Leafs' Dreadful Season + Jays Rotation Troubles with Adnan Virk

This podcast is sponsored by IQBAR.

I've got good news and bad news.

Here's the bad news.

Most protein bars are packed with sugar and unpronounceable ingredients.

The good news?

There's a better option.

I'm Will and I created IQBAR plant protein bars

to empower doers like you with clean,

delicious, low sugar brain and body fuel.

IQBars are packed with 12 grams of protein,

brain nutrients like magnesium,

and lion's mane, and zero weird stuff.

And right now you can get 20% off all IQBAR products,

plus reshipping.

Try our delicious IQBAR sampler pack

with seven plant protein bars for hydration mixes

and for enhanced coffee sticks.

Cleaning ingredients, amazing taste,

and you'll love how you feel.

Refuel smarter, hydrate harder,

caffeinate larger with IQBAR.

Go to eaticubar.com and enter code bar20

to get 20% off all IQBAR products plus free shipping.

Again, go to eaticubar.com and enter code bar20.

My name's Mackenzie and I started to go fund me

for the adoptive mother of a nonverbal autistic child.

The mother had lost her job because she wasn't able to find

adequate care for this autistic child.

So she really needed some help with living expenses,

paying some back bills.

So I launched a go fund me to help support them

during this crisis.

And we raised about $10,000 within just a couple of months.

I think that the surprising thing was by telling a clear story

and just like really being very clear

about what we needed,

we had some really generous donations from people

who were really moved by the situation

that this family was struggling with.

GoFundMe is the world's number one fund raising platform

trusted by over 200 million people.

Start your GoFundMe today at GoFundMe.com.

That's GoFundMe.com. GoFundMe.com.

This podcast is supported by GoFundMe.

Fan morning show, Gunning, Bodenstein here with you on a Friday

very, very happy to talk to our next guest.

Good friend of the show.

Jason Buckele, Bucke's, how's it going, man?

Good morning, fellas.

I'm doing fantastic.

Thanks. How are you doing?

Yeah, we're doing well.

We're doing well, creeping closer and closer to the weekend.

As you know, I love to rub in your face every time we talk to you on a Friday.

So yeah, you know, you don't happy about that.

Yes, they know you're always very excited about it.

Very excited.

Good for you.

Good for you.

That's that's right.

You don't want to know what time that alarm comes calling.

And I've got twin babies at home.

So the alarm is like not the only thing that made me up way too early in the morning.

So I, I eat it at other times.

I don't, don't you worry, Bucs.

Okay, I do want to talk leaves with you a little bit here.

I want to talk about this draft coming up a little bit.

But man, I'd be lined if I, if I wanted to start somewhat anywhere else.

But to me, maybe the most interesting team in the NHL right now,

the Edmonton Oilers.

We know exactly what the program is with them.

This, this entire kind of era.

It has been McDavid and it has been dry saddle.

You know, riding shotgun with each other.

Obviously, you know, McDavid missed a long chunk of time.

Dry saddle won the heart.

What have you made of the oilers and their little bit of struggles,

including losing to a panthers team that's having a terrible season this year

without dry saddle here?

How concerned should they be about their playoff lives that could be,

could be kind of fleeting a little bit with, with the dry saddle injury?

Yeah, no, I would definitely be concerned.

They've got a five point lead on the next wild car position.

If you will, nobody seems to want to win the division in the Pacific to be honest.

So they're kind of right there.

But they're going to be in playoff.

But having said that my confidence level is low to, to, to be frank,

they're, they're fascinating team.

They really are.

When you take a look at just the metrics on the group,

they score goals.

Everybody knows they can score goals.

They're like third in the NHL and scoring goals.

They've got the best power play.

But they just can't keep it out of the net.

They're 28th in the league and goals against.

And their penalty kills somewhere around 25th or 26th as well.

And yeah, they're, they're, here's a stat for you guys.

As of today, Conneringroom and Stewart Skinner have played the exact same amount of games

for them with the Noirers this year, 23 games.

They're safe percentages, one, one thousand or one one hundredth apart from each other.

So they, they, it's, it's incredible that trade that was made to,

to move Kool-Ack and a second to bring in Tristan Jerry,

who's got a 4.17.

It's just, it's just, you can't, your confidence can't be consistent

from day to day with that group.

You're not so sure what you're going to get in terms of,

you know, it's somebody going to stop the puck tonight.

Or we can just go out square up on it, et cetera, et cetera.

So it's not a playoff way of thinking going into a lot of stretch drive here.

That's been the same story with the Oilers every year,

Bukes and Brent, nothing has really changed in that regard.

Bukes, I can't have you on and not go immediately to Matthew Schafer to be honest.

Like, you know, you, you, you and I have been watching this kid for a while.

No, Brent's also a junior hockey guy, but like working in the sphere,

you watch this kid at junior effortless skater,

tremendous puck decisions, puck skills, obviously great decision makers.

Well, it's translated.

I think a lot better than anybody else could have predicted.

The kid's making history.

He's made Islander games fun to watch again.

That's how good Matthew Schafer has been.

How does this guy project?

Like, are we talking Kale McCar?

Are we talking better than Kale McCar?

What do you see Matthew Schafer becoming when it's all said and done?

Yeah, it's hard to say better than Kale McCar,

because he's obviously super, super elite.

But Matthew Schafer is the poster child for that poster child,

because that's all young.

He is the, for the New York Islanders, the New York Islanders forever,

haven't really had that player, that marquee player,

where you can kind of, a must-watch type of player, I guess,

is the best way to put it.

And that's exactly what Matthew Schafer is.

This kid is going to be the future captain on the island.

I've said it to so many people that want to hear it.

When you're scouting players, young players, especially,

when they've gone through things, it's one thing to be all-world skill-wise.

And, you know, you can see somebody pop and they're really great offensively.

They're a transitional defenseman.

They're power play quarterback.

But it's hard to score in the national hockey league.

You know what it's even harder to do?

It's harder to defend, right, as a defenseman.

When you're this young and you've already persevered through so much at the junior level,

and I'm talking about off-ice.

