What Should the Next Astros GM Fix First?

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1:08What's up everybody? Welcome into another edition of Crush City Terror Tour. I'm Chandler Roam, joined by Tyler Stafford. And there have been no games played since the last time we spoke to you. There will be one played tonight at Dijk and Park. When Hunter Brown opens a crucial three game series against the royals for the Astros. But we are here to talk because we're always honest on this show because well, our schedules weren't going to work to do to do one on Wednesday. And we needed to get one out now. So here we are talking about nothing really since the last time we spoke to you guys. Well, you know how to sell an episode, don't you? Yeah, they tell us to put our why bother? They tell us to put our ads like earlier in the show because like people will drop off. Like I just got everyone to drop off with in 51 seconds of this show. But please stick around. And people aren't sticking around to hear me sing at the end. How rude. I think some are. If you're watching this and if you haven't logged off, please like the video on YouTube. It helps us out a lot. It helps us please, please, please like the video.

2:08So I did think, you know, it's going to be interesting what we talk about today. Because what we're going to talk about is a lot of like the future. And what's next and 2027 and 2028. I want to be very clear from the outset, like this is not an indication that we are burying the 2026 Astros. They currently have a one game lead in the American leg west. They currently have like 75% odds to make the playoffs for per fan graphs. This is not a this is not an episode intended to start looking ahead to burying this season. We will talk a lot more about the 2026 Astros as this week progresses. But for today, I thought it'd be interesting to kind of discuss and maybe look at the biggest priorities for the next general manager. Whoever, whoever it's going to be. I don't know that there's any candidates yet. I'm sure the four guys running the operation right now are you could consider them all candidates.

3:09But other than that, I don't know that there's any external candidates. I don't know that really a search has started in earnest because Jim Crane after just a few minutes. After dismissing Dana Brown last month, basically did say like we're just trying to get to the playoffs finish off the division. And then we'll worry about the GM search after that. So it's premature to say that there's candidates so that there's people that we can like link to this job. But whoever gets the job, they are going to inherit. I don't know if mess is a appropriate term because again, this team does have 75% odds to make the playoffs for per fan graphs. They have the presumptive American League MVP on their roster. They have the presumptive American League Reliever of the Year, which is an award now that the PWA gives out. It'll be the inaugural year this year for the American League Reliever of the Year. I would imagine Josh Hayder will have a good chance to win it, but because he missed two and a half months, I don't know how that will be held against him. They've got Hunter Brown who finished third in Saiyong voting last year.

4:11It's not a mess. Whoever's coming in here is not inheriting a Baron Wasteland. But there's a lot of stuff that whoever is taking this job has to figure out Tyler. No wonder is there one thing for you that sticks out when whoever gets this job, if you're in the press conference when they're introducing this person, what is your first question to him or her about? What would you state as the biggest priority? Well, I don't know if you can add, I mean, I guess you will ask this in the press conference, but the biggest thing and we're going to talk about it is what are you going to do with Jambi Pena? And how are you going to address the farm system? And then an aging roster. You've got an older roster. You've got the core of your roster is going to be here for a while outside of Pena. But everybody else for the most part is under contract for a good while.

5:16So, I mean, you're done through 2029. And then you're going to have a lot of talent that is in pre-arbor in the beginning of arbitration. But you don't have like your mega superstars yet. You know, I used to have a lot of talent on the cusp of mega superstardom, but you know what I mean? A guy that you are circling as someone who you're going to really rely on. And of course you got 100%. You know, you've got the makings of a good roster. But you don't have like top, top end prospects that are close yet. So, you know, you just have a weak farm system. So, how do you manage to rebuild a farm system while not tearing down your old roster?

6:21And also presumably not picking near the top because you're not going to be the GM if you've got the fifth pick overall. So, there's a draft lottery now. You can be mid and like the race picked second this year. You can be mid and still somehow sneak away into the top. I would never be mid, no cap. But yeah, I mean, I think that's really where it is. And I mean, the question that I would want to know again, I don't think this would be answered in a press conference. What power do you have here? What is your job and what are you actually allowed to do? And what does that look like? Are you another voice in the room or are you the only decision maker on set? Where does that line get drawn?

