How do you think the Astros handled the Trade Deadline yesterday

Summary

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Payne & Pendergast – August 4, 2026

Episode Summary: "How do you think the Astros handled the Trade Deadline yesterday?"

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Episode Overview

On this episode of Houston's go-to sports talk podcast, hosts Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast dissect the Houston Astros' trade deadline decisions, particularly focusing on the swap that brought outfielder Dalton Varsho to Houston in exchange for pitcher Spencer Arighetti. With their sharp, witty banter, Seth and Sean also touch on Texans training camp updates, including recaps of the first padded practices, roster flexibility, the return of Jadeveon Clowney, and debates about team culture. The duo scrutinizes the current state of the Astros organization, their development pipeline, and fan reactions to deadline moves, while also providing critical insight into the Texans’ evolving dynamics on and off the field.

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Key Topics & Insights

Astros Trade Deadline Moves & Reaction (13:53, 14:43, 16:12, 17:05, 23:11)

• The Astros made just one move at the trade deadline, acquiring Dalton Varsho from the Blue Jays in exchange for Spencer Arighetti.

  • Varsho is described as a rental—he’s in the final year of his contract and is likely only here for the season unless circumstances change (15:35).
  • Astros fans were clamoring for a lefty bat and outfield help; Varsho fits both needs and is also a gold glove-caliber defender (15:35).

• Quote, Sean (14:29):
  “The only trade the Astros made yesterday after sitting by the phone waiting, waiting, waiting. I would say as far as like the magnitude of trades, this one was fairly far down the list… In for Spencer Arighetti—again, something I would not have foreseen a couple of months ago when Arighetti was kind of holding the pitching staff together.”

• Joe Espada, Astros manager, on trading for Varsho (14:43):
  "Excited to have Varsho to our lineup… Not only does he fit a hole that we've had here for a while, but I'm excited to add him… He brings a different dynamic to our offense. Can really play center field, lefty bat… We lose a really good arm, Spencer Arighetti, obviously very talented, done great things here for us. But I'm also excited for him to go and get his career started over there in Toronto."

• The hosts discuss fan discontent and the perception of surrendering team control for a rental, but also acknowledge Varsho’s potential impact and the lackluster performance or upside shown by Arighetti thus far (16:12).

• Discussion on whether to consider Arighetti a "big price" (23:21):

  • Seth and Sean mock a viral tweet calling Arighetti "the duct tape that held the rotation together," highlighting Arighetti's middling career (24:24):
    “What the hell? 15 and 23 with a 4.66 ERA over three years.” (25:32, Sean)

• Critical Fans & Twitterverse:

  • The hosts lampoon overreactions on social media, with Sean pointing out:
    “It really is interesting man. Like how some people in love with guys based on very small pockets of good performance.” (16:31)

• Touches on the reluctance to mortgage the farm system for deadline deals, noting a seller’s market and the impact (17:05):
  “It might be Dana Brown falling on his sword…losing his job for not being aggressive enough, but while still preserving the future of the organization… It’s tough to get anything of note done. And I get that. We don’t have much appetite for that.” (17:05, Seth)

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Astros Pitching Staff: Concerns & Development (19:46, 20:57, 26:18)

• Skepticism regarding the current Astros’ pitcher development system:

  • No recent returnees from Tommy John surgery have noticeably helped the club in playoff runs (19:46, Sean).

• Imai’s stellar bullpen performance is lauded as a rare bright spot (20:26):
  “Imai came out and dominated... nine up, nine down with five strikeouts.”

• Seth wonders if the ‘golden era’ of Astros pitcher development is gone (26:18):
  “This is kind of the cherry on top… realizing, okay, this pitching development staff… they're just not what they used to be.”

• The episode closes this segment with nostalgic reflection:

  • “You wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days when you're living in them..." (27:00, Jenna mimicking Andy Bernard/The Office).

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Texans Training Camp: Culture, Fights, and Practice Notes (05:18, 06:49, 09:56, 10:06, 11:52)

• Recap of the fifth and sixth days of camp, first day in pads (02:32–02:54).

  • Early “chippiness” observed—minor brawls, notably sparked by Noah Whittington’s aggressive running (05:28, 05:40).
  • Parallel to previous years’ camp fights drawn, noting that tempers flaring is part of competitive football but something D’Amico Ryans wants to limit (06:49, 06:59).

• Team Chemistry & Player Development:

  • Reflections on different organizational cultures towards fights and collective accountability; anecdotes from Seth about training camp fights with Anthony Weaver and past teams (07:08).
  • The offense was outplayed at times, but Seth notes that’s expected at this stage:
    • "I just look for competence and ability to make plays at all by the offense…most people came out thinking wow, the defense really got the better of the offense... I didn’t feel quite that way." (08:23, Seth)

• Texans’ quarterback C.J. Stroud is discussed positively, praised for decision-making and mobility in practice (10:06):

  • Kalen Bullock’s interception off Stroud in practice is seen as a win for the defense—signs of scheme complexity and disguised looks (09:56, 10:06).
  • Seth notes the O-Line is looking “more automatic,” with special praise for OL coach Cole Popovich and the staff’s emphasis on positional versatility (11:52):
    “They flat out look like they know what they're doing… With a full year of [Popovich] as the guy, they've started to figure it out, and it's just become more routine.”

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Roster Strategy: Offensive Line Versatility (12:31, 13:24)

• The Texans are rotating offensive linemen through multiple positions to build depth and flexibility (12:29–13:24):
  • Seth reflects on changing NFL philosophies, noting the need for lineman versatility in a “17-game season,” given concussion protocols and injuries.

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New Texans Signing: Jadeveon Clowney & Fan Perceptions (27:51–29:29, 34:14, 35:14, 35:55)

• Jadeveon Clowney has signed with Houston; D’Amico Ryans expresses cautious optimism about integrating Clowney back into the team (27:51).

• Host Analysis:

  • Discussion of Clowney’s Houston legacy—good player who often faced outsized fan expectations due to his No. 1 overall pick status (28:46):
    • “If he had been drafted 27th overall, you'd say wow, that's a. That's a really good football player.”
  • Noted for still being “incredibly swarming” on the field, despite persistent work ethic narratives (33:19).
  • Clowney’s role is seen as ideal for scheme/value: “He’s still a really good football player. The sack totals do not tell the whole story whatsoever about his impact on a game.” (34:14)

• Poll Results (32:12):

  • Sean revisits a fan poll from June asking which defensive end fans would prefer. Clowney finishes a narrow second to Cam Jordan.

