Astros beat the Marlins 5-3 to win the series. They will go for the sweep tonight

Summary

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Payne & Pendergast Podcast Summary

Episode: Astros beat the Marlins 5-3 to win the series. They will go for the sweep tonight
Date: July 22, 2026
Hosts: Sean Pendergast & (guest cohost in place of Seth Payne)
Primary Theme: Dissecting the Astros’ recent win over the Marlins, key bright spots, trade deadline strategy, and speculative discussion on LeBron James’ potential move to Miami, with a dash of classic Payne & Pendergast humor.

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the Houston Astros’ 5-3 victory over the Miami Marlins—a crucial win in the ongoing series, setting the Astros up for a possible sweep. Sean Pendergast with cohost Jeff Blum break down in-game highlights, player performances, the team's posture heading into the trade deadline, and even wander into NBA territory with discussion of a major social media blunder involving LeBron James and the Miami Heat. The conversation embodies the show's spirit: sharp analysis, signature banter, and strong, unfiltered opinions on the biggest stories in Houston sports.

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Astros Marlins Series Breakdown

Key Highlights:

• Paredes' Big Home Run

  • [01:05] Todd Callis (Astros play-by-play): “Gives Paredes a chance for an RBI here with two outs, first and third. Two outs and he hits the ball high in the air, deep to left field. And that hustle's gonna pay off. A three run home and the Astros lead it five to one.”
  • [01:41] Jeff Blum: “There you go... The Astros get another win. Well, two in a row last night.”
  • [02:17] The hosts emphasize the coaching staff’s impact on pitcher adjustments, especially highlighting Imai’s ability to adapt mid-game with new pitch mixes.

• Astros’ Resilience & Trade Deadline Approach

  • [01:48] Sean Pendergast: “There's one thing that's been consistent since the All-Star break—our undying devotion towards our belief that this Astros team has what it takes.”
  • [02:10] Both hosts believe the Astros should be buyers at the deadline, but Pendergast suggests there’s merit in trusting the current roster as injured players return and underperformers rebound.
  • [03:44] Jeff Blum: “If they can cherry pick a left-handed bat in the outfield or they could cherry pick a right-handed reliever for a prospect that isn’t somebody you view as... game changing? I’m totally cool with that.”

Memorable Quotes:

• [02:55] Sean Pendergast: “Typically, yes—if you're a team that's a contender, you got to make some moves at the trade deadline... I'm content if they just stand pat and say, look, these guys coming back from the IL, am I figuring it out, like we are the ones we've been waiting for?”

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Standings & Division Dynamics

Houston's Spot in the AL West:

• [04:26] Sean Pendergast: “The Astros, three games back in the division. That feels good. Four games back in the wild card. As we awake this morning...”
• [05:04] Fun fact: On the 1st of each month, a different AL West team has been in first place (except the Angels), highlighting how tight and competitive the division has been.

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Noteworthy Game Moments

Yordan Alvarez Hustle Play

• [05:46] Jeff Blum: “The two big things that had people talking, the first one we heard, which was the Paredes home run, but... the at-bat right before it. Yordan Alvarez beating out a stray strikeout that rolled away from the catcher and hustling his ass down the line.”
• [06:48] Sean Pendergast: “I really—you know, that's the thing about Yordan. He is fast. You know, everyone's always got to be reminded he can run!”

Astros' Triple Play (and Altuve’s Role)

• [09:17] Jeff Blum: “The other thing that happened last night in the eighth inning. Jose Altuve... grounded into a triple play. Runners up first and second, nobody out—up comes Jose Altuve.”
• [09:36] Todd Callis: “Rounds this one to third. They might have a chance to turn three, and they are going to get triple play on Jose. Altuve grounds the ball right to the back leg, and the Marlins turn a triple play on Altuve.”

Hosts reflect:

• [10:06] Sean Pendergast: “It's fun to watch a triple play. Like an artistry to it, you know? Game recognized game...”
• [10:28] Jeff Blum: “Altuve hit into that triple play, but I'm cool with it. No Kizzy, we can't do that.”

Fun With Astros History

• [10:43] Sean Pendergast guesses when the last Astros triple play happened—Blum shares trivia: May 22, 2019 (Jake Marisnick).