This kid's had more to deal with, more distractions in his young life

than most people ever deserve.

And, well, not ever deserve.

People don't deserve what he's gone through.

And he's just persevered.

And he's like a plus 18 or something on the top 12 and league defenseman scoring.

I don't know what else you can ask of him.

Honestly, he's their most viable player in New York.

And that says something because Celebrini, I would say,

should be in the same sort of discussions for MVP at the league level as a Matthew Schaefer.

These are the, we always go to the same guys, right, the McKinnons and the McDavids and whatever else.

But how about these guys?

If the Islanders get into playoffs, if somehow, let's think the sharks are falling off.

But, you know, if they squeaked in somehow like these youngsters and Schaefer's right there,

it's great for the game.

It really is.

It's great for the New York Islanders.

I'll say that for sure.

Because of the position he plays, and I don't, like, we don't need to get into the like,

who's better?

Who's more impressive?

Guess what?

They're both really good when it comes to Celebrini or Schaefer.

But because of the position he plays, is it a little more impressive

that Schaefer's doing what he's doing as a rookie?

Like, we just think of a defenseman.

It takes him forever to kind of grow into that.

And, you know, I mean, you look at recent number one overall picks that have been

D like a Rasmus Dalline.

Like, think about how long it took him to kind of find his footing in this league.

It feels to be like, that's maybe the part of this that is underappreciated

in how good Schaefer's season has been, is that he's doing it as a defenseman,

where it's like, yeah, the forward's supposed to come in and score a lot of goals

and rip a lot of points.

And it's supposed to be dynamic.

And if they have the warts on the other side, it is what it is.

You know, what are the luxury of that with with the defenseman?

I feel like that's what almost like separate Schaefer,

obviously from the pack of this year's rookie class.

But even when you kind of throw him just in the line of recent number one overall picks.

Yeah, I agree with that.

We went through it with Aaron Eckladt a long time ago.

It takes defenseman longer to get their legs, if you will, defensively,

especially when you have an offensive gift.

It's just there's nowhere to hide as a defenseman.

You can, you can, well, I'll give you an example.

Evan Bouchard's having the hell of a year and I've been thin and people are saying

he should be in North Trophy candidate.

And maybe they're right by that, you know, frankly, he leads the league and,

and scoring as a defenseman and he's a plus player.

But what do you see when you see Evan Bouchard?

When he, when he gives up a muffin in the middle of the ice,

or he's lost that fair defending, everybody in the building sees it, right?

Not so much when you're a centerman or a winger.

It's there's nowhere to hide as a defenseman.

It's exceptionally difficult.

And opponents, when they see a puck dumped in your corner,

if you're Matthew Schaefer, and they know what you can do offensively,

they're going to, there's going to be a lot of growl, you know, in your back pocket.

People are going to play you harder physically because they don't want you to go North with the puck.

They know what you're capable of.

So there's lots more to unpack.

The trajectory of a defenseman is, is much more difficult.

The small details are much more difficult to attain and stay consistent.

But he's done that and it's very impressive.

And he's just eating ice time in all situations, pukes.

Like at 18 on a team that's trying to make the playoffs.

And I mean, like they're on the outside looking in for the first time in three and a half months

because they lost yesterday with 11 seconds left in regulation.

But it really just goes to show right between him and Sorokin,

how important all situations DR, how important goal tending is.

The Maple Leafs don't really have that, unfortunately.

But there was smoke.

I do want to ask you this before we jump into stuff about the draft and whatnot.

But there was smoke around Matthew Nies name a little bit, particularly from sports nets,

Elliott Friedman.

You know, I tend to believe, and I think Brent's on the same boat here,

that if they do move Nies, like they're probably going for an all situations defenseman.

A name I threw out there was Simone Nemitz.

How hard are those to trade for?

Like we know scouting them is tough and that's like the coveted prize and you want that guy

on your back end, munching the 25, 27 minutes,

playing all situations.

The true number 1D.

How hard are those guys to trade for?

Boy, oh boy, they're very difficult to trade for, very difficult.

Number 1D, very difficult to trade for.

You know, I'll give you an example.

Well, just when you look at shape or because you look at him being a number 1D,

at a young age that he just mentioned it, he's had games recently.

Guys, he's been over 27 minutes a night.

So just ask yourself the question.

Like how hard is it to get a defenseman like that?

The other thing about it though is when you talk about Matthew Nies,

I also love the ilk that it's very difficult to obtain power forwards.

You can put the puck in the back of the net.

Now Matthew Nies hasn't been the best version of himself.

The series like a minus 16, and I'd like to see him play a heavier, more consistent hockey than,

but to a man that Toronto Maple Leafs have been exactly that, right?

Frustrating, inconsistent, you don't know what you're getting any night.

So the whole package here, you got to be very careful with trade deadlines,

and you got to be very careful as you build towards this draft class or any draft that is,

with your strategy in terms of what you're going to value and the longevity of what you're

going to get, whether that's through trade or through acquisition in the draft.

Certain types of players be power forwards, right shot D, for example, or tights like Matthew

Schaefer, they're impossible to get in trades or nearly impossible or very, very expensive

once they arrive in the week. Yeah, I mean, God, could you imagine somebody calling up the

aisles right now, but Schaefer, it's like, you better have Celebrini on the other end of that

trade call. I don't think it's happening. Yeah, exactly. When it comes to a guy like Nies,

I'm curious where you stand on this from a player projection standpoint of how much is

nurture and how much is nature. When Nies first came into this league, it felt like there was

this untapped or, you know, like unknowable upside of not just a big power forward, but

felt like there was some grit, felt like there was some mean, felt like there was some nasty in

there. And I'm not going to say that's completely gone away from his game, but it does feel like

it's kind of petered out this season. You know, the example and it was Zach who brought it up

earlier in the show was guy like Sam Bennett. You know, there was definitely some of that in the

scouting when he was looked at as a prospect, but he didn't exactly show it in spades and Calgary,

and then you see what he became. And I imagine part of that is coming into his own. I also

imagine part of it is, you know, being with the Panthers and the system and the ecosystem that they

have there. When it comes to like not just the player from a skill standpoint, but from kind of

an attitude and a play style standpoint, how much of it is nurture versus nature? And I asked

that about Nies because I wonder if the reason the Leafs aren't getting the best version of that

from Nies is just because there's nobody to really kind of incubate that. And I'm not talking

about from like a coaching standpoint, but from a player standpoint on the roster.