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Astute Banter and Notable Quotes

• On the trade with Toronto (03:36):
  "It's like the two GMs get together and they're like, oh, you gotta do something for these people... It's like we're both at the bar at 2am; let's go home with each other." – (Sean Pendergast, 03:36)
• On baseball trades mirroring training camp cuts (04:18):
  "They come and grab you and be like, hey, grab your things. It feels like something that would happen at training camp. You know, 'Hey, bring your playbook.'" – (Jenna, 04:18)
• On Astros’ hopes for surprise moves (21:42):
  "You know what the trade deadline felt like? Felt like I was on trial for something... and I'm kind of looking towards my, my, my court appointed attorney who's the lowest dude on the totem pole… and I'm like, oh, wait, there is no surprise evidence. It's gonna show up at the last minute. This is it." – (Jenna, 21:42)

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• Astros-Blue Jays Trade Dissected: 13:53–17:46
• Fans, Social Media, and the Value of Spencer Arighetti: 23:11–27:29
• Texans Camp Fights and Chemistry: 05:18–08:10
• 2026 Texans’ Offensive Line Philosophy: 11:52–13:24
• Clowney's Signing and Fan Polls: 27:51–34:14, 35:14–36:54
• Astros Rotation Development Critique: 26:18, 40:01
• Guardian Cap Endorsement & Player Safety Discussion: 43:44–47:05

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Notable Moments

• The “Duct Tape” Tweet Roast: Sean and Seth lambast Ben Verlander’s tweet elevating Arighetti, humorously debunking his claim that Arighetti was the “duct tape that held the rotation together” (24:05–25:32).
• The “Old Days” Reflection: The team jokes about Astros fans (and themselves) longing for the “good old days” of organizational dominance (27:00).
• Texans Benches Empty: Seth recounts a chippy practice and a “third stringers” brawl—comic relief for camp watchers (08:10).
• Clowney’s “Swarm” Reputation Restored: Seth defends Clowney’s motor and effort:
  "Honestly, that has been a bogus narrative on Clowney in terms of the way he plays the game. On the field, he's incredibly swarming. Makes plays sideline to sideline, chases wide receivers 20 and 30 yards downfield.” (33:19)
• On “Day After Christmas” Disappointment:
  “There’s a tendency to just... There's a letdown... Imagine the day after Christmas when you also got just. Just no presents or a crappy present. That's what it would feel like.” (41:10, Jenna)

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Tone & Style

The episode is trademark Payne & Pendergast:

• Insightful yet irreverent, full of inside jokes, sports memories, and unfiltered perspectives.
• Equal parts analysis and comedic catharsis, especially regarding fan anxieties and the Astros’ changing fortunes.
• Deeply Houston-centric, referencing local sports history, team traditions, and city-wide moods.

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For New Listeners

This episode will catch you up on:

• The big (or, as they argue, not-so-big) Astros move at the deadline—and why some fans panicked.
• How the current roster and front office philosophy mark a shift from the Houston baseball “golden era.”
• Where the Texans are—in both culture and roster building—as camp heats up.
• The real legacy and value-add of bringing Jadeveon Clowney back to Houston.
• All with sharp-witted banter and no BS.

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Listen For

• Astros trade & fan reaction analysis: 13:53–17:46, 23:11–27:29
• Texans training camp stories & chemistry: 05:18–13:24
• Jadeveon Clowney’s return and reputation: 27:51–36:54
• Defensive and offensive line depth talk: 11:52–13:24

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Quotable Highlight:
“You wish there was a way to know that you’re in the good old days when you’re living in them.” — Sean (The Office reference, 27:00)

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Transcript

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Jenna Fischer]

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[Sean Pendergast]

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[Jenna Fischer]

Sports Radio 610 presents Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast. We coming to eighth time. Let's get the work in man. Let's go.

[Sean Pendergast]

Great day, Great day.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, give me some juice.

[Seth Payne]

Slamming.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh yeah, let's do it.

[Nick Casario]

First day of PAX in training camp is always an exciting day. It's always an eventful day. You never know what's going to happen. You know, one side getting the best of the other side. But overall I thought it was a really good day. Got a little tired there at the end and you know, a little scuffle broke out. Don't want to see that. As I mentioned to our guys, we want to be smart in how we prepare, how we train, so we got to be smarter there. But overall, I like the way the guys Pushed through today. First day of Paz was a successful day in my mind.

[Sean Pendergast]

All right, that was head coach d' Amico Ryan's out here at Texans training camp yesterday, fifth practice yesterday, sixth practice today. Pads went on yesterday. And, and we're out here for you. We got Nick Casario joining us in about an hour and 15 minutes. Welcome in everybody, on a Tuesday. We are with you till 8am today. Sean Pendergast, Seth Payne will hand things at 8am of course, over to Texans training camp live. Good morning, my friend.

[Jenna Fischer]

Good morning. How are you? I feel good, man. I feel good. I'm not. I don't. I'm. You know what? If anything, I'm appreciating the weirdness of trades between teams that are facing each other that evening. Honestly, I always look, I guess there's a 1 in 30 chance of it or 1 in 29 chance of it happening. I always feel like, especially when it happens at the deadline, it's like the two GMs get together and they're like, oh, you gotta do something for these people. Why is it, wait a second, you got, you got, you got, you got 28 other GMs that you could have on the horn doing some deals with. No, it doesn't ultimately turns into like, I don't know, we're both at the

[Sean Pendergast]

bar at 2am let's go home with each other.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. Yeah. And that way, I like that it's old school. Like, maybe they did it over whiskey, but.

[Sean Pendergast]

Well, you know who that happened with a few years ago was Christian Vasquez.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Remember that?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Trade deadline in 2022, and then playing the Red Sox and then Vasquez, I would say of the two, Dalton Varsho. And if people missed it, didn't see it yesterday. Dalton Varshow, outfielder, goes to the Astros. Spencer Arighetti goes to the Blue Jays. Who would have predicted that back when he was winning pitcher of the month two months ago in the month of May, I would say of the two, Varsho looked to be a little more excited about his new environment. He was. Did you see him, Jim Crane in the dugout with him, shaking his hand. And. And then you looked at Spencer Arrogetti,

[Jenna Fischer]

who looked like a.

[Sean Pendergast]

Looked like he's being held hostage during the day.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, just, you know, they come and grab you and be like, hey, grab your things. It feels like something that would happen at training camp. You know, hey, bring your playbook bar show. Got a little bit of a pep talk from Springer. He said, you're gonna Love the. Hey, buddy, you're gonna love the, like, Springer basically gave bar show a pep talk. Like he was going off to summer camp and he was nervous for the first time. Like, hey, buddy, you're gonna meet a bunch of new friends. You're gonna learn some arts and crafts, and it's gonna be all right.

[Ad Voice 3]

All right?

[Jenna Fischer]

And he tussles his hair and sends him off onto the bus to go to summer camp.

[Sean Pendergast]

If I. I would have been like, aren't there only, like, two guys left that you played with?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, Yeah, I know. They're gonna love the clubhouse.

[PJ Vogt]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

You were there six years ago.