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Trade Deadline Philosophy

• [03:44] Jeff Blum: “If they can cherry pick a left-handed bat in the outfield or they could cherry pick a right-handed reliever for a prospect that isn’t... game changing, I’m totally cool with that.”
• [08:27] Sean Pendergast: “Hader doesn’t look like his classic, you know, shutdown self, but I’m okay because I like burning those performances on when it’s also a victory.”

Player Body Types & Performance:

• [08:55] Jeff Blum: “Some hitters just need a little bit of extra heft to be at their best.”
• [09:12] Jeff Blum (on Paredes’ "old man energy"): “He’s got an older face too. Everything about him screams 35 years old.”
• [09:17] Sean Pendergast: “Even though he’s actually, like, 18!”

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NBA Sidebar — LeBron James Heat Rumor Breakdown

Social Media Blunder Sparks Speculation

• [13:27] Jeff Blum: “Miami Heat. Put out a tweet... a future link to a LeBron James introductory press conference slated for July 27... It was quickly deleted. Miami has since responded saying it was a mistake from their social media team.”
• [14:22] Sean Pendergast: “[A]t the very, very least... there might be some machinations going on where maybe they’ve... informed some people that they are going to make a decision by that date.”

Heat, Cavs, or Warriors?

• [15:47] Jeff Blum: “For what it’s worth, Miami yesterday... was the favorite on the oddsboard... But if you just look at how the odds have moved... Cleveland has been the leader two other times, and Miami is the leader now. So Miami’s the favorite right now, but Cleveland has spent most of the last six weeks as the favorite.”

Cleveland Fan Psyche

• [17:51] Jeff Blum: “He’s ambivalent because he’s like, man, make a decision. You know, come on. He made the comparison—like, if you're waiting for somebody to say yes to you, asking them to prom. Like, eventually you're going to move on and ask somebody else.”

LeBron’s Priorities & Pat Riley’s Reputation

• [15:17] Sean Pendergast: “Back then... LeBron got a little... He chafed a little bit under how tight a ship that Pat Riley ran. And I wonder if, as you get older... [he] might really appreciate the way Pat Riley runs things.”

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Notable Quotes & Banter

• [02:10] Sean Pendergast: "We, the first half of the season, we didn’t really have a lot of the guys that we thought we're going to have or we had guys who are underperforming. But on paper it was good enough to be a contender..."
• [07:23] Jeff Blum (comparing Yordan’s hustle to NFL commentary): “That had to be overload for [Romo] because Trevor Lawrence can run too.”
• [20:42] Sean Pendergast: “That's one of the biggest... most intriguing things to me in modern sports is that the social media department is vital to the business side of things. Except everything about it is what coaches hate.”

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Important Timestamps

• 01:05 – Paredes' three-run home run call
• 04:26 – Standings update & AL West dynamics
• 05:46 – Game-defining moments from the Astros’ win (Yordan hustle)
• 09:17 – Eighth inning: Jose Altuve hits into a triple play
• 13:27 – Miami Heat-Lebron press conference leak discussion
• 15:17 – LeBron-Pat Riley relationship context
• 17:51 – Cleveland sports radio/Lebron return ambivalence
• 20:42 – The influence and pitfalls of social media teams in modern sports

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Tone & Style

The episode is marked by witty exchanges, insightful Astros analysis, and playful jabs—typical for Payne & Pendergast. The discussion is rapid, energetic, and sprinkled with sports history nuggets, pop culture references, and timely trade deadline debates.

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Takeaways for Houston Sports Fans

• Astros look resilient: The team is hitting stride post-All-Star break, mixing player development optimism with savvy deadline expectations.
• Key players are stepping up: Contributions up and down the lineup—Paredes, Alvarez hustle, and the bullpen’s “adventurous” ways—signal a club finding its form.
• Trade deadline stance: Minor moves are fine, but believing in the core as health returns could be the best path.
• LeBron rumors add intrigue: Even in MLB season, NBA news keeps Houston listeners engaged.

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Transcript

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[Jeff Blum]

A little refreshing.

[Sean Pendergast]

Sports Radio 610 presents Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast. We coming to eighth time.

[Keenan Thompson]

Let's get the work in, man. Let's go.

[Todd Callis]

Great day. Great day. Oh, give me some juice, baby. Oh, yeah. Let's do it. Gives Paredes a chance for an RBI here with two outs, first and third. Two outs and he hits the ball high in the air, deep to left field. And that hustle's gonna pay off. A three run home and the Astros lead it five to one. Little bit of hustle. Kaib behind you. Just e socks one out of here. Love it. Isoc Paredes a three run bomb off the community leaderboard side and the Astros have a four run lead.