Yep, no, you're bang on there and I do feel the same way. I guess my one thing I would say is

that Matthew Nies isn't exactly young anymore. He's been in the league a few years and he had,

he came into the league and we talked about it guys. We talked about what he was going to be able

to provide the Toronto Maple Leafs, that heavy power body that they've been chasing. They've

been searching for this kind of a player for for so long. The thing about it is he signs it

the extension and then I really do believe that the group, the group as a whole, they morphed into

this type of comfort level with themselves that is acceptable for themselves, but it's outwardly

not acceptable. It's inwardly they think what so there's been many nights they get in front of

a microphone and they say things like we really gave all we had tonight or we are really happy

with this and they didn't work out this way, whatever, but to your point when a Sam Bennett goes

to Florida and he's incubated by some of those personalities that they had in there and where

they were going with their team, there is no excuses. You were very rarely, if ever, in the last

couple of years, see a microphone in front of a Florida Panther player if he's had an off night

and he's saying things like, well, you know, we were pretty good tonight. We really worked

hard. We did this. No, no, that's not what their DNA is all about. It's like, we have to be better.

That wasn't good enough, you know, from the drop of the puck, we didn't play our style. We weren't

heavy on on players, you know, whatever their identity is and that's where I come back to Matthew

Nies. Matthew Nies is going to get that growl back in his game. He's got 18 goals. It's fine. He's

got 57 points. He's he's a minus 16. John Tvers is minus 27. There's just a lot of noise inwardly

with the Toronto Maple Leafs and now outwardly because his name has been out there. So you've got

a choice to make now Matthew Nies. You have to be more motivated and he's dealing with some injuries.

He's been nicked up this year. Well, give him that as well. But going forward, assuming what we know

now, which is he's going to be a Toronto Maple Leaf maybe, let's just say that next year, things

have got to change and things that I think the least are going to make some drastic moves here,

at least one in the in the summertime. I don't know if it should be Matthew Nies. That's a

discussion for another day. But he's got to get back to playing the way when he came to the league,

guys, when he came to the league and he was leaning on people, that's his identity. He's got to

get back to that. How much do you think the knee injuries impacting that though, Bukes? Like,

I don't think it's like 100%. It's integrated in him to play that. He's been described as a

unicorn before. I think that's that's a term we should only use for Shohei Otani, guys. But he

has that ability to be that powerful, to throw his weight around and pose his will on the game

that way. Do you think it's because he's hampered by the knee or do you think it's something more than

that? No, I think the knee definitely factors into it. You can't get from A to B on time the same

way for sure. And then mentally, you know, human nature is if you're nicked up in your sore,

you're only going to push back so much because, you know, frankly, it hurts. But that's on the

leaves, too. Isn't it guys? Like there's season to split the way here. And if you still,

if you're still dealing with it today, then just shut them down. Honestly, what's the upside?

We're going to sit here and we're going to talk about the things we're talking about right now,

which is that you want them to play heavier and harder and, and you know, have that

reinvent the personality sort of that we expected him to have when he came into the league.

We're going to throw rocks at that situation right now. But if he's banged up to your point and

that's sort, just shut them down because it's not worth it. And by the way, the more they lose,

the better off they're going to be. So, you know, like it's, it is what it is.

Yes, here, here. I was the last to the party on tank and finish as low as you can. I wanted to

just get it over with and given the Bruins, hopefully the 11th pick that ain't happening anymore.

They might end up giving them the 6th pick, but it's not going to be from a lack of trying.

I'm with you, Boogs. They should just, should just kind of kind of shut it down.

You know, obviously a trade like somebody, the Elk of Austin Matthews, that is not something

that's taken lightly by the team acquiring them, by the team doing it. How does it change the

perception, the value, the likelihood, you know, that, that anything were to come this summer or

even next summer with the idea of, you know, this knee injury and the surgery that he's, that he's

already had and dealt with, you know, oftentimes my understanding when these deals happen, you know,

you don't just call up a guy one day and it kind of gets dealt with them in there.

It's often long conversations and there's a lot of legwork that goes into these things.

How do you think the knee surgery that Matthews has already had here changes if at all the least,

you know, possibility of trading and whether that's this summer or next?

Yeah, for now, it doesn't change anything because it's too fresh. So, you know, he's going to have to,

whoever, let me put it this way, if there's a team that's interested in acquiring Austin Matthews

and that conversation is not going to happen now, it's not going to happen in the summer time

because of the knee surgery, but when he rehabs and returns, people are going to be keeping a very,

very close eye. Then what's going to happen is behind the scenes without anybody knowing that

team is going to somewhere along the line, ask for some medical information on the player and

that's going to, there's a reluctance to give that, especially if he's in a lineup playing,

but the team will ask for that. They're going to want more information on exactly what the

procedure was, the forecast for future injury, if you will, or stability. That will definitely happen.

Now, I'm not, I'm not going to sit here and say that I love Austin Matthews game this year.

You know, I can't go there, but at the same token, I want to be careful about this process because

if you take a look at it, guys, he was still, you know, 21 minutes a night, and yes, 27 talks,

I don't know, maybe he ends up with 33. I guess you could say somewhere around there, he was

slumping towards the end as everybody knows, but there's some real good positive things in there too,

so you have to be careful. Like 60% in the face-up that, that matters. You know, he was only a minus four

compared to everybody else on this roster. That matters. There's lots to unpack here, but from an injury

perspective, behind the scenes, it won't get released, but I've been there. I've seen it. I've

dealt with it. They will ask for the medical and that process will take some time because then

they'll take the long lens and watch how he's doing, knowing what the medical information also

provided. How do you think the Leafs should manage, Austin Cow and the rest of the way here,

Bookes? This is a guy who obviously is 20 years old. He steps up and he fights in defense

of the captain against the Anaheim Ducks. It's a player who I think Bookes has done the most

with his opportunity, even though he hasn't gotten much of an opportunity. And you're in a situation

right now where you're not making the playoffs. You kind of want to see what you have in this player.

