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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid.
00:05 Phillies and Yankees,
00:06 those have been the best two teams in baseball,
00:08 very, very close in terms of the margin
00:10 of best record in baseball right now.
00:12 But we'll start off talking about
00:13 how the Yankees got there.
00:15 Let's bring in Matt Lutovsky from Sporting News.
00:17 And Matt, certainly a long way to go in the season.
00:20 And look, it's probably fair to say,
00:23 I think, I don't know if you agree with this,
00:25 that it takes a lot of players to win baseball games.
00:28 But with the April that Juan Soto had,
00:31 and the May that Aaron Judge had,
00:33 these two guys in the lineup have really combined
00:36 to do things for the Yankees
00:37 that they haven't had in a long time.
00:40 - Yeah, I mean, that's all it takes, right?
00:42 One guy anchoring the offense each month,
00:45 keep passing it off.
00:46 And the beauty of those two guys though,
00:48 is it can just be those two guys going back and forth.
00:51 And if they get going together,
00:53 then we really got something cooking.
00:55 But yeah, I mean, they have a complete team.
00:57 Like you said, they have a lot of good offensive players,
01:01 of course, even though we haven't seen great years
01:04 from some of the other guys,
01:05 but the pitching staff has been very solid,
01:08 top to bottom, even without their eights.
01:10 And he's getting going again,
01:12 starting his rehab assignment,
01:14 could be back around the end of the month.
01:16 And then we might really see something.
01:18 So yeah, this team, I mean, look, they pay for it, right?
01:22 They get what they pay for,
01:23 and they have the best team in the American League.
01:26 And I think it's gonna continue
01:28 to be right there at the top,
01:29 as long as everyone stays healthy.
01:31 But they certainly have all the ingredients
01:33 to make a deep run.
01:34 I think we suspected that before the year,
01:37 as long as people stay healthy,
01:39 and these guys are staying healthy and producing.
01:41 It hasn't been perfectly smooth the whole way through.
01:45 But I think we've gotten through
01:47 those sort of early season bumps
01:49 with at least Aaron Judge.
01:51 And I mean, we see what he's doing now.
01:53 And he's looking like the front runner for AL MVP.
01:57 - Yeah, a quiet April for Judge,
01:59 and then an incredible May,
02:01 where the Fandu Sportsbook
02:02 has completely adjusted these odds.
02:04 In fact, Judge is now a minus favorite
02:06 to win the Home Run Champion Contest
02:10 at the end of the season, not the Derby,
02:12 but the contest, he's minus 125.
02:14 Gunnar Henderson's been incredible also.
02:16 I mean, this guy, Matt,
02:18 is flying under the radar completely.
02:20 He's plus 750.
02:21 Ozone is about 10 to one.
02:22 So is Kyle Tucker.
02:24 I think you can't rule out Otani.
02:26 And then you see there's a massive drop off
02:28 to Alvarez there.
02:29 It's probably one of the top five guys.
02:33 If you couldn't pick Judge,
02:34 who else would you choose?
02:36 - Yeah, well, I actually kind of like Juan Soto.
02:39 I mean, he's not on that list you have up there right now,
02:42 but he's not that far behind.
02:44 And we know he's got the park.
02:45 We know he's got the power.
02:46 We know he's got the swing.
02:48 So he would be another kind of value guy I would look for.
02:51 But of those guys on that list,
02:54 I think Henderson, he's kind of hitting everyone.
02:57 You know, his home park, they've really changed it.
03:00 It's not, you know, the hitter's paradise it used to be,
03:03 which I think might hurt him.
03:05 But the fact he's hitting lefties so well,
03:07 hitting righties so well,
03:08 hitting at home, hitting on the road,
03:10 I think makes him very interesting.
03:12 And I think Kyle Tucker is another guy, similar.
03:16 You know, he's not quite as good against lefties, of course,
03:19 but I still kind of like his park,
03:20 like the way he hits there.
03:22 And he certainly matches righties.
03:25 So he's another really interesting guy to watch,
03:27 but it's definitely Aaron Judge's world.
03:30 I wouldn't bet on him right now.
03:32 You're not getting any value.
03:33 All it takes is kind of one even semi-serious injury,
03:37 and that money's down the drain.
03:39 But he's definitely the guy who's the front runner,
03:42 the front runner for a reason.
03:43 And we saw it this over the weekend,
03:46 why he's the front runner,
03:47 but he just doesn't offer value right now.