[Jeff Blum]

There you go. Todd Callis. Jeff Blum on the call Space City home network. The the Astros get another win. Well, two in a row last night.

[Sean Pendergast]

There's one thing that's been consistent since the All Star break. It's our undying devotion towards our belief that this, this Astros team has what it takes.

[Jeff Blum]

They got what it takes. They got the stuff.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. Yeah. Ever since the effect. Yes, yes, yes. Since the All Star break, you could. You could tune in at 6am and know for sure. The pain of Pendergast are saying this team needs to be a buyer.

[Jeff Blum]

They got to be a buyer. They got to go get some things at the. The break.

[Sean Pendergast]

Some people were down. Some people after, you know, after getting swept in the first series out.

[Jeff Blum]

Yeah, I was one of them.

[Sean Pendergast]

Some people. No, so was I. I do that there is an element to. To this team where for one. Okay. Imai as you would have said at the beginning of the season. You would say the first half of the season. All right. At some point, you know, maybe things will click for him and all of these differences that are giving him trouble. And last night it was him taking the advice of the coaching staff and mixing in a change up especially got as he got into the second and third time through the lineup. Okay, that's cool. Renell Blanco looked pretty damn good in his. In his first two home runs. Yeah.

[Jeff Blum]

And I'm not being, I'm not being cute.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. No. But as far as his actual Stu. Yeah. And everything else. Yeah. Like that was a very promising debut. And there is an element to me where I don't, you know, typically. Yes. If you're a team that's a contender, you got to make some moves at the trade deadline. You got to round out some of these things. I think that this team for where it is in its farm system, I'm, I'm content if they just stand pat and say, look, these guys coming back from the il, am I figuring it out like we are the ones we've been waiting for? And that it just. You got to find some balance between being stupidly aggressive and just flat out saying, look, we, the first half of the season, we didn't really have a lot of the guys that we thought we're going to have or we had guys who are underperforming. But on paper it was good enough to be a contender and or at least somebody that can make a playoff hang around.

[Jeff Blum]

Yeah. If they can cherry pick a left handed bat in the outfield or they could cherry pick a right handed reliever for a prospect that isn't somebody you view as, you know, even close to game changing. I'm totally cool with that.

[Sean Pendergast]

Sean Lucas Spence and Bennett Sousa are the, the only things we need. And that, yeah, those are the based on.

[Jeff Blum]

It's like getting thrown into the woods and you get handed this bag of weapons and you're like, there's like a rubber knife in there. I got to defend myself with this. All right.

[Sean Pendergast]

You've got to, you got to MacGyver your way through to this.

[Jeff Blum]

You do. That's what they're going to have to do. They're going have to MacGyver. So right now, as of as I went to bed last night, I got to see what it is as I awoke this morning. The standings can be different when you go to bed than when you awake in the morning, I've learned.

[Sean Pendergast]

Because the west coast stubbornly clings to Their time zones.

[Jeff Blum]

They don't start their games the same time.

[Sean Pendergast]

We get what China does. One time zone for the entire nation. That's right. Hawaii. Deal with it.

[Jeff Blum]

Yeah, exactly. You, too. Alaska. Sit up. All right. The Astros, three games back in the division. That feels good. Four games back in the wild card. As we awake this morning. That's the. That is the. As you awoke. Standings update brought to you by.

[Sean Pendergast]

I can't remember. I watched Dan listen. Last night. I think so. I can't remember if it was Todd Callis or Robert Ford who was pointing out that on the first of the month, for each month this year, a different team in the division has been leading the division. It's been. Everybody except the Angels has shared the. Has had the lead at some point. At the. On the. Of the month.

[Jeff Blum]

In the division.

[Sean Pendergast]

In the division. Yeah, it was the Astros once. It was the Rangers once. It was the A's once.

[Jeff Blum]

Oh, okay.

[Sean Pendergast]

And I think it was the Mariners once. Yeah. April, May, June, July.

[Jeff Blum]

So at one point, but I don't remember that April.

[Sean Pendergast]

The Astros had the lead on April 1st.

[Jeff Blum]

Oh, okay. Yeah. Well, that was back when they were good.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they were. They.

[Jeff Blum]

They had split with the Angels. They. They swept the Red Sox back in the day. Yeah, those are good times.