7:21I'm not sure if that line is the one in charge of, should we promote this guy from AA to AAA? And I'm assuming that is not a job that Jim Crane is particularly interested in or cares about and just kind of leaves that to the GM. But trade deadline comes around. Who's running that? What permissions do you need? Those are the actual answers that I would want to know. Hey, all right, almost here. Are you ready? Just grabbing my shoes. That's what you said 10 minutes ago. I just wrapped the video call, uploading this giant file on my tablet, looking at my watch group and Nana's with the group chat, and of course still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone. All at once? Yep, story of my life. That's why I switched to D-Mobile. They have the fastest 5G network. Okay, multi-tasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once. It's awesome. Say no more, I'm totally switching. My post is taking way too long to upload.

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10:31The interview process will go like he's I have a hard time believing that Jim Crane would set a GM candidate down and say, hey, you're not in charge of anything. Like, I'm going to make all the decisions. I'm just going to hire you to like talk to the media and you know decide what guy we're going to claim on waivers. Like whoever they hire will be told all the right things. So even if you get that question in the press conference, the person that is the new assures GM would probably respond. I'm saying, oh, like I've been told I'll have full autonomy. I've been told that like this is my thing to run when see, but here's my thing. If they said that, I actually think that's a problem. Like I don't that's clearly not true. And if you are coming in and you legitimately believe that is the case, then something has been crossed in the hiring process, which I feel like has been the case, you know, with with Dana Brown and, you know, even previous hires, but like, that's not true. You do not have autonomy. We all know that. So that is a concern for me. If in the introductory press conference, it's like, yeah, of course I'm running the two. No, you're not like, you know, you are, you were the person running a lot of the team, but you are not running the team.

11:48And this isn't to defend Jim Crane by any measure, but whatever every team, the owner has the final say in a lot of things that happen in any team in any business. Like if you're if you are a, if you are a lower, if you work for a business and you have a boss, your boss ultimately has the final say a lot of times in how a company is run and how things are managed things like that. There are just some owners that are more hands off in that approach than Jim Crane is. So I think whoever getting this job, like they will understand that there's going to be a baseline of involvement because there's a baseline of involvement in any baseball operations department from the owner, like, like the GM can hand out all these contracts, but it's not the GM's money. It's the owner's money and the owner is a final say of how this money is spent. So even if Jim Crane had been, you know, the last 10 years has been hands off and letting his baseball people work, which, you know, that has not been the case most time.

12:50But even if he had been that way, if they want to go give Jeremy Paine a $250 million or $350 million, like that ain't that ain't the GM's money. If, no, I don't necessarily mean the contracts. I mean, you know, if you're, if you're assuming that you can trade a middle reliever for an outfielder and that just goes along, that's clearly not the case. Like there's a difference between somebody who is your boss and they react to what you have done and decide, did I like that, did I not do I want to continue with this Jim Crane is involved from way before that. So it's not even the results necessarily that you can rely on. It's more of the process and, you know, does, does he believe in that? And also sometimes, but sometimes, you know, you can just acquire Carlos Corea. You can just wake up as the GM and find out that Carlos Corea is on your team. And, you know, sometimes that'll happen. So you would hope that they would be prepared for that when they take the podium for the first time.

13:58Well, having Carlos Corea on the team is going to be a, that's going to be a complicating factor for the next GM. So we'll talk about that right after this message from our friends at MetVoable. Aircrats, you're smart. We're a catcher in Major League Baseball for a long time. You need to be smart to be a catcher. And you also need to be smart to get the best possible wireless plan that you can get. Don't fall for the gimmicks or certain types of sign up bonuses. Just give me the cheap rate and the premium wireless. And mobile gives us and you don't pay a lot and you get a lot. Seems like a no brainer, even for what you said, a smart guy. Yep, be smart. Get your new wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month. Go to mintmobile.com slash territory. Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com slash territory up from payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months, or $180 for 12 months plan required, $15 per month equivalent, taxes and fees extra initial plan term only.