[Jenna Fischer]

You're gonna hate the front office, but you're gonna love the clubhouse. Yeah, that's probably what Springer said.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't appreciate the way they do business. Right. I never liked the fact that they messed with my service time, but you're

[Seth Payne]

gonna love the guys.

[Nick Casario]

You're fine.

[Sean Pendergast]

Your service time has been messed with already. You're good.

[Jenna Fischer]

Isn't Sanchez over there?

[Joe Espada]

Oh, no, no, no.

[Jenna Fischer]

He's with us. That's right. He's with us. So.

[Sean Pendergast]

So, yeah, we'll get to the trade deadline here in just a minute. But we had the first day of patch. You heard d'. Amico. D' amico say it was an eventful day. Talked it was a little. Got a little chippy at the end.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, there was the chippiness of the fight. Came with. I think there's a little bit of a theme of more chippiness on offense. Now, Noah Whittington was not the guy who started the fight.

[Sean Pendergast]

Is he the one that got thrown to the ground?

[Jenna Fischer]

He got thrown. Noah Whittington was trying to kind of bulldoze his way through. Wade Wood as and down at, like, the three yard line. And Wood as, you know, there's no tackling, but Wood as was getting pushed backwards a little bit and finally decided to just kind of power slam him to the ground. Yeah. And it was funny because I still, like, you know, eyewitness accounts are sketchy, so you got to try to get everybody. From my vantage point, Wade Wood as just kind of walks away and is completely uninvolved and uninvolved. And I was kind of watching him, but. But meanwhile, the bench is emptied, and there's a mass of people out on the field. And with Wood as not involved at all in it and Whittington, But Whittington's kind of chippiness and scrappiness and driving Wood, as I would say, is what sparked it. Rutledge is out there kind of, you know, mixing it up at times and causing scrums and piles. He shoved the Neil Hunter a little bit.

[Sean Pendergast]

It was like training camp two years ago, the year that Diggs was here. Remember, somebody on defense hit Diggs in practice as he was going to the ground and it ended up being a fight between Derek Stingley Jr. And Dalton Schultz.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's right. It was like Stingley came out of nowhere, this is two years ago, and

[Sean Pendergast]

like kind of shoved him from behind. It was very unstingly like, yeah, so that was fun. Getting a little chippiness at the end of the day yesterday.

[Joe Espada]

It was.

[Jenna Fischer]

Tamiko didn't like it. Tamiko also said that he didn't like that. You know, you had other people entering the fight area and Aziz was running

[Sean Pendergast]

out there, I think, to break things up.

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know. You know, back in 2006, six as we, as we olds call it, when Anthony Weaver came onto the team, the first fight we had in training camp, Weaver got pissed at the whole that everybody from the defense didn't run out there. And I was like, I don't know. Look, I've been on a couple different teams, different coaches. That's never been the rule said in Baltimore. That's the rule. Want to be, you know, wouldn't die.

[Sean Pendergast]

All die.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So. But then he would tell stories about Baltimore, like, do you remember Kelly Gregg, the nose tackle?

[Sean Pendergast]

I do.

[Jenna Fischer]

The little white dude that pulled his pants way up high. And you might be inclined to make fun of him. No, bad idea. Because he was a national champion wrestler and he was a national champion wrestler. And then he got into like MMA training in the off season. So Weaver said he would just go out there and just go to town on people.

[Nick Casario]

Oh, really?

[Jenna Fischer]

They'd get in fights and Kelly, Greg would be out there and just all of a sudden have somebody down on the ground throwing elbows and everything. So it's different cultures, different time, different era. I kind of like seeing, I kind of like seeing the benches clear. I know d' Ameco can't like it.

[Sean Pendergast]

It was at the very, very end too. It was, it was the third stringers that. That was my reaction. I forget who I was standing next to, but I'm like, nothing. Like a bunch of guys on the third string going out and risking everybody's health by getting into a bench clearing brawl.

[Jenna Fischer]

I thought for yesterday. So look, I go into these training camp practices with the attitude that the defense is going to get theirs no matter what it could be that it could, it could be a combined practice with the LA Rams and the defense is going to get theirs. They're going to make some big plays. So I just look for competence and ability to make plays at all by the offense and try not to think too hard about, you know, the negative plays because I think there has been a lot of positive of the offense. But, you know, I think most people came out of yesterday feeling like, wow, the defense really got the better of the offense. And I, I didn't feel quite that way, but. And if you look at like the second series, David Montgomery had a nice run of about 5 yards. CJ Stroud hit Nico Collins for 6 yards, Stroud to Schultz for 7 yards. And then Kalen Bullock gets an interception. Okay, cool. Happens. You know, like, I'm not going to, I'm not going to freak out over quarterback interceptions and training camp. It's really, that's, that's what you should be doing when you're not game planning and you're just letting it fly.

[Sean Pendergast]

I was more excited about the Bullock interception and I was disappointed that C.J.

[Ad Voice 2]

threw it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, the other thing too is I didn't get to. I didn't get to see what coverage they were in, but where for the area on the field. I'm guessing, I'm guessing John Harris will give a specific answer for this, that it was the. That Bullock was disguised and then ended up lurking, you know, and C.J. thought Bullock was going to be high, but he actually came down kind of like the Tua Tunga Bailoa. Yep. Now, the difference with Tua was that the Texans set him up for that and Tua just cannot read coverages at all. Whereas the CJ Stroud's very good at reading coverage.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep, yep, yep.

[Jenna Fischer]

So I think. So I look at it as a positive from the defense because they've been doing some kind of fun and funky stuff out here, and I think you're going to see more wrinkles and you're going to see more disguises out of the defense.

[Sean Pendergast]

How do you think C.J. did yesterday?

[Jenna Fischer]

I thought, I thought, like, the completions were good. I thought that when he. There was at least one coverage sack, which is nice because a lot of times in training camp last year, there would never have been time for a coverage sack.

[Sean Pendergast]

And there were a couple of those, too.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There were some conventional sacks. Neil Hunter and Will Anderson both got theirs. That'll happen. But there were a couple times where CJ had to pull it down and it was because. It wasn't because one of those camp scenarios where. Well, K probably would have been a sack, but he ran. I think when he pulled it down and ran for a touchdown, from my vantage point, it looked like there was good protection. There was just nobody open. And he ran it. And there you go.

[Sean Pendergast]

There you go. So the. Yeah, you're right. The defense is absolutely going to get theirs. I thought the offense ran the ball well at times yesterday.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right. And that's the other thing, too, is the. When they have good runs. I've really been encouraged this year in that it looks like it's a good run as designed. It's not Joe Mixon dodging somebody in the backfield and then turning nothing into something.

[Sean Pendergast]

Running to the sideline and then just trying to beat somebody to the corner.