03:50 So unless you're a big Yankee fan,
03:52 you just want to put down, you know,
03:54 just a very limited amount of money,
03:56 and you think he's the front runner,
03:57 and you're like, "Hey, I'll pocket my couple bucks
04:00 "at the end of the year and just say I picked the winner
04:02 "and knock yourself out."
04:03 But there's not a ton of value
04:05 betting on him right now, unfortunately.
04:08 - Yeah, there is.
04:09 And that's just the nature of sort of
04:10 where this has gone at this point.
04:12 When a player gets that hot,
04:13 he's always going to be the favorite.
04:15 Garrett Cole's getting ready to come back too.
04:17 I guess this, look, they've played great without him,
04:21 but you're not going to say to Garrett Cole,
04:23 "Look, don't come back."
04:24 I mean, it's a ridiculous conversation to have.
04:26 The Yankees are going to go for it.
04:28 Having Cole back is like making a trade
04:30 or getting another Cy Young Award winner back.
04:33 But it still remains to be seen
04:35 what he's going to look like, Matt, right?
04:36 Like, I mean, this is a serious injury.
04:38 Any way you slice it, the guy missed two plus months.
04:41 - Yeah, absolutely.
04:43 And I would imagine they take it very slow.
04:45 I would be somewhat surprised.
04:47 I know he's going to talk aggressive, of course,
04:49 all players are, talking about,
04:51 "Hey, but before July, I might be back."
04:54 I would think though they'll at least extend that out
04:56 until the All-Star break
04:58 and then get them back and see how it's going.
05:00 They're not going to take any unnecessary chances.
05:02 And look, they're at the point where they have a lead.
05:06 They certainly are going to make the playoffs, I would say,
05:08 barring some sort of complete collapse.
05:10 And that's all it takes.
05:12 And even if you don't get him back
05:14 until the end of the year,
05:15 as long as he's built his arm up and he has the strength,
05:18 like you said, it's like making a trade
05:20 for a Cy Young winner and you get him back
05:22 and you get him in some capacity for the postseason.
05:25 You got to watch out.
05:26 - Yeah, I agree.
05:28 And I think that at this stage of the game,
05:31 if the Yankees can keep it going,
05:32 they'll probably going to end up being favorites
05:34 to win it all.
05:34 Right now, I still would put Philadelphia
05:36 or LA in that category.
05:37 All right, you know, interesting market.
05:39 I wanted to ask you about this, Matt.
05:41 The manager of the year, as we sort of,
05:43 award season is now getting to the point
05:45 where things are stable,
05:46 but both races are really close.
05:49 Right now, Kansas City's Matt Quartaro
05:51 is the favorite to win the manager of the year,
05:53 a plus 170, this incredible season the Royals have had.
05:56 But Cleveland has surpassed any expectation
06:00 and Steven Votis plus 240.
06:02 Then you have some other names like Brandon Hyde,
06:04 Aaron Boone, AJ Hinch, Rocco Baldelli.
06:07 I mean, I really don't see any of those winning it
06:10 only because again, Hyde just won it
06:12 and had a great season with the Orioles.
06:14 What do you make of this market?
06:15 Do you think it's down to those two?
06:17 - Well, yeah, I think Votis to me is the guy
06:20 that I'd rather go with.
06:21 He just offers slightly more value.
06:24 I mean, sometimes if no one really stands out,
06:27 they might just say, "Who's the best team?
06:29 "Has this manager won it before?"
06:31 Like if the Yankees really blow everyone away,
06:34 could they give it to Aaron Boone?
06:36 I think it's possible,
06:37 but both the Guardians and the Royals are doing enough
06:41 that I think one of those two guys
06:43 is the clear front runner and for good reason
06:46 and would win it.
06:47 - We got the National League real quick.
06:49 We got about 30 seconds to go here.
06:51 I would say it's the same thing here.
06:52 I mean, a two-player, a two-manager race,
06:55 Thompson with Philadelphia, Pat Murphy with Milwaukee.
06:58 I would tend to think if Milwaukee wins a division, Matt,
07:00 it's gonna be Murphy.
07:02 - Yeah, I really like Murphy.
07:03 I think the guy to watch for though is Snitker.
07:06 If the Braves overcome the Acuna injury
07:08 and finish really high,
07:10 I think he could be of really interesting value.
07:12 - All right, great stuff, Matt.
07:13 Thanks for coming on.
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