14:59Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy includes up to 20 gigabyte hotspot capable device required availability speed and coverage varies cement mobile.com. Hey, all right. Almost here. Are you ready? Just grabbing my shoes. That's what you said 10 minutes ago. I just wrapped the video call uploading this giant file on my tablet, looking at my watch group and Nana's with the group chat. And of course, still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone. All at once. Yep, story of my life. That's why I switched to T-Mobile. They have the fastest 5G network. Okay, multi-tasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once. It's awesome. Say no more. I'm totally switching. My post is taking way too long to upload. That's a sign you've got to get T-Mobile. So many reasons to join T-Mobile. Find yours at T-Mobile.com. Fastest based on analysis by Uglospeed Distant Intelligence, the data of National Speed Score Results incorporating 5G download and upload speeds for the first half of 2026.

16:10So if you subscribe to the athletic, first of all, thank you. Thank you very much. You help pay my bills, which is a very welcome. I need the help. If you subscribe to the athletic, you woke up this morning Tuesday to a story that I wrote that says Carlos that the headline is Carlos Carey's potential return illustrates the next Astros GM's biggest challenge. I told Tyler before we hit record that I'm not sure people want to hear me talk about the infield surplus for the 80 of time. So I think we all can understand why this is going to be an advantage. I don't think I need to reiterate it. I don't think I need to go into the particulars. If you'd like the particulars, you can go read the story. I will link a free version of that story into the YouTube comment. You've been on the gift article kicked lately. Is that being pushed? Are you allowed to just... I just do what I'm told. I'm here so I don't get fined.

17:10I'll take the gift. It's also on Apple News Plus. If you happen to have that, you can search Chandler's name and all this stuff will pop up in there. Yeah, I will put the free gift article link. I will put that in the link in YouTube and the Spotify and Apple when we end this. So if you want the particulars, there it is. But we're not going to get in depth as to why this is because we've talked about it ad nauseam. But Tyler, the Astros have five infielders for four spots, all of whom this season are making nine and a half million dollars or more. Two of them, if they remain on the roster, Jeremy Paine and Esok Paratus are going to have substantial raises that take them to 12, 13, 14 million dollars through the arbitration process. It's a lot of highly paid players. It's a lot of players that are not movable because I don't think Carlos Carey is getting traded. I don't think Jose Altov is getting traded.

18:13You have Yordan Alvarez penciled in as your permanent DH, which is something Joe Espada told you would happen in the off season. It has happened this season and Yordan has produced the best offensive year of his career. There are no easy answers, but it is something that the new GM will have to tackle because this is a dysfunctional roster. This is a roster that has a lot of guys on it with in my opinion, not a ton of foresight in how all these guys were going to coexist. And they're all coming back. They're all under contract for next year. And the Astros are going to and whoever's running the baseball operations department, they're going to have some interesting decisions to make. Yeah, it's going to be Pania being traded, right? Like that's what it's going to be. We're going to just do a tech or trade again and it's going to be Pania. And then Kare is going to play short. And then it all just kind of work out isn't that what we all agree is going to happen.

19:14I mean, maybe, but Carlos Corea came here last August and essentially said he'd been wanting to move off of shortstop forever because he wanted to extend his career. And he had been wanting to move to third base and thinks that that can keep him on the field for longer. I know it didn't work out this year, but look, I mean, the reason Carlos Corea got hurt is not because he was got her playing shortstop. I mean, I think it's going to be a thing that I wouldn't have to do if I knew it really was going to be some kind of a freak accident and batting practice. I mean, I, if you're asking me now on September 15th, without knowing who the next GM is and without knowing whether they subscribe to this theory or without knowing whether Jim Crane would be okay with it, I think the most logical thing would be a Jeremy Payne, you treat. a Karea walk and you had Jeremy Paine you're waiting in the wings. They don't have like the next heir apparent at shortstop in the minor leagues.