The ice time has gone up, but I'm curious what you think the usage should look like here.

Like should they give him more than he can handle? Or is it, yeah, let's go full throttle. We've got

nothing to play for. This kid's 20 years old. He's part of our future here in Toronto,

so let's give him more than he can handle and see if he can handle it. How do they manage that

fine line with Eastern Cow and here over these last 15 or so? They see him as much as he possibly

can handle physically and you deal with the mistakes that will happen through that process,

but what you're challenging him to do is compete and push through for an extended period of minutes

as well. It's a great point by you because when Matthews goes down and you know he gets in the

fight and then they go to Montreal, I think it was. He was over 18 minutes a night that night.

And then you know the other night against the Isles guys, he's back down to 13 minutes,

which has been kind of his average for the year. That's not enough. He's got to be right around

that 18-minute mark. You feed him on the power play. I don't know if you give him a taste on the

penalty kill. I don't know if that's really a smart thing to do, but you challenge him to be

as competitive as possible. Bring a B game, which I think he has. I think he's worked really,

really hard to compete between the Isles. When he's not scoring, he's competing as hard as anybody

else on that roster. So more, more and more is my answer and allow him to work out some of the

kinks in the runway that is left here towards the end of the year. Yeah, that's well said,

books. Always, always love getting on. Thanks for taking the time this morning.

Guys have a fantastic weekend. We'll look forward to next week. I'm sure we will. There he goes.

Jason Bucola. I think the point made about Cowan's an important one, Zach. If there were

40 games left in this season, I don't think you just throw Winston Cowan all the minutes he can

handle and say, ah, it doesn't matter. Earn him. Don't earn him. And to Bucola's point, I don't think

he hasn't. He's done anything not to not earn the time that he's been getting here. But with this

little runway left in the season, you do just want to kind of see what he can handle. And that

doesn't necessarily mean he needs to play in all situations, but it does mean you should kind of

try him out and all the ones that make sense this year for me. Yeah, that's how I feel about

it too, Brent. Like you're in a situation where you're not playing for anything, but you know,

this kid's going to be around for the next at least six, seven years, right? Just based on the

nature of his age, based on where your team's at. This is one of your building blocks. And,

you know, I say that it's funny. I say that about a guy who scored one goal since January 13th.

But when you watch the game, he's impacting the game and it is between the whistles. It's the

stuff you like to see. You talked earlier in the show about Jordan Tutu World Junior hockey.

Cowan has a little bit of that bite in his game. Does he not? Right? I mean, he's got the hockey

sense. He's got the skill. He does things with his puck touches. He makes things happen,

but it's the other stuff. He's fighting to get the puck back. And I think, you know, I watch a

lot of shark teams. I don't know if you know this boat. Me, Brent, but I am a shark's fan. I think

the big thing with Maclin Celebrini, obviously the productions you'll take it off this year.

But the big thing for me and everybody saw it at the Olympics was his willingness to

compete for the puck to get it back. Like he's not waiting for somebody to feed him and then he

does his damage with the puck. He's going into the corner. He's getting it himself. He's

relentless with the puck retrieval. And I think you see that with Easton Cowan, even at the

young age of 20 and it's a guy who's been in and out of the lineup. He's been in the press box

far too often this year. This team was not good enough. I don't think to hold them out of the

lineup as much as they did when they were doing it. Maybe at first, you're a little bit timid

with him, but I think he's done everything and more as far as showing us what he is and what

he's capable of. So I think you want to rebrand Toronto Maple Leaf hockey. You want to get a

little bit nastier, a little bit tougher to play against. I think Matthew Nies getting back to

what he was. I think Easton Cowan continuing to progress. These are two building blocks for this

team that they need. Well, I also think a big, big part of it too is what's expected of Cowan,

right? You know, I don't think the Leafs should put a ceiling on what what's expected of him.

But this isn't a guy that even when he was ripping up junior that you go, ah, this guy's going

to be 110 point guy in the NHL, right? You want this guy to compete. You want him to be able to play

with skilled players, but he's not even necessarily somebody that you're looking for ultimately

to be driving a line from an offensive standpoint, like even at the fully realized version of

himself. So I think because of that, you can sit there and be happy with the work that you see,

the effort that he puts forth. And honestly, it sticks out like a sore thumb with the way this

team season has gone so much of it. You know, they're, you know, as soon as Scott Lawton left,

and you know, Bobby McMahon's out the door, it does feel like it's a little easier to notice

that guys that are those guys that are just kind of competing shift in and shift out. And I think

Cowan is one of those guys. And so long as you're seeing that from him, and I have no reason to

believe that you wouldn't see it the rest of the way. So long as you're seeing that from him,

it makes all the sense in the world to kind of every couple of games, hand him a little more,

give him an extra shift here, a little power play time. Again, like I don't know that it needs

to be penalty killing, but I think as long as you continue to see the effort put forth,

that was always going to be the most important thing for a guy like him.

Yeah, competitiveness is so contagious. And we talked about it with Brady Kachak. And

I'm not comparing Eastern Cowan to Brady Kachak, but the sense is like fans love it. Your teammates

love it. They take notice. You see somebody up and down the bench competing shift after shift

makes you want to try a little bit harder, not that you need motivation. You're making millions of

dollars to play a game, but I think it's just so infectious from a fan standpoint, especially

when you see a guy who's known for his skill at the junior level. I watched this kid for years

with the London Knights. He's known for the skill. He's eventually going to become an all

situations player. The hockey sense was always there, but now you're getting a little bit more

from him. He's understanding that at the NHL level, it's more than just that. You need to be a

between the whistles guy. You need to shove a little bit more. All these teams that are winning

the Stanley cops and they're making noise in the playoffs. You have the dynamic. You have

the nastiness. We talked about it with Florida a number of times and players have to adapt.