[Jenna Fischer]

There's really. I mean, like, you really don't even have to know anything about offensive line play other than that. If you watch and you just kind of look at the uniformity in the way the offensive line moves, it's just a. It's a much better picture. And I'll include the tight ends in that. It's a much better picture than it's been the last couple years. I mean, they just. They flat out look like they know what they're doing. And I think Cole Popovich, who made a lot of improvements throughout the season and during the season last year, I think this. With a full year of him as the guy, I think they've. They've started to figure it out, and it's just become more. More routine and more. More automatic.

[Sean Pendergast]

I'm anxious to ask Nick when he joins us. He's going to join us in about an hour. Nick Casario, about this evaluation of the offensive line, because we have fairly strict orders. They're kind of funny strict orders, because especially the fans out here now. You know, there's 2,000 other people that can just go on Twitter and tweet things that they see.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

That don't get handed a set of rules when they walk in.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

But we're under fairly strict orders about depth chart. And these guys running with the ones, especially on the offensive line. That's a big topic. I don't even know other than Ariati Ursuli at left tackle. I don't even know that there's anything to report on because they're just shuffling everybody right now. It feels like. Yeah, they're Rutledge just running with the ones and twos.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right.

[Sean Pendergast]

He's been playing guard and center like.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, well, they're all doing everything. They've been open about that and I think Nick's talked about that with the O line is that they just, they're going to try the young guys out and see how they do. I've come around on that. I used to, I used to very much be of the mindset that, man, come on, you got to let an offensive lineman as a rookie get really comfortable in his one position and get good at that and then maybe work on the versatility. Something in the NFL that's just shifted and changed is, oh, lineman get. Oh, lineman get held out with it. I don't know if they get injured any more than they used to, but they get diagnosed with the concussions, used to just play through it, you know, and then make a bunch of mental errors and get cut because of it. So like O lineman get concussions. It's a 17 game season. You're going to play with 8, 9, 10 guys, 10 different offensive linemen over the course of a season. And that, that versatility probably matters more than being a specialist at just one spot.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep. All right, you brought up the MLB trade deadline. We'll get to. In the next segment, we'll get to d'. Amico. Ryan's talked about Jadevion Clowney. Clowney was not out here for practice yesterday. He was in the building. I do know that because I saw video of him signing his contract. I think he was getting his medicals

[Jenna Fischer]

done and we're going to call it a hold in. Is he signed a contract but now he's holding in?

[Seth Payne]

Nope.

[Sean Pendergast]

He's just an old guy that needs a physical. I know how that feels.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, yeah, Mario Edwards wasn't out here either. Yeah, they're just going to. They're going to bring them along as they need to.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Hopefully today we'll see. I do. I did hear. I think, I think Clowney's meeting with the media today. I think. I think so. We'll see. But we'll, we'll get to Clowney in the next segment. I do want to get to the trade deadline because we've got a lot of Astro fans, I'm sure listening, curious. Our thoughts on that. The only trade the Astros made yesterday after sitting by the phone waiting, waiting, waiting. I would say as far as like the magnitude of trades, this one was fairly far down the list. Jim Crane era deadline trades, no disrespect to Varsho, the outfielder they got from Toronto, who they immediately stuck right in there at cleanup in the lineup last night.

[Jenna Fischer]

Got a base a couple times. He did.

[Sean Pendergast]

He did. Yeah. It was good. And they traded in for Spencer Araghetti again, something I would not have foreseen a couple of months ago when Araghetti was kind of holding the pitching staff together. But this was Joe Espada on the trade yesterday.

[Joe Espada]

It's been busy the last couple of days. The last hour has been super busy. Excited to have at bar show to our, to our lineup. Not only you know he feel, you know he fits a hole that we've,

[Sean Pendergast]

we've had here for a while.

[Joe Espada]

But I'm excited to Adam, you know he brings a different dynamic to our offense. Can really play center, feel lefty bat. This guy was in the World Series not that long ago so he knows what it takes. He knows what it feels like. I just had a conversation with him really like the energy he brought in. Teammates were really excited to have him. We lose a really good arm. Spencer Araghetti obviously very talented, done a lot of great things here for us. But I'm also excited for him to go and get his career started over there in Toronto.

[Nick Casario]

So.

[Sean Pendergast]

So that was, that was Joe Espada. The reaction to this was interesting yesterday because Varsho is in the last year of his deal. So this is a rental. He's going to be on this team, you know unless they, you know unless he plays well and they bring him back, whatever. But for now this is a two month rental at a high position in need and he's a lefty bat. We've been saying all season long they need a lefty a competent lefty bat in the outfield. He's a Gold glove caliber outfielder. So defense is not a problem with him. In fact it's a plus with Varsho. He won a gold Glove two years ago. I saw a lot of reaction to this Seth of you're giving up a pitcher who you've got control of for three more years.

[Jenna Fischer]

Control.

[Sean Pendergast]

And again the control is arbitration. So it's a little more expensive control than the minimum salary Ericetti's been getting the last.

[Jenna Fischer]

Although Ericetti is not doing a whole lot to jack up those arbitrations.

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[Jenna Fischer]

The arbitration should be very reasonable.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah, good point.

[Jenna Fischer]

We could have kept him cheap because he sucks. Are you letting guy a guy you got control and he sucks.

[Sean Pendergast]

It really is interesting man. Like how some people in love with guys based on very small pockets of good performance.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, I think with Eric Eddy, I mean there's that part of me whether it's rational or irrational, it feels like yeah back when the Astros were the supreme leaders in pitcher development. Yeah, Eric Eddy is exactly the type of guy that I think this organization would figure out how to harness and rein everything in. And there you go, Cy Young contender. And I just don't know if they're. I don't know if they're that team anymore. So I don't evaluate guys that way. And the part for me that's,

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[Jenna Fischer]

think where people are really going to fall on either side of it is I respect that they didn't want to touch their farm system. It's. You know, it might be kind of. It could be Dana Brown falling on his sword. He might lose his job for not being aggressive enough, but while still preserving the future of the organization. This was an extreme seller's market. You know, There are probably 10 sellers and 20 buyers, and it was just. It's tough to get anything of note done. And I get that. It's just we don't really have an appetite for that, given the litany of issues this team has had, including all of the moves that Dana Brown made to try to bolster the pitching staff in the offseason, which have all cataclysmically failed. Yep.

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[Seth Payne]

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That's digitallocalads.com okay people, line starts here.