20:15We decided Xavier Nions is a third basement, right? He is a third basement. They've locked him in, and he's 20 years old. Like, I mean, but I just mean they're not, that's not even a conversation. No, right. And Paradeus can't play short. They won't even let him play second because Karea is gonna play second now because they have no faith and he's not paradeus doing that. I mean, sure, like if you convince Karea to move back to short, that's great. But like he is on record saying, like I have been wanting to move off of shortstop for a while when he was with the twins. The twins had, I think it was Brooks Lee, the big shortstop prospect. And essentially Karea said if Brooks Lee had developed a linear, he didn't say this out loud, but what he insinuated was if the guy, if that, if Brooks Lee would have developed linearly and would have been ready for the major, he was ready to move off of shortstop with the twins. So this is something he had been eyeing was moving to third base. So with that in the forefront of your mind, like you can trade Jeremy Pania,

21:15but just I don't know who you're gonna play at shortstop. You're gonna play Carlos Karea at shortstop. He's smart and he is a good teammate and he knows how to talk to the media and he knows how to answer a question of, hey, you're coming to the Astros, aren't you a shortstop? Isn't that where Jeremy Pania plays? And he learned from watching Alex Rodriguez who he very clearly has mimicked his career after and realized, hey, that's like the big mistake that everyone talks about with Alex Rodriguez is throwing a fit over moving to third base. So he's just not gonna do that. He's gonna say, I'll play wherever, it doesn't matter. I'll be great at it. I don't think that that is like, he wasn't going like, finally, I get my chance to play with everybody, he's just smart and knows, well, I'm not gonna play shortstop and I'm not gonna make a big deal out of it. I'm gonna be a good teammate. And if there's not a shortstop there, then he's gonna play shortstop, it'll be fine. From your lips to God's ears. I mean, can you imagine like what scenario would he be like,

22:15no, I don't wanna play shortstop. You're like, of course, he'll be fine. It'll be fine. Or though, I mean, I'm gonna stop. Or if they wanna move him to third and have somebody else there, then you're really trading Pania and Esok. So then it's a matter of, well, what do you want that to look like long to? But of course, it'll be fine. And it'll be great at it. There's no, I have no doubt in my mind that he will be just fine wherever he plays on the infield. And that he'll have a good attitude about it and he'll know how to communicate it to the media. Yeah, I mean, look, this is not a situation where Kareya would be like, I don't think he would be stubborn and say, I'm not playing shortstop, like, trade me if I'm not playing third base. Like, that's not what I was insinuating at all. I'm just going by what we have been told. What people have been told that because he is smart enough to know, I'm not gonna, like, I don't know what his true opinions are of where he wants to, maybe he really prefers

23:16third base to shortstop, but not enough that he would not play shortstop. And the reason that he said, oh, I've been thinking about moving to third base anyway, is because Jeremy Pany plays here. Like, he's, that would not have been a story. If the extras did not have a shortstop when they traded for him, you would not have had a story that was, I'd really like to play third base at some point. You would have just said, yeah, I'm a shortstop. I've always been a shortstop, I'll be great here too. Like, he knows how to just figure it out in whatever spot that he's put in. And I think you will. But again, like, there's no easy solutions here because you've got an injury prone guy on the left side of your infield that you're putting more wear and tear on a guy that's getting older. And I think, okay, so here's like the, and you mentioned it in the first segment, like, they have the fifth oldest roster of position players in the Leak. Like, this is an older team that is not very athletic

24:16and the guys that are athletic are Jeremy Pany, who is in a month and a half long funk and can Smith, who has an on base percentage below 300. This is otherwise a station to station team that can go first to third, but doesn't make a ton of stuff happen on the base paths. And I think that's another question that whoever takes over this job is going to have is like, how much do you want to remake this roster maybe in a different way to play the game? Because look, like, we're talking about this. How do you fix a flawed right? Yes, you trade Jeremy Pany and if Carlos Corea is willing to move to shortstop, then yes, that works everything out. But you're still not solving the fact of, you've got a 37 year old first, a first baseman that's about to turn 37. A second baseman that's 36 and is not great defensively and has not had a great year. You've got a third baseman that doesn't have a ton of range that is just kind of not athletic, but again, makes the routine plays passable at third base.