Like you're not the player you were in the GTHL going to the OHL. You're not the player in the OHL

that you're going to be in the NHL. The league's a lot better. It's a lot bigger. It's a lot tougher

and every facet. You need to adjust your game as the competition gets better. And I think Cowan's

really taking that full stride. So I've been loving what he's been doing. I'm not even asking

this guy to put up points, Brent. I'm asking him to compete. I'm asking him to handle all situations

the way it's 20 year old would. And I think he's been doing it absolutely tremendously.

No, this is the sweet spot for him right now because especially the way it's going. It's like,

wouldn't you just this is a bad thing to say? And I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Easton and to the Cowan

family. But it's like where points are in a premium. And by that, I mean, we don't want any.

It is nice if he's like competing hard, giving himself good chances, but he's just snake bit.

And then he'll be too save him all for next year feels like kind of kind of kind of best case

scenario. It has been far from best case scenario when it comes to the Blue Jays pitching health

in spring, the latest to bite the dust, tray of savage. He's going to start the season on the

IL with a shoulder impingement. Good news is he's still going to be throwing plans to get back

on the mound as of next Wednesday, according to Shadaviti's latest piece. We'll talk to add Dan

Burke about how much that lets the wind out of the blue Jays sales. And can any team more than

the Jays, maybe afford to handle the rash of pitching injuries they've had to start the season.

Add Dan Burke joins his final segment coming up on fan morning show and sports net five 90

to fan. This podcast is sponsored by IQ bar. I've got good news and bad news. Here's the bad news.

Most protein bars are packed with sugar and unpronounceable ingredients. The good news, there's

a better option. I'm Will and I created IQ bar plant protein bars to empower doers like you

with clean, delicious, low sugar, brain and body fuel. IQ bars are packed with 12 grams of protein,

brain nutrients like magnesium and lion's mane and zero weird stuff. And right now you can get

20% off all IQ bar products plus reshipping. Try our delicious IQ bar sampler pack with seven

plant protein bars for hydration mixes and for enhanced coffee sticks. Clean ingredients,

amazing taste and you'll love how you feel. Refuel smarter, hydrate harder,

caffeinate larger with IQ bar. Go to eatiqbar.com and enter code bar 20 to get 20% off all IQ bar

products plus free shipping. Again, go to eatiqbar.com and enter code bar 20. My name is Mackenzie and I

started to go fund me for the adoptive mother of a nonverbal autistic child. The mother had lost

her job because she wasn't able to find adequate care for this autistic child. So she really needed

some help with living expenses, paying some back bills. So I launched a go fund me to help support

them during this crisis. And we raised about $10,000 within just a couple of months. I think that

the surprising thing was by telling a clear story and just like really being very clear about what

we needed, we had some really generous donations from people who were really moved by the situation

that this family was struggling with. Go fund me is the world's number one fundraising platform

trusted by over 200 million people. Start your go fund me today at gofundme.com. That's gofundme.com.

Gofundme.com. This podcast is supported by Gofundme.

Fan morning show. Johnning. Podenstein.

Burke. Adnan Burke joining us now. He of a billion cajillion jobs, including talking to us once

a week. Adnan always love getting on. How you doing, man?

Brandon, I'm great, man. Good to chat with you and Zach. I still think it's hilarious. Last

week when we spoke at the L and I said enjoy the Oscars. They're like, oh yeah, the Oscars

are coming up. I don't think you guys are alone in the Oscars sneak up on you. They don't have the

same cultural zeitgeist they once did. And what a Sunday night. I mean, the Oscars going on,

one ballot, another win six, sinners wins four. You would say Dominican Republic, a terrific

taught baseball game. And I texted my friend Ben Lines who covered the Oscars for 10 years

of the e-network. I said, how about those Oscars? You can move that picture from the garden.

It was watching Warriors mix. It was a great Sunday night. Yeah, it was an incredible one. No,

the reason I the reason I chuckled at that is because Ben Ennis who of course normally

being the one introducing you. He is constantly, you know, like you work with guys together long

enough. You try to find some common ground, you know, you don't want to just talk about the job.

And I don't know he's ever throwing a movie at me that I that I've seen. At least anything

recent, like I am, I am the least film-knowing guy of all time. So that was really where that

came from. But man, what a what a night it was. You're right. I was working with show Ali who

I'm sure you've had chance to talk with on here all the time. He is a massive lover of film.

And yeah, he was very excited about it. Me little, little less. But Dominican Republic, USA,

I was all over that. Let's just get into WBC before we we deal with the Blue Jays News

Dijor here. That that couldn't have gone any better. Could it have? I mean, you got the states

in the final, which I think just from a pure kind of eyeball, cultural zeitgeist type thing was

really important to have. But I also think for people across the globe to kind of see a different

winner in this tournament, it makes it feel like it's a little more wide open and it is up for

everybody. I mean, unless you got a dog in the fight, seeing Venezuela and how how much that

meant to them just felt like the tournament kind of wrapped up perfectly. And it was tens all

across the board. Yeah, I couldn't agree more, Brent. I mean, the numbers certainly proved that

there was the highest rated WBC. At tenants was up significantly. Everyone's happened with

the result overall. Because I think if it was USA, Japan, you can learn how we've seen that

before, right? This is I think the city of Rebatch. That's why to me, the best single game

was Venezuela being Japan limiting. I mean, Akunya home on the way to the gate,

Otani homeers in response to former MVP is going toe to toe. Yamamoto was excellent as he

grinds through four innings, but then Japan's bullpen was dreadful. And will you rebrae you hit

to me the most impactful home run? And this the back flip of the year was unbelievable. The

emotion that Venezuela has had. And that then propels them into a final. They beat USA and again,

a very close well pitch game. And I'm with you. I think it's, you know, you can have USA in the final.

