coming up a god-awful team in New England still in the midst of this rebuild and Buffalo as much as they were baffling at times last year well when you have Josh Allen you still have a chance and we saw the Bills get back to the playoffs and while their championship window may be closing and don't lose sight of what they did defensively they had a huge wave of talent go out the door because of salary cap reasons with veterans like Jordan Poyer in fact landing in Miami it's Buffalo in Miami what's more going back and forth in that division to up let's say the contract negotiations continue into the season let's say Miami gets off to a seven-in-one start maybe that gives him more leverage but I think ultimately his relationship with Mike McDaniel as it should will come down to postseason success Trevor Lawrence in line for a new deal if you're the Jags of course you pay him probably sooner rather than later because the more you wait as Dallas is gonna find out with Dak the number only goes up and if I was just gonna do pop quiz hotshots even though this is the football show of record how many members of the Jaguars Jaguars like Star Wars not Jaguars how many Jags other than Trevor Lawrence can you even name he is the face of the franchise by miles he's gonna get paid soon Aaron Rodgers doesn't need what we all could use more money separate Jack doesn't need another deal but he's got something to prove this year for snaps was all he played last year before unfortunately he snapped his Achilles Aaron Rodgers in my view cannot get out of his own way and I have a complicated relationship with a man who for years I said as a fill-in host he's the most skilled quarterback I had ever seen and I'm older than my enthusiastic delivery would suggest and I went to the same school as John Elway who I think is on the short list of the best pure talented quarterback when you factor in arm strength mobility longevity and the rest of those variables Aaron lost me with this COVID stuff and now he's lost me even further praising Vladimir Putin but when Aaron at the media session he had earlier this week back on the practice field coming all the way back from the ripped Achilles said it's got to be all about football for the Jets same thing he said wrapping up last year's lost season because when he went down the entire year went down with him when he said it's got to be all about football in the very same press conference in which he acknowledged he gave serious thought to being a vice presidential candidate for Robert F Kennedy jr is that the very definition of hypocrisy how can you give me more double talk than saying it's got to be solely about football oh by the way I almost was part of a run for the White House but the Jets have been so desperate for a quarterback since oh I don't know Joe willing name it this was the exercise I was used to use as a wise allah kid in the 1980s give me the second best quarterback growing up in the suburbs of New York second best quarterback in the history of the Jets the answer then was Ken O'Brien prior to Aaron Rodgers arrival I think the right answer was Chad Pennington unless you want to give Sanchez credit for being a part of those AFC championship teams so the Jets have turned over the franchise to Aaron he can do whatever he wants what's more we're gonna see a ton of the Jets in primetime because Mike North the VP of scheduling said quote-unquote with Aaron going down last year and the Jets having all those terrible primetime games the league felt like the Jets owed them one so if you're already tired of Aaron as a person not a player buckle up a lot more gangrene and Aaron doing Aaron like things coming up when we get to the season in the fall straight ahead we're gonna close the program rounding the bases talking baseball in entertaining fashion well we're not even in June you want to crown someone Denny Green should we hand the Dodgers the World Series now looking forward to our latest baseball conversation with Joe Sheen of the Joe she and baseball newsletter I'm Brian Weber in for rich this is the rich eisen show for rich eyes and get you set for the long holiday weekend and we'll do it again live on Monday looking forward to spending part of Memorial Day with you let's wrap up this program with gusto always a pleasure to talk baseball with one the best in our industry it is Joe she and check out his fine work at Joe she and calm and I would hope that you would consider subscribing to the Joe she and baseball newsletter Joe we've not chatted since October how are you good but I always know when the summer is coming because that's when you call me well I was gonna put you down for July 4th but why don't we get through this conversation and you have my pledge it'll be concise and I think you know me well enough I play the hits and I go with geography so I'm here in Southern California and I watch the Dodgers on a daily basis Joe even a casual fan is aware of the transcendence of Shohei Ohtani but has he taken things to a new level with his ability to compartmentalize his interpreter former interpreter on his way to the big house and Ohtani is still putting up sensational numbers yeah I think we're gonna have to start stop calling it like an Ohtani scandal because Ohtani was just a victim of a crime here like a player who got jobbed by his agent or something or Jack Clark who went bankrupt in bad investments but this was never an Ohtani gambling scandal it was interpreter at a gambling