25:19You have no idea who's playing center field for you, Dalton Varsha's for Agent. You have no idea who's playing left field for you and oh yeah, you may have to put out two V and left field because you've got Jordan Alvarez cemented as the DH. Unless you put your dawn in left field, in which case you're talking about another injury prone player that you have to expose to the outfield. It's, to me, it is far deeper than just the five infielders for four spots. Like that is like the obvious thing that they have to address, but more than that, it's that I think this roster just kind of, it needs to be remade. Just, and I'm not saying it's not a rebuild because I don't think Jim's ever gonna do that. But it is a, just kind of remake the roster to kind of align with more, how these team, how more modern teams are playing. Like Jim Krain said, we're gonna study how these low payroll teams with better records than us do things. You just watch one of them in the race. They have a bopper in the middle of their lineup in Caminero, they have Yandee Diaz at the top

26:20of their lineup who's not athletic puts the ball in play, hits over 300, and then they have a bunch of guys that just put the ball in play and run. They, they are athletic, they're dynamic, they platoon, they've got a lot of different interchangeable parts. You look at the guardians, they do the same thing. You look at the brewers, they do the same thing. I'm not saying that the Ashters are going to, you know, spend $80 million on their payroll and just get a bunch of Chandler Simpson's here. That's a burner that hits 300 with a 600 OPS. But I do think there is something to be said about reimagining this roster in a more, in a way that's more conducive for kind of how some of these other teams play the game. Yeah, I mean Jim Krain has mentioned that, like looking at how these smaller market teams do that. And I mean, we talked about, it's the race, it's the brewers, it's the guardians, it's these teams that he is mentioning. And the way that you do that is what we talked about when you hire GM, like, how are you going to fix the farm system?

27:22That's where you get young and fast guys. And how are you going to fix the aging roster? Well, that's trading people like Jeremy Pena. And you mentioned the only other athletic guy that you have is Cam Smith. Well, where'd he come from? A similar thing of what, a similar opportunity that you're going to have with Jeremy Pena, trade for some 23 year old centerfielder, you know, like you'll find the fast guy out there somewhere and then you just hope that it works out. But I mean, you know, again, it's not a roster that you look at and goes like, this is falling apart, you've got good pieces there. You just don't have the supplemental pieces that you need right now. And a lot of it is just because you tried and it just didn't work out in the way that you would expect. The way I see it, look, you're not an Alvarez and Jose Alvarez aren't going anywhere. Correct. Those two guys are either.

28:23Those, Kareya is not either. Those three guys are here no matter what. Kareya, Alvarez, Alvarez, Alvarez. If we want to be honest with ourselves, Alvarez and Alvarez are DHS. Like these are two guys that should be primary designated hitters. They are not good on defense. In some ways, they drag your team down defensively, just the overall aptitude and acumen of the team. They're going to have to play one of those guys every day defensively. Now, I'm not saying one of those guys is going to be an every day defensive player. They can find a way to mix and match and have one guy play this day, one guy play that day, and the other guy, DH. In my opinion, you can absorb that if the rest of your roster is good. If you surround that with other things that don't make that a glaring problem, you're OK. The problem is that the Asher's roster right now, it doesn't have that. They don't have the amount, like you said, of supplemental guys of winning like the 20, 21,

29:2722nd, 23rd guys on the roster. The guys that aren't going to hit it in the top of the lineup, but are still crucial. They hit six or seventh and that really kind of, that make a difference. So I think it's a lot, and I know this morning, I wrote it from just the infield perspective, and that's because Kareya is coming back. That's because that's the news hook. He's coming back, he's going to play out of position because second base is playing out of position for him. And you're playing a platinum glove, shortstop, and a third base, and slash third baseman out of position because your roster just forces you to. And that's a problem. And it's something that the new GM will have to address. We will discuss maybe some other things they will have to talk about right after this message from our friends at FALT territory. And today's episode is presented by the ASPCA Pet Health Insurance Program. Crafts, we love our pups. Yes, I love my mini golden doodle Bella, but you can't miss this opportunity.