Clearly, that's that's important here for Fox rights holders, etc. This, you know, the

well-basical classic taking place in America. It's a national pastime, but to have a Latin American

country win it, it's massive. You see how much it matters to those countries and God, the passion

and the emotion. And I mean, people were said, it's kind of crazy. The US, they took out their

president, but as well as a client will take the national past on. No problem. Well, this is our

event here. So it was, it was a great performance by them. Obviously, Ayo Hayo Suarez, that hit will

be remembered forever. And like I mentioned, Akonia, will you pray you the fact of pitching. I mean,

that's probably the shocking to me is Eduardo Rodriguez. I need the USA lineup. And for America,

I feel bad. It's very rare. I can say I've got three friends in the coaching staff, David Ross,

the bullpen coach, my former buddy from ESPN Sean Casey, the hitting coach. Casey, I worked

in that movie. Now we're going to course the manager, the great Mark Teroza. I texted each of

them during the series before Canada. I said, only for you guys. What I'd be happy to win

against my home and native land, so they all chuckled responded and kind. But I'll tell you,

it really took a lot of the Dero. I mean, I texted each of those guys and you know,

Rossi wrote back at Jackson, I was an incredible experience. We really loved it. Good to have

you as the average Jersey case of the same thing. Dero, you know, when you text a guy like 24 hours

get the response, he's still processing it because you really put his heart and soul into it.

I remember being Arizona with him. It's been training. And he was talking so much. We would go

for dinner about who he's going to get and who he's talking to and the demands that the teams put

on them like nobody understands how much strats he's putting himself under. This was not a glorified

two-week exhibition from Mark Teroza. He really wanted to win after losing to Japan previously. So

it was by one running a championship game that's as close as it gets. USA's offense really,

really never really got clicking. Our first home run was Magnificent. And as Canadian is most

importantly, we're going to pull play for the first time. So props to Ernie Witt finally

accomplished something we hadn't done in 20 years. And I mean, they could have won that game as well.

And they had the tying run and scoring position with nobody out in the heart of the order was at

the plate. Like like that game could have easily been for the taking for the Canadians. And,

you know, to your point about it meaning something to Dero. I mean, it meant something to everybody.

You heard guys who have won World Series, who have won multiple World Series. They've done it.

And they were talking about how this tournament means more to them. So I thought that was great.

And Yonder Alonzo said it best on the on the broadcast that was shown here in sports net.

Baseball won. So yes, Venezuela won the tournament, but the sport itself on full display for

everybody to see on the world stage at its peak, just like Olympic hockey, just like the four

nations. I think that's always just a win for the sports that we love. And peak baseball is just,

just it's great. Like I'm a hockey guy first, but I do believe that when baseball is at its peak

on the world stage, the theater that we saw at the World Series, it really just is second to none.

But Adam, right before we dive into the Blue Jays, kind of a transitional question here.

I'm curious what you think the stock for each players has to do with with what they're going

to bring into their MLBCs. And particularly for the better, you know, guys like Tyler Rodgers,

who shoved for the Americans out of the bullpen, Vlad, he picked up where he left off in the post

season. Like as far as the Blue Jays players who performed at the WBC, do you see any carry over

any sort of momentum? Does their stock rise by performing at this world baseball classic?

Yeah, I said no. I mean, at first to my colleague, John Rolanzo's point, and Cliff Floyd,

my friend and teammate, we worked together the other day. He looked at my, he said it was almost

too much. I started laughing at what he said. I'm going to the game and Dominican Republic as well,

because the fans are out of control. He said to them, you go to a baseball game, you just want to sit

down, have a hot dog, have a drink, talk to a friend. He was talking to friends, he'd noise.

Everyone's just screaming and yelling and playing trumpets. It was out of control. So I do love

the exuberant. It's going to be impossible. Replicate it for 162, but Yonder's right and Cliff's right,

that that emotion certainly cannot be replicated in those crowds. With regards to Blue Jays, so yes,

in that, I mean, it's had a choice, whatever you have a poor world baseball classic or a hot one,

well, yeah, have a hot one. Hopefully you hit the ground running. I remember Trey Turner,

at the world baseball classic three years ago, was splendid for America, and then struggled

for much of the season. And that event was able to rebound. And I asked him about it. He said,

I'm not going to use that excuse, because if I got a bad world baseball class, and I slumped

with that big excuse, but no. So it's convenient to say, hey, this guy looked great at the world

baseball class. Now he's going to have a great season, but I don't think it works that way. I think

in a vacuum, Vladimir Gerrard Jr. was terrific, as always, you know, unbelievable post season for

Blue Jays, clearly inspired as part of a vaunted Dominican Republic offense. And he was great,

you know, that was 160 miles an hour, I said, Velo, he hit really well. He looked comfortable. So

that's good news. But again, it's a long season. I wouldn't be shocked about some bleeding. It's

up to a cold start in April, because maybe it's cold in Toronto over the bludgers are playing,

et cetera. For Rogers, I thought it was excellent. Again, one of the things that did stand up for

Deerland and Timio say is pitching in the past, they haven't had that pitching with respect.

It's been like Merrill Kelly and Ryan Vogel song pitching in critical games. Here he did have

school. Okay, only once against Great Britain, but schemes pitching against DR like that was as

good as it gets. And that was awesome to watch arguably the game's best pitcher against the

game's best lineup. And schemes was awesome. Six hits over four to third. And Rogers came

in that bullpen with that arm slot like it was it was wild to see though. It's so much fun to play

frankly to watch him pitch compared to so many guys who throw so strong with so much heat. So

good news for fighting Rogers. They both played well, but I wouldn't necessarily do that's been

translate to the regular season. Yeah, it's always a bit of a fool's air in projecting. And obviously,

you know, WBC, a little different than spring training baseball, but you never know what the

conversion rate is going to be on that. Obviously, we have big news in Jay's land, but you mentioned

schemes. I've been lying. I have one other question that we can get to Jay's. I'd be lying

of watching that tournament. If I'm not a pirates fan, I'm terrified watching this not because

of Paul schemes health, but because of Paul schemes and the way he's making go eyes at all these

other great baseball players. You know, obviously team control is what it is in baseball, but

once a guy kind of lets it be known. Hey, once team controls done, I'm not going to be here anymore.