problem and was stealing from him and one of the things we're seeing is not just Brian E leave aside the off-field stuff because I think he was always going to get through that we're seeing what Ohtani can do if he doesn't have to pitch or concentrate on pitching or practice pitching every six a day he had some pretty large when pitching not when pitching let's pretend I did that in English splits over the last few years with the Angels well now all he has to do anything that we have in the elbow don't get me wrong now that he's only focusing on hitting we're seeing him take that part of his game to another level that's really been entertaining now I'm not saying you know don't go back to the mound or anything like that but we're getting this one year where all he has to do is be a hitter and it's a ton of fun to watch well Joe you beat me to it it was I do try to map out my questions in advance so I have coherent thoughts we know how much pitching means to Ohtani it's part of his core identity going back to being a youngster in Japan but given what you just laid out is there any chance the Dodgers go to him in the offseason and say we understand that you want to be a two-way player but look at what you just did I mean you can have that conversation but Ohtani doesn't sign this contract he doesn't make this commitment to the Dodgers without some assurances that he's going to get to return to the mound with the Angels Ohtani was a bit of an island to himself in a lot of ways the Angels you know in the first three years he really wasn't a two-way player he got hurt in his first season eight starts in you know we had 20 20 mixed in there he came back he wasn't pitching really at Tommy John surgery it wasn't until his fourth year in the league that he elevated and became Shohei Ohtani and full disclosure Brian I said a number of times during that period he should just give up just be one or the other and obviously I was wrong this three year stretch by Ohtani we're gonna talk about it forever I think he gets to go back to the mound next year with the idea now that if it does start to affect his play if the pitching slips a little bit if he can't stay healthy now you start to have this conversation as he enters his 30s but in 2025 he's going to get all the runway he needs to return as a pitcher talking baseball with Joe Sheehan be sure to check out his outstanding work Joe Sheehan.com and the Joe Sheehan baseball newsletter by subscription it's a great value since we're talking about things on the mound those of us who follow college baseball knew all about Paul Skeans on his way to being the number one overall pick and how casual fans are seeing just how sensational a talent he is third start yesterday just one run allowed over six innings with Giants now Joe we've seen phenoms flame out in the past so I don't want to turn up the hype machine too much but if Skeans can stay healthy how good can he be in the long term I mean a true number one starter that's the upside he was a Friday night starter at LSU and he's in the majors less than a year after being drafted that's your road map to being a number one starter the you know modern pitching analysis looks at his fastball and says eh it doesn't have that ride that we're looking for but he's got this splinker now this kind of split finger sinker pitch that's going to play off that fastball beautifully you know they really held him back in the minors but they've let him pitch he's gone six a couple of times in the majors it looks like they're topping him out about 100 pitches so I don't even think the workload is going to be that big an issue at least until they do shut him down eventually but you're looking at a true number one Brian like any of these hard throwing starters now we're just going to be holding our breath to make sure that he's not shaking out his elbow make sure we're not getting reports of the fabled forearm strain it's all really about health more than performance for schools let's go from the good to the bad for now which is a huge contrast because we know Houston's been a fixture in the postseason credible stretch of reaching seven consecutive American League Championship Series and the two World Series wins but I have the standings in front of me and Houston still six games under 500 why do you think they've been scuffling so much and do you expect them to pull the nose up at some point we're starting to feel the effects of the depth that they don't have anymore they had the two years where they were penalized with not having first and second round draft example the sign feeling scandal they've traded away a lot of their talent they traded their top two prospects last year to the best thing at Justin Verlander the front office just isn't as good as it was under Jeff Luenau or even under James Click so you've got a lot of slow degradation this isn't a decade long run we would expect eventually this to fall a little bit but the baseline talent you look at Altuve, Tucker, Alvarez, I push for Amber Valdez and even Justin Verlander at 40 in that in that mix that kind of core means you're going to be in the race so while they played poorly they've had some bullpen collapses that have hurt them I still see them as the best team of the three contenders of the AL West. Finally since you cover the full gamut when people subscribe to the joe sheehan baseball newsletter we know about the debacle of the new unis I don't need you to weigh in on see through pants