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31:28and Nana's with the group chat, and of course, still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone. All at once? Yep, story of my life. That's why I switched to T-Mobile. They have the fastest 5G network. Okay, multitasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once. It's awesome. Say no more, I'm totally switching. My post is taking way too long to upload. That's a sign you've got to get T-Mobile. So many reasons to join T-Mobile. Find yours at T-Mobile.com. Fastest based on analysis by Uglos Speed Test Intelligence the data of national speed score results in cooperating 5G download and upload speeds for the first half of 2026. You know, there's been a lot of talk about what is, what's more important for the next GM is is it the major league roster or is it getting the farm system up to snuff, right? Because I think we can all understand

32:30the way Jim Crane operates, especially in free agency, you need a constant kind of cycle of guys that you develop. You need to be kind of more self-sufficient than just going out and spending in free agency. I would push back on, the reason I think it's the major league roster. Because I think when you ask those two, everyone says farm system, farm system is going to farm system better. This is an owner that last month set out loud like my expectation is we get to the playoffs every year. He said we don't have to win it every year, but we gotta be there. We gotta be in the hunt, you gotta get to the dance and just hope that some stuff goes right and we can win every now and then. When that is the mandate from the guy hiring the job, I would tend toward more fixed the major league roster because the major league roster is what's gonna get you into the playoffs. Now, the farm system obviously has to improve. Now I will say this, like I know the outside

33:32rankings don't love the farm system, they never have. I think there's more there now than there was. I think Dana, I think Dana in the long run, you will look back and say Dana did some good things for this farm system, but it's one of these things that you don't know that until three or four years down the road when this team needs guys right now that are ready to contribute, they don't have that. That's the problem is, yeah, go ahead, Jan. No, you're right. The problem is not that you don't have two or three top high-end ceiling guys that you're just betting and all on and hoping for the best because that's a crap shoot. Like top prospects don't work out all the time. The problem is what the Ashris used to have, again, just by virtue of picking first overall for like a decade straight, but they were just able to call up anybody anytime and they would be fine and you didn't have to go out in free agency

34:35and fill a hole and spend a bunch of money. You didn't have to sign Tatsuyemi or the eight other pitchers that the Ashris signed and never released so far this shoot. You just had a bunch of guys who were available and could contribute at the major league level. Even if they weren't superstars, you just, I mean, think back to the, you know, it's guys, and I know this wasn't a draft a guy, but guys like Marwan Gonzalez and you know, guys like that where it's just like a guy that can play or do bond obviously. But I mean, even like Jake Mariznik who came over in a trade and, you know, it's not a superstar, but it is a guy that you can play every day and it'll be fine. And if you need to move people around, you know, you don't have to like focus all your energy on there's just this black hole in this spot and there's nobody in the system that can do that. That's what the Ashris don't have right now. It's just this repository of guys who are ready and are just waiting for chances.

35:36The problem that Ashris for instance, who used to have was they had so many guys that you just didn't know what to do with all of them and then you would have to trade four of them for a, you know, Mike Fires, Carlos Gomez trade and then sign that guy back seven years later at $20 million a year or whatever they're paying Josh Aider. You know, like you used to have that type of talent and Josh Aider, you would never, I mean, he was not a high, what was he like 19th round or something? Like you don't have to pick high, you do just have to have those guys in your system and you're constantly producing them and they just have not done that I consistent enough level in the past few years. Did you use the word repository? Yeah, I'm trying to be like you. That's nice. Make me Google a word every episode. What does that mean? I'm proud of you and Josh Aider was a 19th round pick. Well, somewhere out there on the CC Hooks website,

36:38there is a profile I wrote on him in 2015 that I'm sure is just as good as I remember it being. Sure, he probably get, he's a great quote. I don't, was he a good quote? He's a quote. Oh yeah, he was really good. I, he was one of the guys that I hung out with more down there because I was also like 21 and just hanging out with people in Corpus Christi. But yeah, he was really good at that. Correo is there too and obviously just even from a 19 or 20 year old was like clearly one, just better than everyone else but also so good at talking, so good at talking. Like I mean, just immediately like, oh, this guy, he feels like he's just walking around and a suit everywhere. Like he's just got that in him. But yeah, that actually is very good at talking. He's so good at, I mean, he's, again, I was kind of joking about the Alex Rodriguez thing earlier but not really. Like, Correo wants to be in baseball for the rest of his life