[Sean Pendergast]

March ever.

[Jeff Blum]

Yeah, that's right. Those were good times.

[Sean Pendergast]

So, yeah, everybody except the Angels, five,

[Jeff Blum]

three last night, they beat the Marlins. The two big things that had people talking, the first one we heard, which was the Paretes home run, but not so much the Paredes home run, but the at bat right before it. Jordan Alvarez beating out a stray strikeout that rolled away from the catcher and hustling his ass down the line.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know what?

[Jeff Blum]

He.

[Sean Pendergast]

Maybe. Maybe Zach disenzo, you know, took. Took young Yordan under his arm and said, hey, listen, don't make the mistakes I've made.

[Jeff Blum]

Right.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know, maybe. Hey, listen, young Yordon, this is the

[Jeff Blum]

thing through a translator.

[Sean Pendergast]

I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but when the catcher drops the third strike, you can run to first, you can get on base. Jesenzo didn't know Jesenzo when he. When he just stood there and pouted this weekend, he didn't realize, and he just stood there.

[Jeff Blum]

It's a good example of something good coming out of something bad.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blum]

You know, everybody learned from Zach Zenzo's mistake.

[Sean Pendergast]

Jordan will make something of himself now,

[Jeff Blum]

getting down the line fast.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, well, I really know. That's the thing about Jordan. He Is fast. Like, it's, it's.

[Jeff Blum]

I just don't want him running.

[Sean Pendergast]

He's. You know what Yordon is? Yordon's the equivalent of a white quarterback who can run. Everybody has to be reminded at points like, hey, well, he can run. You know, Romo. Romo acts like he's. Promo's such a throwback in that a. There was a time when guys sounded drunk all the time when they were broadcasting. And baby, Romo is the guy who will keep reminding the audience that this white quarterback can run. Remember the. The Jaguars versus The Bills? It was like, yeah, thanks for the reminder that Josh Allen can run. Thanks, Romo. Really.

[Jeff Blum]

That guy. That had to be overload for him because Trevor Lawrence can run too.

[Sean Pendergast]

He's got so little. He's got. He's got very little melanin. Are you sure that's. I don't know.

[Jeff Blum]

You realize you haven't watched any of their games this year, Tony. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

You get down to the red zone here and Trevor Lawrence, I think he can run.

[Jeff Blum]

So that, that was, that was cool. I mean. And it happened with two outs, so it kept the inning going. And it left. Let's play it again. I want to listen to the Esoc Paredes home run again.

[Todd Callis]

Gives Paredes a chance for an RBI here with two outs, first and third. Two outs and he hits the ball high in the air, deep to left field. And that hustle's gonna pay off a three run homer.

[Jeff Blum]

That's good. We don't need all the puns and everything else. I just wanted to hear the home run again. Yeah. So Paredes with the big knock, three run homer and got a little dicey blue ball, came in and made it interesting. Yeah, they made. They made these last couple games a little too interesting. The bullpen, but. But yeah, it was.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's been nice. I like Hater. Doesn't look like his classic, you know, shut down self, but I'm okay because I like burning those, burn those performances on when it's also a victory.

[Jeff Blum]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

So you're like, okay, you're gonna have a few of those, you know, dicey moments. And somebody brought this up to me yesterday. I don't think he wants me to say who he is. Paredes, pray, is in the field at times this year. Looks like, man, maybe if you were like 10 pounds lighter, he would have made that play. And I kind of. I've always with guys who are, some hitters just need a little bit of extra heft to be at their best.

[Jeff Blum]

I think that's his optimal body type, man.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, I think you can't. You lose a little weight and you're gonna sacrifice something at the plate.

[Jeff Blum]

Yeah. We're not all built the same.

[Sean Pendergast]

I know lots of skinny, wiry guys are really good power hitters, but still, just everybody's got their own body type.

[Jeff Blum]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

But he also made this point, which is that that. That little bit extra pudginess might be why Priddis seems like he's 35 years old.

[Jeff Blum]

Definitely.

[Sean Pendergast]

Even though he's actually, like 18.

[Jeff Blum]

Definitely. He's got an older face, too. Everything about him screams 35 years old.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blum]

Paredes. The other thing that happened last night in the eighth inning. Jose Altuve. Jose Altuve. I saw somebody make this joke. Jose Altuve got tired of grounding into double plays, so he grounded into a triple play. Runners up first and second, nobody out. Up comes Jose Altuve.