it's a family show where do you come out on the city connect jerseys? I think they've been a mixed pack some of them I really do enjoy the the mariners one say the Marlins one that the Cubans uh the contributes to the Cuban team the old national ones with the uh cherry blossoms I thought were really good I have two feelings though I feel like they are getting a little bit worse as we go along they're just getting what is running out of ideas or teams that aren't as connected to their cities and the other thing is I don't think every team needs one I don't need the Tigers in a city connect that is a classic home uniform with the the old English D they should wear that all the time same thing for the Yankees I would say the same thing for the Cardinals there are just some teams whose uniforms are so iconic they are the city connects for those teams. Joe I know family comes first on the holiday weekend so I greatly appreciate you taking the time and as you foreshadowed filling seasons coming up so I hope we can chat again late June early July sounds good Brian enjoy the holiday you too Joe Sheehan won the best in our business I would recommend you check out the Joe Sheehan baseball newsletter it's informative and insightful and you get all the information by logging on to joeshian.com and I'm going to give myself dare I say a self high five I could use a little DDP yoga right now based on this chair that I'm lurched over in I did an entire baseball segment without talking about the Yankees or the Mets you know here I am let's see I moved to California in 1987 and like every other loudmouth New Yorker I think the world ends at the Hudson River and that is as I now try to convince you to watch more baseball maybe because I did some college baseball this year although I think my career is over because I'm the guy who left the game in progress I'm not making light of it but since the conference has gone to hell and the network's going out of business I had a commitment on Easter Sunday a sunrise family service I could not miss I have done every stupid game on every holiday my entire adult life I took a series on short notice I had a five run lead in the eighth inning I had a ground ball the second if a sure handed infielder for said team I don't think in the particulars had made the routine for three I make my plane with 45 minutes to spare well that's baseball Susan beat goes on and I had a decision to make and I I'm proud of this ad lib I'm not justifying not staying for the game I've never done this before I'll probably never have opportunity again although we all cut it close when it comes to travel and the soon to be defunct network I work for had me working alone and not paying me anymore just so you know what happened there as we went to the bomb tonight and I realized if I'm going to make this plane last plane out of town and I was not going to stiff my family for once because yes I am a family man living alone in a one bedroom apartment I thought this was not a bad ad lib I said my name and I said natural sound will take you the rest of the way and it was amazing you got picked up on one blog and I can understand people who objected to my decision which I fully explained on the X platform it was amazing how many people then chimed in on X saying this is the best broadcast I've ever heard because that guy never shuts the hell up so the audience is not wrong you all think now hopefully not a talk show but you all think when we do games we talk too much I get it and I talk too much working alone doing games because you feel the need to show just how insightful you are I went a long way for that story I'm not even sure why I told it but that is the beauty of live radio and it's a testament to Rich's commitment to you as a customer that I'm here today and I'm going to be back here on Monday with all the fallout from the NBA weekend a lot of shows play tape Rich has so many extraordinary interviews he could just queue up Jon Hamm, Ric Flair and not have a host come in but because this is a byproduct of Rich Eyes Productions he makes sure that the listener comes first so however you view our time together I've got three more hours with you that I'm really looking forward to on Monday I think at that point we'll know the Celtics will have even more of a dagger through unfortunately the battered Pacers chances I think Minnesota wins tonight I think that series is going seven once more but I'll give you all of our strong NBA takeaways coming up on Monday want to thank our guests appreciate the MLB opinions of Joe Sheehan check out the Joe Sheehan baseball newsletter I am aware because I've spoken to him on the radio for over a decade now Kurt Heelan is his name and he writes for NBC Sports want to thank Rich once more always a delight to be in for the hall of fame caliber broadcaster Bruce Gilbert all the good people Westwood won our technical producer Curtis doing a phenomenal job have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend I'll talk to you on Monday here on the rich eyes and show welcome to talk about the ultimate small rewatch podcast guest star Sarah Carter as Alicia Baker although I didn't really work with her a lot but Tom did and they had some real big smoochy scenes yeah about that could there be any more sex what was three page makeout scene that just kept going good lord we get it they have chemistry jump in now or catch up on any of the past seasons of talkville on YouTube or wherever you listen.