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[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, they have and now you're at the same spot you were last year. The only big move they made last year at the deadline was ringing back Carlos Correa and the thought was, well, we got all these guys coming back from injury and this is almost like getting trade deadline guys. None of, I got to point this out again. None of these guys that have come back from Tommy John over the last few years have really helped this baseball team. I know Javier has been a little up and down, but I'll go back to Urquity and Luis Garcia. You know, I know Wisneski did some promising things his first start back, but it wasn't great. Renel Blanco's not been great and this is what they're counting on now. Probably the best thing to happen in the last 24 hours, pitching wise, is Imai came out and dominated in three

[Jenna Fischer]

innings of release last night, throwing just his two favorite pitches. Instead of adding in that change up

[Sean Pendergast]

nine, up nine down with five strikeouts.

[Jenna Fischer]

If you missed it, that's been one of the eight different storylines surrounding why Imai's uncomfortable and that's been that the organization wants him to mix in his change up more. He, he doesn't want to do that. He wants to rely on his and his two favorites and maybe as a reliever that's perfect for him for right now. You can, you don't have to have as big of a repertoire. I don't cool. I don't know.

[Ad Voice 7]

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[Jenna Fischer]

Imai might be a reliever who like he's he's either going to be this is what Imai is. He's either going to continue to be volatile and relatively worthless and but you still have to pay him next year because he won't exercise his option or he's going to be a complete and total revelation and he's going to exercise his option and he won't be here next year.

[Sean Pendergast]

He's going to start again for this team in the next two months. That's just, I just say. And that's not even like inside information or anything. It's just math. They're going to run into a spot where one of these guys is going to have to miss a turn through the rotation or somebody's going to get hurt. Or Wisneski and Blanco are going to turn out to be just like all the other Tommy John guys that have come back and Imai's going to have pitched well in the bullpen and they're going to say, we're paying him 18 million bucks. Get back at your fourth in the rotation.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know what the trade deadline felt like? Felt like I was on trial for something. And I've watched a lot of Netflix. So I'm kind of waiting for that moment when. Wait a second. Isn't there gonna be some surprise evidence? There's gonna be some surprise evidence. I'm totally guilty, by the way. And I'm kind of like looking towards the back. Then I look over towards my, my, my court appointed attorney who's the lowest dude on the totem pole.

[Nick Casario]

Horrible.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, he just, he bought his suit at Kmart and it doesn't even fit right. And I'm like, oh, wait, there is no, there is no surprise evidence. It's gonna show up at the last one.

[Sean Pendergast]

This is it.

[Jenna Fischer]

And Dana Brown is guilty.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, it's like, no, we really just haven't, we haven't really done a whole lot. Hey, what do you have to say for yourself though? The last couple years help Cam Smith, you know.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, there's some good times. The evidence is not walking through that door. This is it. This is who they're rolling with. Baseball talk on Sports Radio 610 presented by Xfinity. Score. The most reliable Wi Fi 1 price, five years guaranteed Xfinity. Imagine that.

[Ad Voice 5]

All right.

[Sean Pendergast]

Jadevion Clowney's a Houston Texan. Demico Ryan's thoughts on that. And I went back and looked the Pender poll on who you guys wanted to bring in as a reserve edge guy. Did the Texan fans get what they wanted with this signing? We'll get to all that. We got a lot more to get to. Nick Casario joins us in a little under an hour. 7:15 here live out at Texans 22 22.

[Jenna Fischer]

Texans training camp is here live from the Houston Methodist Training Center. Sports Radio 610 presents Payne and Pendergast.

[Sean Pendergast]

All right, just to. To put a bow on the. The Astros trade deadline, I want to read the dumbest tweet that I saw yesterday regarding the trade of Spencer Araghetti.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is a pretty dumb tweet. It's pretty dumb from multiple levels, too. You didn't even see the other level that was dumb about this.

[Sean Pendergast]

No. Okay, so this is Ben Verlander, brother of Justin Verlander, who.

[Jenna Fischer]

He's not even a baseball player. No.

[Sean Pendergast]

But he's found his way into the meeting eventually. Yeah, right, right. I'm sure he played at some point.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, I. Justin Verlander. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Barely. So Ben Verlander tweeted this yesterday about the Dalton Varsho Spencer Arrighetti trade. What an interesting move here for both sides. Astros get Varshaw, which I like. Varshow, which I like a lot. For them, Araghetti is a big price to pay. Been a huge reason the Astros have been in contention the last couple of years. He's been the duct tape that held the rotation together.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, all right, all right, all right, all right. Okay, the first part, the first voter was like. You raise your eyebrows. Now, wait a second. Eric Getty's the duct tape that holds the rotation together.

[Sean Pendergast]

It got progressively worse.

[Ad Voice 2]

And then.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then at the very end, he's the reason they've been in contention. For what? What are you talking about? It's contention.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's like it got progressively dumber because he's got three sentences in the last paragraph. The first one is, Eric Eddy is a big price to pay. And my first thought is, I mean, 15 and 23 over three years of era of nearly five.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know, he's done some good things. And I like. And he's from here.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, And I've been very, like, yeah, I like Arrogetti. I feel like there's upside there.

[Nick Casario]

I do, too.

[Sean Pendergast]

I do, too. But big price to pay. I'm like, all right, that might be a little hyperbole. Next sentence. Been a huge reason the Astros have been in contention the last couple of years.

[Jenna Fischer]

He pitched 35 innings last year.

[Seth Payne]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

To your point?

[Sean Pendergast]

To your point. Contention for what?

[Jenna Fischer]

Like making the playoffs using couple casually. Yeah, maybe he's only like, last couple of years. He means like, oh, the two years prior to this one.

[Sean Pendergast]

Well, I mean, like, they did win the division two years ago ago, and they came down to the last day last year, but.

[Jenna Fischer]

And he was still in area. Well, Eric gotta. Got better in that year as it went. Along and. But he's.

[Sean Pendergast]

We're debating the word contention.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right, Right, right, right. Yeah. They have not been in contention the last couple years for anything but maybe making the playoffs. Yeah, yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

And then, as if it could get any dumber, he's been the duct tape that held the rotation together.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, that's.

[Sean Pendergast]

What the hell? 15 and 23 with a 4.6 6 ERA over three years.

[Jenna Fischer]

This tweet is so dumb that it made me feel better about the trade. You know, I just felt like, okay, well, if this is your standard and how you're judging it, I don't know what the hell.

[Sean Pendergast]

It actually made me feel a little worse because the sentence right before all that was Astros getting Varshah, which I like a lot for them. You know, I'm like, I saw that at first. I'm like, okay, good. He agrees that this is good for the Astros. And then I read this paragraph, like, Eric, it's making Eric Getty out. You know what that. And what even is. What's even worse. And we'll get to Clowny here, I promise. His brother is Justin Verlander. He knows what the clue or the duct tape of a rotation looks like. It's your brother, Spencer Arighetti. If I was Justin, I'm texting him, like, what the hell?

[Jenna Fischer]

I think for me, this is. If anything, this is just kind of the cherry on top of the Sunday of realizing, okay, this, this pitching development staff that they used to have in terms of the entire organization. I'm not just singling out Josh Miller or anything. They're just not what they used to be.