[Todd Callis]

Rounds this one to third. They might have a chance to turn three, and they are going to get triple play on Jose. Altube grounds the ball right to the back leg, and the Marlins turn a triple play on Altuba.

[Keenan Thompson]

We're good.

[Jeff Blum]

Byron. We. That's hilarious. Like Blum. Jeff Blum's awesome.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blum]

The. The home run calls. There's some times where it feels like it's really getting, you know, like he's really trying to pigeonhole something in there. That's hilarious.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blum]

Oh, my.

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[Sean Pendergast]

That's another one. I like seeing that in the victory. It's fun to watch a triple play. Like an artistry to it, you know, game recognized game and so forth. Yeah, yeah.

[Jeff Blum]

It's Altuve. He's no Kizzy.

[Sean Pendergast]

Would I say no Kizzy there, Brian Byron? Probably not. Yeah, you could.

[Jeff Blum]

No. So. Because you're being serious about something. Because they said on ChatGPT yesterday that it's also sort of a synonym for I'm dead serious.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, no Kizzy.

[Jeff Blum]

Yeah, Kizzy. Yeah. Yeah. Altuve hit into that triple play, but I'm cool with it.

[Sean Pendergast]

No, Kizzy, we can't do that.

[Jeff Blum]

I just did. Do you know the last time the Astros hit into a triple play?

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, yeah, it was. It was 2000. It was 2021, 2019. Okay.

[Jeff Blum]

2019. May 20th. I didn't know if you'd seen it or not. May 22nd, 2019.

[Sean Pendergast]

No, I just. I was throwing it out there in case I nailed it.

[Todd Callis]

Yeah,

[Jeff Blum]

I totally remember 2019. May 22nd. You would have had to sit and guess for a while as to who it was.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, really?

[Jeff Blum]

Jake Marisnik. Oh, Jake Marisnik came into a triple play.

[Sean Pendergast]

I'm glad that he put the ball in play.

[Jeff Blum]

Good for you, Jake. Yeah, that's why it would have been hard to guess. Yeah. Prior to that, it was 2018. Evan Gaddis.

[Sean Pendergast]

That when you standardize it for.

[Jeff Blum]

Did you so the Ashes?

[Sean Pendergast]

Well, that was one. There's still. You know what? It's more impressive now without the shift. So there's still a shift back then. So with no shift, a triple play is even more impressive. Yeah, the circumstances have to be just right.

[Jeff Blum]

You gotta. You gotta ground it if it's gonna be one. Unless it's one of those crazy ones where somebody lines out, this guy's off a second and this and that. But that was a classic textbook triple play last night. Heart smash to third. Guy doesn't have to move, he just steps on the bag. And it's basically a double play with an out. The first out added on to it, apparently. Last night. Shifting gears here. The best thing that's ever happened to you, financially. Go easy.

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[Jeff Blum]

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[Jeff Blum]

Miami Heat. Put out a tweet on their social media or they posted a link, I think on their YouTube. Yeah, that's what it was. They posted a link on their YouTube. A link. A future link to a LeBron James introductory press conference. They now, they quickly took. I'm looking at Legion hoops on Twitter, Fans discover. And they posted a video like one of those screen grab videos of somebody pulling up the Heat YouTube account and they're, you know, kind of swiping through and things like that. Fans discovered the Miami Heat posted a scheduled live stream titled LeBron James introductory press conference slated for July 27 on YouTube, which would be Monday. Okay, so that would be next Monday. It was quickly deleted. Miami has since responded saying it was a mistake from their social media team. In preparation. In preparation for a potential.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right, that's. So at the very least, let's get

[Jeff Blum]

out in front of this link to the introductory presser On a specific date.

[Sean Pendergast]

On a specific date. So at the very least. At the very, very least, let's say that LeBron hasn't actually made his decision. There might be some machinations going on where that maybe they've. Maybe rich Paul and LeBron James have informed some people that. That they are going to make a decision by that date.

[Jeff Blum]

I think definitely they have.

[Sean Pendergast]

So, like, maybe some teams are getting ahead of it and just saying, okay, just in case. Yeah.

[Jeff Blum]

That. That's what Miami hopes. You believe. I think.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jeff Blum]

And I. And who knows if he's actually made a decision and talk that. The other thing, the thing you got to keep in mind with Miami as opposed to Cleveland, where I know he's played before, but he doesn't have a relationship necessarily with this front office or Philly is the other team that's believed to be in the running where he's got really. No. That I can think of any existing relationships there with the front office in Philly. Miami Heat is Pat Riley.