That can kind of force a team's hand or get the clock kind of ticking on on a trade conversation.

Do you think that that changes the equation at all for Paul schemes like being surrounded by

all of these great players and going, wow, like this is what life is like with an org that would

and you know, nobody spend them. Well, I guess actually it's probably pretty comparable to the Dodgers

payroll of what what USA baseball has, but the idea like, do you think that playing on a team like

that kind of, you know, opens his eyes to what life may be like in a in a post Pittsburgh world.

And hey, I want to be clear, like the pirates could just spend money. That's an option too,

but we've only been saying that forever. Yeah, and the good news I will say is that Pittsburgh

did spend a little bit to solve. He made a couple of his Marcelo Zuna is a slugger. He

had probably especially a behind him, let's be honest, but he's still going to get to 25

home runs. They trade for Brandon Lau that 30 home runs a season ago, and they didn't get Ryan

all hurt from the Orioles. He's got a 20 25 home run guy. So nobody was worse in terms of

slugging and home runs last year than Pittsburgh Pirates. They added three guys to combine for about

80 home runs. So hopefully this will translate and Pittsburgh's a better team. If they score four

ones a game, I'm telling you, Brett, they're going to be in this thing. They're going to be a 500 team

because that's so good. They're starting pitching his lead by schemes. I do think for schemes

being thrown up by that kind of down. Yeah, sure. Right. He goes, man, I just wish I had more of this.

You know, I mean, he's going to go to a Pittsburgh team in which, as I mentioned, they're star for

offense. He's going to struggle to score runs. However, they do have better days ahead of them.

Conor Griffin, the eye opening shortstop hopefully break camp of the team. He's had an unbelievable

camp. Looks like a future star. Number one, you know, overall prospect and baseball. So

I think this is a bit better. But yeah, it's not like what schemes it's only accustomed to. So I

think he really saved this experience. He's a very proud American patriot. He wrote to

bundle wings. He was recruiting him was saying, you know, I know what your background,

Air Force, etc. You know, he really appreciated the US Armed Forces, etc. So I think he really

loved playing for America. He's a very patriotic guy. And yes, got a taste of that winning and

it would love to be around these kind of stars on a day of day basis.

Guys, let's give the Pittsburgh pirates a little bit more credit. They signed their first

multi-year free agent deal since 2016 this off season. They're back boys. They're taking it

seriously. Got Ryan O'Hern. Come on.

Something maybe it's something. It's a joke, Adnan. It's a joke. Okay. We'll move on to the blue

jays now. We've talked about the rotation injuries throughout the morning, Brent and I,

and obviously Treyas averages the latest one, but already Bieber with the forearm fatigue.

You've got Jose Burrios with the elbows. You're talking about shoulder elbow forearm. Those are

three words you never want to hear when you're talking about starting pitching. How do you feel

about the staff is currently constructed without those guys that you got Cody Ponds coming over

from the KBO. Eric Lauer did the same last year. We saw that translate tremendously. They bring

in Dylan Seas, given the big ticket. We know Kevin Gossmann's the ace of the staff and they bring

that Scherzer back as well. And all of a sudden, that's going to be playing a much bigger role

in the rotation than we thought when that deal was signed at first. How do you feel about those five?

You know, not knowing, I guess, the timeline on those three other guys.

Yeah, ultimately, Zach, I feel concerned. I would say that the blue jays stay there

pitching right now. The biggest one to me was Bieber. When he opted into his contract, so that's

unbelievable. I mean, $19 million dollars. This guy could have got a $5 million dollar contract.

And then he shows up with arm fatigue. I go, hang on. How can you be fatigued? He just showed up.

He even throw a ball yet. Like, get out of my mouth. What? So that was the one that I was like,

oh, God, this is awful news. Because to me, Bieber could have been a really impactful number two

number three star of this year. And we don't know exactly the severity of this fatigue. It's going to

look like Burillo. She go, all right, he was supposed to be odd man out. Nobody wanted him Toronto.

It felt like he was disconnected with management. He wanted to be gone fun. They shot him, couldn't

find a deal. And then he's actually more important than you realize. And then it's like, well, he's

actually going to be out for a few days. I'm going to hopefully get that the fracture healed.

It doesn't sound too serious to Jay. Sound like a long throw a few days. I could be back some time

in April. And then you say, you savage. Well, no matter what, he was not going to be counted on

the throw 170, 175 innings. Regardless of helping. We're going to put that kind of pressure on

this kid. So an impingement. I'm not saying it's not true. I'm sure it is. But air. It gives him

a little bit more time. It don't talk about the clock as much. Okay. Great. That's good news. So

what do you laugh at as you said? I love the top two. I think gospel and see those guys are

extremely durable. High strikeout guys. You feel really confident about both of them being there.

To me, you savage would have been a number three theoretically. But now we don't know exactly

what that holds. Ponce is also a big question. They feel like he figured something out in Korea.

KBL MVP. Again, I'm cautionary when these guys come over to also figure out their whole lives.

He saw that with fame, you know, he's the home run champion in Korea. He comes over for America

a couple of years. That's it. But hopefully he can be a good number three or number four

starter. And then he mentioned Scherzer. He ended up being critical. I mean, on a three million

dollar heavily incentivized deal. He went through 84 eightnings a year ago. Now you're hoping for

at least a hundred innings. I do think Lauer's underrated people in Toronto appreciate him. I

don't think around the majors. They realize, Hey, this guy was actually a really good starter.

And it's very good of the bull pet. So he's more than capable of being a number five at least

temporarily. And, you know, hopefully you get savage and bring us back sooner rather later.

And Bieber's issue is not too serious. We've seen this with the Dodgers. They're sitting now

with the Red Sox who stockpile stars. You're going to need eight or nine guys just to get through

a regular season. I'm just trying to follow that and hope for good health for much of the way.

Yeah, you mentioned with your savage there, there was some belief that they were maybe going to

kind of slow play it. Obviously now with this news. Okay, maybe that was part of it all along.