37:39and have a 30 year career, Colin Games, you know, wherever and he's gonna get to do that and that's why he knows how to say, yeah, I'd love to play their base. I always wanted to do that anyway. So it worked out well that I get to do that in Houston. I think they let him call a game on Thursday. I think they would. I, he should. They let Bagwell do it. What's the difference? Well, Thursday's a little bit different because Thursday is what is on deck presented by the Fox One app. Yep, Thursday's game is a Fox game. So if you're looking on Space City Home Network and you don't see it, it's because it's on Fox and you can get a three day free trial today at Fox One.com. So if you sign up today, Tuesday, it's still free for you on Thursday. You can watch the Astros and the Royals play at 615 from Dijk and Park.

38:40So it's an AJ Presence Key. You'll be there, a friend of the pod, friend of foul territory, host of foul territory. AJ Presence Key will be the color guy on the game, Thursday, which is on Fox One. Tyler, we talked a little bit about the Royals in the last pod, but they have not had a great season. They have good players. It's just kind of everything has gone wrong for them this year. But they have good players. Bobby Witts, very good. Jack Caglione, very good. Carter Jensen is a rookie that no one's really talking about. That's played very, very well. He's a catcher. And then they have another catcher named Salvador Perez, who everyone is talking about. And so this has not been a good season for them. I'm going to not say it's not a good team, because you get mad at that. It's not been a good season for them. They're 66 and 84. They are playing out the string. Nate Pearson is their closer. But their second most valuable player will start the game this evening against Hunter Brown, Michael Waka.

39:43He's put up a really nice year. He's a four-win pitcher, according to baseball reference, had a pretty nice year of veteran guys and a third 200 innings. Just knows how to pitch. I think they'll go. They will go with Daniel Lynch on Wednesday. And then Thursday, the Astros are TBA for this game on Fox Thursday. I would imagine it will be some combination of Ethan Peco and Miguel Luyola, like we saw in Tampa, which that worked out. That worked out. Yeah. They went, Miguel Luyola. I hope people understand why they're doing. Do we need to explain why they're doing openers? Because I think that's kind of lost on some people. They're doing openers because they only trust Ethan Peco to get through the lineup twice. And you would rather that two times through the lineup be the third through the seventh inning instead of the first through the fourth inning, because A, it saves some bullets. And B, it gives your lineup a chance.

40:43One time through it, at least get you a lead to at least get a couple runs here and see how that goes. And it basically kicks the can down the road of having a usable pin, guys. Well, and more importantly, if you are going to let him face somebody for the third time, you'd rather be the back half of the lineup rather than Bobby Wid Jr. Like if you're going to do that, you might as well. OK, he's pitching well. Let's let him get the fifth or sixth guy out for the third time rather than good luck with Bobby Wid Jr. It's essentially kicking the can down the road of using all your bullpen arms. And it worked like a charm on Tuesday in Tampa. Or was that Tuesday? No, it was Friday. I don't know what day it is. It was Friday in Tampa where Miguel Lugo got three outs, Brian King, much to everyone's surprise that yelled at me that he's the reason that they're going to miss the playoffs. Brian King got in, got four of the five guys he faced, retired them, and then Peco came in and was great. This is part of the reason the Ashtras

41:44do the tandem system in the minor leagues is because they want their starters to be equipped to come out of the bullpen. That was not a shock to Ethan Peco that he had to come out of the bullpen. Do you have to change his routine a little bit? Yeah, he did. But he's done it before. He's come out of the bullpen before. He's been the back half of a piggyback in a tandem. So that's why it works for them. But that's probably what they're going to do on Thursday. Pitching plans are great. But I think it would really be who the Ashtras scored some runs because that is something they have not done a great job of in September. I believe they have scored the fewest runs of any team in baseball in September. And if it is not the fewest, it's the second or third fewest. The offense, they have got to find some life. And it's not going to be easy because Michael Walker's not Michael Walker's not terrible. Like Seth Lugo on Thursday on Fox, he can really pitch. He's got eight pitches. He's been around doing it a while. He's a veteran just kind of knows how to pitch. These are guys that they need to beat. But they're not going to face some rookie making a second start.