[Sean Pendergast]

The.

[Jenna Fischer]

The days of just, hey, bring in. Bring in any random dude and he's gonna be the best version of himself. Bring in Charlie Morton. Yeah, cool. He'll end up being awesome. What did I just.

[Sean Pendergast]

What did Andy Bernard say? I wish I knew I was living in the good old days. I wish he said something about the good old days on the office.

[Jenna Fischer]

That was beautiful, Sean.

[Sean Pendergast]

People know what I'm talking about.

[Jenna Fischer]

You wish there was a way to know that the. That you're in the good old days

[Sean Pendergast]

when you're living in them.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. How can we develop pictures?

[Jenna Fischer]

No, I. I feel like we all knew that if you're a sports fan long enough. Look, we're not Boston. We're not like a 25 year old Boston sports fan who thinks that you just come out of the womb and all your teams are vying for championship.

[Sean Pendergast]

I was starting to get kind of greedy.

[Jenna Fischer]

We've seen the highs and the lows and you knew at some point the golden era wasn't going to be quite so golden no more.

[Ad Voice 3]

Yep.

[Jenna Fischer]

And we're smack dab in the middle of that.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep.

[Seth Payne]

All right.

[Jenna Fischer]

I appreciated it at the time, Sean. I was out there burning $100 bills the way you were.

[Sean Pendergast]

I know. I just don't.

[Ad Voice 3]

I don't.

[Sean Pendergast]

I don't. I. I'm a little crazy that way. All right, so jadevion Clowney is a Houston Texan. This was d' Amico Ryan's yesterday asked about the newest acquisition on the defensive line.

[Nick Casario]

I didn't hear about that. Oh, we'll see. See what he brings. Even though everybody knows Clowny, it was, you know, first pick overall here in Houston, and he's been a successful player, had a successful career. You know, he brings physical aspect to the football game. Right. To our defense. A guy who can get after the passer as well. So we'll try to get him in, get him acclimated to what we're doing, and he'll be up to speed, off and running.

[Sean Pendergast]

He was in the building yesterday. For those that don't go way back with the Texans, the two of them, d' Amico and Clowney, missed each other by a few years. And D' Amico's gone by 2012. Clowney came in in 14.

[Jenna Fischer]

They didn't get the audio of it. But before he left, d' Amico said, I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh. So I knew d' Amico would get it right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. He was talking about how Clown. He was underappreciated when he was here.

[Seth Payne]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, I.

[Seth Payne]

It's.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's so strange with Clowney because I feel like there's a certain. There's a certain group of fans who still can't get over the fact that he wasn't worth a number one overall pick. Like, okay, great. He wasn't. He didn't give you a Will Anderson or Miles Garrett type of return on your. On your investment. But, like, if he had been drafted 27th overall, you'd say, wow, that's a. That's a really good football player.

[Sean Pendergast]

Whitney Merciless was drafted 26th overall, and

[Jenna Fischer]

nobody thought that that was a bad pick. Clown. He's been a better player than Whitney Merciless. Like, he's a. He's still. And he's still churning out really impressive season after season after season. He's just oddly doing it with a different team every single year. This will be the fifth team in his fifth year.

[Nick Casario]

Yep.

[Jenna Fischer]

The one you put up your poll that you talked about. Explain the poll and I'll tell you the one. The one reply to your poll that kind of annoyed me.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay. So this is all the way back on June 2nd.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

So this is when, according to I said according to Texans cap. The Texans have 30 million in cap space. They could use it to sign one of the following defensive ends. And I had estimated average contracts by spotrack next to each of their names. They did a pretty good job with Clowney. They estimated 5.7 million. Clowney's getting a base of 5.5. So they were pretty spot on with that.

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[Sean Pendergast]

I'm Dana Carvey. I'm David Spade. Fly on the Walls Back for another season now on audio and video every Monday and Thursday. So many incredible guests will be joining us. Follow and listen to Fly on the Wall everywhere. You get your podcasts too good be true.

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[Sean Pendergast]

State Farm is there four names that I asked Texan fans, who do you want at these prices? Joey Bosa, Cam Jordan, Von Miller, Jadevian Clowney. It was a very, very close poll all four ways. Cam Jordan won the poll by less than 1 percentage point over Jedevion Clowney. Clowney was number two. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And those 28.6%, you know, Cam Jordan ends up re signing campgrudge him for that on a team that actually might has a pulse again.

[Sean Pendergast]

And he's been there as well after being right.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Von Miller just didn't make a whole lot of sense just because he's not. He's not a great scheme fit and except if you're gonna bring him in on third downs and they have the guys they want in there on third down. So Clowney makes a whole lot of sense. The the reply that I that annoyed me was somebody who's a listener to our show, so I won't say his name.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

But he said Clowney is the opposite of swarm. People have short memory. No, I have a long memory. It's not always all that precise. But it's long.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's long.

[Jenna Fischer]

And honestly, that has been a bogus narrative on Clowney in terms of the way he plays the game. I don't know if Bill o' Brien might have had some issues with a young Clowney and how mature he was in terms of meetings and practice and all that stuff, but when it comes to the way he plays the game of football, he's incredibly swarming. He's got a ridiculously good motor. He makes plays sideline to sideline. He chases wide receivers 20 and 30 yards downfield. Look, still to this day, intensity on the field is not the issue at all with Clowney. It's a part of it. I blame Steve Spurrier for just always having to make it about a nice little quip when they asked him about Clowney's work ethic and he said he's not as like he's.

[Seth Payne]

No.

[Jenna Fischer]

Who's a South Carolina player that he compared to his.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, I forget. I know what you're talking about. Spurrier was his coaching college, right?

[Nick Casario]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, and Clowney. Clowney, I think has matured over the years and was a guy who was young and he. Look, he didn't have the drive or the focus or the passion of Will Anderson when it came to just doing everything you can to make yourself better. Will Anderson's the prototype for that. But he's an older guy now who's matured and he's also. You're giving him a base of five and a half million dollars. I mean this is a little bit better than EJ Speed's contract from last year when they brought him in.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, and here's the thing, Seth, here's the thing because I think this is a good.

[Jenna Fischer]

Better. I mean it's like a little bit more lucrative and clowning makes a much larger impact.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. And I think, you know, and they, and they, and they sign Logan hall to a nice, you know, to a team friendly deal. When you pay will Anderson 50 million and you pay Daniel Hunter 40 million, you've got to find some guys along the margins like that that can play at a fairly high level at a fairly low wage. This is a great signing for the ucs.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, it really is. And I think for honestly this is where like if Derek Barnett maybe was in the mix and they were talking to him. I can't remember what Barnett made last

[Sean Pendergast]

year, but it's like around Clowney.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right?

[Ad Voice 7]

Right.