Is there a potential silver lining in there that this allows him to kind of get to the finish line

of the season without them needing to worry about? And I don't think there was going to be like a

hard and vast innings limit on him by any means, but obviously we know how orgs are with young

pitchers, especially ones who are as important as as you savage is. Do you think this now allows him

that once he does, you know, join the team and he's off the IL that he'll just kind of be able to

be a quote unquote like normal pitcher in terms of usage for the for the rest of the season.

I don't think it will be. I think they're going to be careful. I think even when he comes off the

IL, it's not like just, you know, release the dogs on them. I think it's like, okay,

if they can skip the start here and there to keep him fresh, they'll do so. I think if they'll

look at the schedule, my little bit, they've been Eric Lau response started here and there,

maybe a savage goes four or five things a couple of starts. They want to make sure he gets to

the entire season. They're not going to look to say, right? You're throwing a hundred pitches,

seven innings every time out there. It's like, this guy is too important to this season and beyond.

And we want to be fresh in October. The J's of course have aspirations are going deep. So I think

even when he comes back, I wouldn't use the word baby him, but I think they're going to be careful

with his usage. Again, he's not going to be a guy pitching a hundred seven hundred eighty innings.

They're going to be careful where they can use him. As I said, they've got depths of theoretically.

They can have other guys. They can have a bullpen game. If you're savagely, just skip a start here

and there. What's your read on the American leaks? East this year. Now, obviously we've talked

about the blue jays, the Yankees. They already have injuries to their pitching staff with Carlos

Rodon. Obviously, Garrett Cole still working his way back from Tommy John. We know what the Orioles did

in the offseason. The Red Sox lose Braggman, but they've got so many young guys in there and they

bolster their pitching staff. You know, I just outlined it in a pretty quick summation there, but

you know, the blue jays have the targets on their back. They tied the Yankees in terms of games one

last year, one the division on a tiebreaker. It's not necessarily a foregone conclusion.

Toronto's going to repeat his ALE's champs. Yeah, people here where I live in North Jersey,

they're telling Yankee fans, they're annoying because we're just going to run it back. It's like,

well, yeah, I mean, they won 94 games and you're bringing Garrett Cole back, but Cole is not

going to be pitching until June. And he's coming off of Tommy John. We've seen in the past.

It takes a guy two or three months, if not half a season to get back to being the pitcher he once was.

So Cole did pitch the other day, by the way, through 10 pitches. He looked good. It's not going

to speed up his recovery, but he said it was going to be on and down facing the Red Sox.

Rodon's a really important pitcher of them. He won't be back at the start of the season. He's

looking at more like May, but Cambridge Slitler is there training as average as an unbelievable

young star. He looked great last year against the Red Sox. And they re-signed Ballinger, which

was the most important brother offense, not named Aaron Judd, who was a three-time MVP now. So,

I know if the Yankees are still formidable, they bring back Christian Josh,

Chisholm, had a really good season, all star. And then for the Red Sox, again, they have a

plethora of starting pitching. I mean, they're pitching is fantastic. The fact that they can throw

Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez, Brian Beos, Sunny Gray, the two youngsters in Peyton Toli,

Connelly early. They've got plenty of options there. They've got Johan Oviado from the Cardinals as

well. So, I think Boston, the bat light to me, I said to my buddy Alex Gore, I'd still think

you need like one more bat. They really were lying on Roman Anthony to be a superstar. And he

looked great in the World Baseball Classic. I mean, until Trevor's story's healthy,

which last year he was, generally, hasn't been. But they can catch the ball, see it on Rafael,

it's terrific defensively. And of course, they're not going to have any Rafael Debra Strama,

but start to finish this year. So to me, I think it is a legit three-horse race, both the Yankees,

Blue Jays and Red Sox. All should be right around 90 wins and battling for that division.

Yeah, it'll be fascinating to see it play out. I wish it was playing out with a healthy

tray of Savage from the jump, but hey, injuries, very much part of this game, all games,

but specifically baseball. Adnan always loved getting on. Thanks so much for the time.

And the countdown's on, only 350 something days until the next Oscars for you.

I'll be locked to have my talks ready, Brent.

Zach, thank you so much, boys and joy. By the way, baseball officially beginning on Wednesday.

I can't wait. Oh, giddy up. Neither can we. There he goes. Adnan Burke. Hey, Zach, I don't know

where you're at in terms of like hating the winter, but the fact that we're going to get real

baseball games to count, it can't go that much longer. I'm dusted snow off my car still. I can

handle it. And we're going to get real baseball games to count. It's got to be a sign that things

are about to turn. Yeah, the weather's such a joke, dude. Like, I've worn four different outfits

over the last couple of weeks. I was in a t-shirt two weeks ago, you know, now you got a bust out

the raincoat. It's raining if you look outside here in the GTA. It's brutal. I also like the way

that they're rolling out the MLB schedule this year. Brent, kind of like an NFL style, you've got

prime time with the giants and the Yankees. And then it's kind of like a soft roll out. And the

Blue Jays obviously open up on Friday, but you've got that prime time game on Wednesday,

bunch of games on Thursday. So a bit of a different look from the from the MLB this year.

Yeah, it'll be it'll be fascinating to the way to see the way it shakes out. I will just say

it wouldn't be me if I didn't do like a little light schedule griping. It does feel like, and hey,

like who am I to complain about the Blue Jays like starting things in earnest against an A's team,

like you want your wins, but I don't know, man, they just played in game seven of the World Series.

Feels like we can maybe give them a slightly sexier matchup to start things off. But the good news

is we're going to have a whole summer worth of talking about it. Zach, I don't know what life

holds for you after this, but I imagine the alarm clock is going to go off a little later.

Thanks so much for jumping in with us this week, man. It's been a ton of fun. All right,

buddy. It's been fun and I hope you feel better over the weekend. Yeah, we'll see. You know,

life's always a mystery with that. Thanks so much for listening. It's been another edition

of the fan morning show on Sportsnet 590, the fan. Good morning.