42:49Yeah. I mean, the rules, I agree that the record is not good. But they haven't been that bad. They're not like, like you said, they got plenty of good players on that team. They've had some really bad bullpen people there, which is why Nate Pearson is their closer. But I mean, they're not, look, they've only had 40 runs worse of run differential than the Astros, which is more of an Astros stat than it is a Royals positive stat. But it's not like they're just going to roll over. The Astros are going to have to try really hard to beat them. And boy, do they need to? No, it's a young, it's a younger team that just has kind of the play spoiler. Let's go ruin someone's season. Let's go ruin someone's playoff push. The A's are kind of in that same vein right now.

43:49Like they're going into every series against good teams like we want to like spoil their season. And so they've got some pride. They're going to play. But yeah, this is a Royals team that is just some guys that played very well for them last year. Have either just gotten injured or just not played. Like my, my Kellgar CEO was on my MVP ballot last year. And I mean, he's played 73 games all season. He's been injured and he hasn't been good when he's been on the field. Vinnie Pasquantino has a 101 OPS plus, which is not what you need from a slugging first basement that needs to be able to give you some power. Jonathan, India. Is he still over there? Is he still pitching? I think so. Craig Kimberl's on their team. What? Craig Kimberl's still playing. Is he currently on their team? Yes, Anthony Ghost is on their team. That's fun. He's bolded on baseball reference, which means he's on their team. Is that what that means? Yeah, if they're bold, that means like they're on the active roster. I just say that.

44:50They're in that to Barry. Yeah, because everyone else is like, if they're not bolded, they're either like in the minors or on the IEL or released. Good to know. But yeah, so I mean, it's again, this is a team that like two years ago made the playoffs. And like most, a lot of those same guys are there. They've just had a lot go wrong for them this year. Like it was just a season where they came in with a lot of high expectations and just a lot of stuff has gone wrong. So a lot of stuff's gone wrong for the Astros too, but they find themselves in playoff position anyway. So I guess that's something you can commend them for. And again, if you would like to watch Thursday's game on Fox for free, you can do that on Fox1.com with a free trial. MLB on Fox is streaming on Fox1. The race to October starts now and we have your front row seat to the wildest walkoffs, lights out pitching, and clutch plays all season long. Follow every can't mismatch up as teams battle for a spot in the postseason. Then stream the 2026 World Series Live on Fox1.

45:50At home or on the go, live or on demand, never miss a moment. Stream now, start your Fox1 three day free trial today at fox1.com. And if you're watching on YouTube, you've got the QR code that you can scan. And like we said, it's pretty easy. Because if you start the free trial today Tuesday, then you've got, it'll still be in tack Thursday. When the Astros play the Royals at Dijk and Park with the very Reverend AJ presents Gan Attendance to call the game for Fox1, we'll be back on maybe Wednesday or Thursday. I don't know. We'll figure it out. We'll be back at some point during this Royals series to discuss everything that's happened, everything that transpires. We'll talk about it. But until then, you can follow me on X at Chandler underscore room. You can follow Tyler at Tyler C. Stafford. Please rate and review us on Apple and Spotify. Please like the YouTube video. Subscribe to the YouTube channel so you get notified anytime we post a new podcast. Like I said, we'll be back at some point this week to discuss what happens against the Royals to preview the braves. And Mauricio DuBon's grand homecoming.

46:51But until then, thank you for listening. And we will talk to you soon. Jim Jimini, Jim Jimini, Jim Crane, Jimmy. The roster is good, but as old as can be. Jim Jimini, Jim Jimini, Jim Crane, will you? Higher a GM, but what can they do? Bye. MUSIC When it comes to accessing your home's value, what you don't know might be the only thing standing in your way. I don't understand. Exactly. Huh? An HEI from Splatero will give you a lump sum of cash upfront in exchange for a share of your home's future value.

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