[Sean Pendergast]

Like five million bucks.

[Jenna Fischer]

Clowney's still a really good football player. He's still really good. And the sack totals do not tell the whole story whatsoever about his impact on a game. He's really good against the run. He makes plays in the backfield. It healed. You know, he get. He's had, he's never had double digit sacks, but that's kind of, I think, where he doesn't have the bling. And that's, that's real like over the course of a career when the sacks in any given season don't necessarily matter, but over the course of a career. Yeah, he's not a high sack total guy, but he makes such an impact both in pressuring the quarterback and in making tackles for a loss that this is a, it's a really good.

[Sean Pendergast]

And I think it's very telling if you went and read the article in the Chronicle that the signing of Clowney, I'm guessing it was Jonathan Alexander. That had a lot of quotes in it that had to do with. I'm more mature now. I'm looking to help lead some of the young guys on the team. You know, he talked about how he's focused on winning and wanting to get to a Super Bowl. I think that's probably very. And this is after he had signed. I think that's probably very telling about the type of conversation he had with d'. Ameco. Ryan's.

[Nick Casario]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

About what the Texans are looking for in a guy like that, a 33 year old guy that's a backup on the defensive line.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then he also said that thing which he always, you know, you're always skeptical of. You said it wasn't about the money. Yes. Sometimes in, I would say about 5% of cases, I actually take that with some element of believability.

[Sean Pendergast]

The other 95, you think they're full of crap.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think with Clowney, I mean it's for one, you get up there, you got kids, he lives in Houston. There is an element of just, it's nice to not have to move and either figure out whether you're bringing your kids with you, you're gonna live remotely for a year.

[Sean Pendergast]

And oh, by the way, they're good at football.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right, right. That part. Well, yeah, that's. The other part is that it's a really good situation and they have another guy, Danil, who lives in Houston and is on kind of a pay as you go plan. And that's, that's appealing as you get older, when you're never quite sure, you don't know how you're going to feel at the end of next season. You know, you get to be clowning. He's 33 years old and you don't know if you have a major injury or something. This might be the year that you want to pack it in and it's nice to just kind of be unencumbered, but that if you play really well that the Texans have a precedent over. Yeah, we'll go ahead and we'll, we'll do like we did with Danil and add another year to your contract.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, we'll bring you back. Yeah, absolutely. All right, Payne and Pendergast with you on a, on a. What's today? Tuesday. On a Tuesday 6 practice of training camp out here today, presumably in pads. We'll talk to Nick Casario about that and a whole lot more at 7:15 on the show.

[Jenna Fischer]

Today.

[Sean Pendergast]

Up next, headlines. A Texan got himself an endorsement, an unlikely endorsement. We'll have that. We've got Astros news. We'll get to all that coming up next in headline 22.

[Jenna Fischer]

Payne and Pendergast with today's headlines.

[Sean Pendergast]

All right, let's get to headlines. Let's start. We'll start with the Astros. They lose last night to the Toronto Blue Jays after consummating a trade with them earlier in the day. Dalton Varsho, outfielder, is now a Houston Astro. It sounds like he's going to be their starting center fielder moving forward. They gave up Spencer Araghetti to get him a straight up trade. Just those two guys. So they each just swapped, maybe even just swapped lockers yesterday, Seth and. Yeah, Varsho, inserted immediately as the cleanup hitter in the lineup for the Astros.

[Jenna Fischer]

Felt bad for Ericetti Araged. He looked shocked and not, not like pleasantly shocked and surprised. Like a. Like, not like a surprise party.

[Sean Pendergast]

Well, you know, think about it, too. Think about Araged side of this thing when he was. When he was pitching the way he was in May. Like, we, we. You know, we gotta. If they go on to win the division, we do need to give Spencer Kenny credit for being the pitcher that kept this thing from completely plundering in. In May, for sure. He was 7 and 1 at one point.

[Jenna Fischer]

He'll have earned his World Series ring.

[Ad Voice 7]

Yes.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yes. And his playoff share. But he was very, very. He was a pitcher of the month for the month of May. The last thing Spencer arrighetti thought on June 1 was that he was going to be tossed into a trade for a veteran outfielder. Trade deadline.

[Jenna Fischer]

You might have, like, at that point, you think, like he might be a part of a blockbuster trade or something. Not just something that two GMs do to make their fan bases look like

[Sean Pendergast]

they're working because they happen to be building.

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Hey, look.

[Jenna Fischer]

Hey. Did you do anything yet? No. You didn't? Okay, cool. How about. How about Eric Eddy for Varsho? Sounds good. That'll keep the idiots happy. That'll throw them off the sense they called you idiots.

[Nick Casario]

Yeah. Yep.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep.

[Jenna Fischer]

In my hypothetical scenario.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right, right, right. So the. So that trade got made yesterday. Astros lose three to one last night. So that was disappointing.

[Jenna Fischer]

But Imai was electric.

[Nick Casario]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. If we're.

[Jenna Fischer]

If we're.

[PJ Vogt]

I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's what everybody's looking for. Well, if you're.

[Sean Pendergast]

I mean, if you're trying to draw positives from a loss, I mean, they're still in first place.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's one of your last 10 games.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah. No, no. I'm not saying the sky is falling, but that was nice to see last night. Tatsuya Imai, if you missed it, came in first appearance coming out of the bullpen. If you had asked me, based on how he's adapted to change thus far in his major league career, I would have said I expected him to come in and give up five runs in an inning. He came in instead and made a case for him being a long reliever. If anything, he retired all nine guys, five of them via strikeout. He was dominant last night.

[Jenna Fischer]

His ex ack expected adaptability to change is really low. It matches his actual performance, you know?

[Seth Payne]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Last night's so encouraging.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think with every. All of your best laid plans with your pitching staff have been completely shot to hell, including the things that have gone, well, you know, Lambert, whatever, dfa, he comes back and he ends up being your best guy. Imai. Okay, disaster. But maybe we got a reliever out of this. Maybe we're gonna be paying way too much when he exercises or when he. Well, he doesn't have exercises.

[Sean Pendergast]

When they get to game three of a wild card round series, it's good to know that Imai can come in and give you three innings of a bullpen.

[Seth Payne]

It's good.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know what? I'm glad you pointed out that they have won a bunch of baseball games lately, because there is. There's a tendency to just. There's a letdown. Feels a little bit like. It feels like it's not that. The day after Christmas is always kind of a depressing. When you're a kid, you know, you get a little bit of dopamine withdrawal or crash. But imagine the day after Christmas when you also got just. Just no presents or a crappy present. That's what it would feel like.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Nick Casario]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Credit to the lady that had a varsho sign out in the baseball park last night.

[Sean Pendergast]

She did?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was like, oh, that's how you ended Dalton Varsho? And I was like, oh, I didn't know that's how you spelled Dalton.