[Sean Pendergast]

Pat Riley. Well, and it's interesting because the stories back then were there the same head coach, LeBron. Yeah. That LeBron got a little. He chafed a little bit under how tight a ship that Pat Riley ran. And I wonder if it's one of those things where as you get older, it's kind of like when you realize, like, oh, now I know why my dad was such a jerk back then.

[Jeff Blum]

You use that discipline.

[Sean Pendergast]

Now that I've got my own children. Yeah. Now that LeBron's had his own basketball children and been the guy at all these places that he might really appreciate the way Pat Riley runs things.

[Jeff Blum]

For what it's worth, Miami yesterday Before this link got posted last night, was the favorite on the odds board. Even money plus 100. You bet 100, you win 100.

[Sean Pendergast]

Before that.

[Jeff Blum]

Before that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yesterday, the Jimmy Shapiro emails that we get, where it says, hey, here's the latest LeBron odds. I actually went back and found all the Jimmy Shapiro emails that have been sent out since the Lakers got knocked out of the playoffs. As to where LeBron could end up. He's Jimmy. And for those who don't know the people, like, who the hell is Jimmy Shapiro? He's a PR agent who represents BetOnline AG. So he, like, daily he sends out what the most relevant odds are on things. And LeBron is a very relevant topic right now. Since May 12, there have been six different times that he sent out odds on LeBron. May 12 was right after the Lakers season ended. Then he didn't send another one out till June 30, after the finals had ended and the draft was over. And then since June 30, he sent it out, like, every four to six days. So there have been six different times he sent out the odds. Cleveland was the leader at the very beginning. Cleveland has been the leader two other times, and Miami is the leader now. The other two times, golden. There was at one point where Golden State on June 30 was the heaviest favorite that there's been in this whole process, minus a thousand. At one point. At one point, Golden State was a lock to get LeBron. Now they're down third on the list. But if you just look at the. How the odds have moved over the month and a half since the Lakers season ended, Cleveland has spend the most time. Cleveland has been no lower than second.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blum]

On the odds board. Miami. Miami is kind of making a late run here at it. And so Miami's the favorite right now, but Cleveland has spent most of the last six weeks as the favorite.

[Sean Pendergast]

When you do your daily listen in on Cleveland radio, what. What are. How are they treating it?

[Jeff Blum]

Okay, so. So for the most part, the last three weeks, they've just been kind of. At least Ken has. Ken Carmen, the more volatile of the two hosts. Anthony's just been kind of, like, riding along like, hey, this is kind of fun.

[Sean Pendergast]

Is Ken kind of. Let me guess. Ken's kind of cynical about the whole thing because they've been through this before.

[Jeff Blum]

He's ambivalent because he's like, man, make a decision. You know, Come on. He's, you know, he. He made the comparison. Like, if you're waiting for somebody to say yes to you asking them to prom. Like, eventually you're going to move on and ask somebody else.

[Sean Pendergast]

I'm guessing there's probably a part of it when Cleveland, where they've already done the old whole. The whole homecoming thing, but then he decided to leave again. And that I'm like, I'm just guessing. I have no clue. Does LeBron actually spend all that much time in Akron or Cleveland?

[Jeff Blum]

I get the sense that he. I mean, he's got a house there, obviously. Houses everywhere.

[Sean Pendergast]

He's got houses. But. But I'm wondering if there's just not that same emotional appeal that there was once before. Obviously there. There are good times to remember, but it doesn't necessarily feel like, oh, the prodigal son has returned.

[Jeff Blum]

No. Now LeBron is a family man now. His two old. His two boys are older. You know LeBron, he plays in the league. Ob. Well, he sits on the bench in the league.

[Sean Pendergast]

He goes to the D league when he allows it.

[Jeff Blum]

Yeah, yeah. His other son is collegiate aged. His daughter is in high school. And I don't know how much that factors in.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blum]

So, yeah, from that aspect of it,

[Sean Pendergast]

I want to raise my daughter in Cleveland, not Miami.

[Jeff Blum]

Tell you what, no kidding.

[Sean Pendergast]

For walk around a mall in Miami or Las Vegas, those are the two places where I'm like, nope, nope, nope, nope.

[Jeff Blum]

Yeah, not raising a family here. Um, so I think in Cleveland now, I think they're just kind of like, they're kind of ready. Like, come on, man, let's get this done. Let's get this over with here. I don't think they're going to be. I don't think they're going to be completely distraught or like the news this morning about this Miami link. It wasn't like catastrophe or anything like that.

[Sean Pendergast]

Hey, what time is this scheduled for on Monday?

[Jeff Blum]

Oh, I didn't see.

[Sean Pendergast]

I'm guessing it's not between 6am and 10am Central. I don't think it's going to be anything we're going to be allowed to carry on. Capable of.

[Jeff Blum]

Carry on the air. Yeah. It doesn't say. It just says LeBron James. Introductory press conference posted 11 hours ago.

[Keenan Thompson]

Okay.

[Jeff Blum]

The link. Yeah. So future link. So that's where we are with LeBron right now. Miami. Do you think if he actually picked Miami and they leaked this because LeBron. Look, LeBron is dragging this out. I think in large part just because he enjoys being the center of attention. He hasn't gotten to do this recently. He spent eight years with the Lakers.

[Sean Pendergast]

There's a little bit of element though, too, where Rich Paul is such a kingmaker now that he might be dragging it out himself because he wants to sign, you know, like, hey, LeBron goes here, then my other client can go here or what have you.

[Jeff Blum]

And he has other clients. You're right.

[Sean Pendergast]

There's other dominoes that are going to fall.

[Carvana Spokesperson]

No question.

[Jeff Blum]

No question. I Wonder, like, if LeBron truly did pick Miami and he let them know and then some intern post this link.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Jeff Blum]

Would that be enough for LeBron to change his mind?

[Sean Pendergast]

Change his mind? I can't remember what kind of operation you guys running over there. I bet Pat Riley's freaking out on somebody as we speak.

[Jeff Blum]

He definitely would be. Like, if this were, like, if he really. They should be freaking out on somebody either way, like, that's. Even if LeBron isn't going there or hasn't made a decision yet. That's. That's a bad mistake, man.

[Sean Pendergast]

No, that's a class. That's one of the biggest. The most intriguing things to me in modern sports is that the social media department is vital to the business side of things. Except everything about it is what coaches hate.

[Jeff Blum]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

And they have to grudgingly go along with a lot of it. But then, then when there's mistakes like this, man, it's hard for the coaches to want to go along with the social media stuff.

[Jeff Blum]

Amen. Amen. All right, we're off and running on a Wednesday. I know you guys have probably seen, if you follow us on social media, Big announcement coming today at 10am There's a big announcement coming today. And we'll have in the loop in the studio with us here. It'll be during the toss. So it is a. No hyperbole, no Kizzy. It is a big announcement we've got coming up at 10:00am so baseball talk, by the way, which we did a few minutes ago on Sports Radio 610 presented by Xfinity. Score the most reliable Wi Fi one price, five years guaranteed. Xfinity. Imagine that. Ten days until Texans training camp. We're doing a question each day. 10 day countdown began a few days ago. Today is question number six. So we're down to six days until six radio days till Texans training camp. Question today that I'll bounce off. Seth. What does the ideal tight end room look like for the Texans? They made a lot of moves at that position. We'll hit that coming up.

[Keenan Thompson]

Latte for Keenan.

That's me.

[Jeff Blum]

Hey, you're.

[Keenan Thompson]

Yeah.

Buying a car online on autotrader.

Really? But Unlike other sites, you can start online, test drive with a local dealer, then finish online or at the dealership.

Really? Wait, are you.

Yep, it's Keenan.

Able to finish in person without starting the process over.

Really? Your info stays with you every step of the way.

Cool. Enjoy.

It's Kenan Thompson. Buy your car online on Autotrader. Really?

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[Carvana Spokesperson]

Yeouch.

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Did he have any hot sauce? Yep. So anyways, this has been a refres brought to you by Snapple Real Tea,

[Jeff Blum]

Real juice with Snap to Disney Refreshing.

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[Keenan Thompson]

news is full of things that have never happened before. And that is not exactly true. In fact, it may have happened this very week, hundreds or thousands of years ago. I'm Sally Helm, host of the podcast History this week from the History Channel. Trade embargoes. Thomas Jefferson tried them Rent too high. We've been arguing about that for a while. Each episode is proof the past isn't that far away. Listen to History this Week, available now on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.