[Joe Espada]

I don't know.

[Jenna Fischer]

You, like, did she. I wonder if she heard the news on her way in and she stopped at the drugstore to grab a plaster and a marker or something.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

It wasn't a huge poster, but it was definitely something she didn't have in her purse.

[Sean Pendergast]

The Astros are still two and a half games up in the division over the Rangers.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

So they don't lose any ground last night.

[Jenna Fischer]

No. That part of It. And that. There's that part of me too, the rational side of me. It's kind of like, okay, if you're. If you're a teenager and your dad says we can't go to Disney World, but it's because we got to pay for college, you're like, ah, yeah, all right.

[Sean Pendergast]

Gotta do what you gotta do.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, you're one of those teenagers that's super into Disney. I don't judge you.

[Sean Pendergast]

I'm an adult who's into Disney. I like going to Disney World.

[Jenna Fischer]

You would be one of those good guys who. You'd be one of those. The people that's a tour operator. You retire and then go work at Disney in retirement.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, Amy would do that in a second.

[Jenna Fischer]

You'd be really good at that.

[Sean Pendergast]

Thanks, man.

[Nick Casario]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, you'd be all. You'd be a superstar.

[Angela Kinsey]

You think?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Nick Casario]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

You should do that.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, yeah. Not anytime soon.

[Jenna Fischer]

He got at my list of replacements for Sean. You should really do that.

[Sean Pendergast]

Feels like you're in.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think that would be awesome.

[Sean Pendergast]

Really feels like you're pushing hard on

[Jenna Fischer]

this transformative experience for you.

[Sean Pendergast]

Speaking of transformative, Jordan Alvarez, player of the month again. Player of the month for July. He is so far out in front for the MVP right now.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, I know, man.

[Sean Pendergast]

And he's way out in front for the batting title of all things. Yeah, he's like 30 points out in front of the next closest guy.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yandy Diaz was leading like two weeks.

[Jenna Fischer]

Like if Ichiro had taken a boatload of creatine and steroids.

[Seth Payne]

Yes.

[Sean Pendergast]

And was it from I always.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's a comp I often make for him. He's like Ichiro, except with way, way, way, way, way more power.

[Sean Pendergast]

He's a ped. Ichiro.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Sean Pendergast]

So that was good news. Texans, the deviant clowney in the building yesterday. First padded practice out here yesterday. We'll talk more about that with Nick Casario at 7:15 on the show today. So in about about 25 minutes or so, Nick will join us out here live at training camp.

[Joe Espada]

Camp.

[Sean Pendergast]

Did you see Jalen Petrie got himself an endorsement yesterday?

[Jenna Fischer]

I saw this because you and Landry sent it to me.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Jalen Petrie headline, Jalen Petrie named first NFL guardian Athlete supports community with cap donation. Okay, so this is. This is a press release donating to the salary cap. He kind of is. With his contract, it's a pretty reasonable deal. But no. Guardian Sports, the Atlanta based sports safety equipment company behind the man, the NFL mandated guardian cap The Bonnet. The Bonnet today announced the partnership with Jalen Petrie, who will support efforts as the first NFL Guardian athlete. The collaboration aims to further promote athlete safety awareness across all levels of play. Good for you, Jalen Petrie.

[Joe Espada]

Good for you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Take that check.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

For something you're doing already.

[Sean Pendergast]

He's making.

[Jenna Fischer]

You don't have to wonder whether he's just only talking about this because they're paying him money. He's. He's one of the brave few that are willing to don the cap.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know my theory on this, I think the Rasheed Rice hit single handedly made the Guardian cap cool.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Like before that. They're like, look, I mean, look this guy running around with this big gigantic bonnet on and then he murders Rashi Rice and Cole Blood on the field.

[Jenna Fischer]

They're like, oh, that cap is cool. He's done the same thing for the Guardian cap that movie stars have done for stupid haircuts.

[Nick Casario]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, like, well, that looks a ridiculously stupid haircut. But yeah. Yeah. Travolta running around. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think that John Travolta, when he used to have hair, you know, back in the day, back in the Saturday Night Fever type stuff.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep.

[Jenna Fischer]

I think that the. Nico was asked this the other day again. He was asked during OTAs whether he would wear the Guardian cap. He said no. He was asked in the tent the other day on Saturday whether he would wear it. And it was funny because he looked, he looked towards his helmet. Whoever had asked the question must have pointed his helmet because they all wear them in practice. And he looked towards it with such disgust and disdain. And he said, nah, I ain't wearing that.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, yeah, because he's wearing a Guardian cap in practice.

[Jenna Fischer]

They all wear guardian caps in practice. So, yeah, like he pointed at the. His helmet.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And he's looking, it looked like he was looking at his helmet. He said, no, I ain't wearing that because, yeah, it sounds like it's harder to track the ball, etc. Etc.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Nick Casario]

Him.

[Sean Pendergast]

It sounded more like it was a functional thing than it aesthetic thing.

[Jenna Fischer]

Then he said, you know, I'm doing all the other things. I'm strengthening my neck and doing all these things to, you know, to try to avoid concussion.

[Sean Pendergast]

Is that real?

[Jenna Fischer]

I think that. Well, it's always. Does that help, Sean? This is a tough thing about concussion prevention stories. As of right now, these wimpy doctors say it's air quotes, unethical to take a bunch of people and put them into two separate groups and bash some of them in the head with a bat and hard to do a double blind placebo controlled study. But yeah, in theory, wearing a mouth guard, strengthening your neck.

[Nick Casario]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

All these things in theory help avoid concussion. And then there's a, you know, they find correlation too bulked up in the neck.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's gonna hurt tracking the ball.

[Jenna Fischer]

Also, I want him to look like that meme from a couple years ago. Remember that guy that, like, if you were to survive a car accident.

[Nick Casario]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

The. The ideal body type and it was just this big freakish looking wide neck guy with a.

[Ad Voice 5]

Or Ted.

[Jenna Fischer]

John.

[Ad Voice 5]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Problem with strengthening your neck though, is it can also increase your. It's. It doesn't have to be just you got a big fat neck. If you got a big muscular neck, you can get sleep apnea.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, really?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's why I.

[Sean Pendergast]

That would explain why I had sleep apnea.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's why you and I don't hit the neck flexion machine.

[Sean Pendergast]

All right. That's exactly why. All right, coming up next, CJ Stroud. We talked about the disrespect possibly coming from. From three different corners of the universe the last few days. There's a fourth one. Sandoz QB tiers for the athletic are out.

[Jenna Fischer]

Hell yeah. Anonymous quotes on the up right before we talk. You know, Castario loves the anonymous quotes.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

There ain't a GM in the NFL who ain't a fan of anonymous quotes.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep, we'll get to that. We'll do that.

[PJ Vogt]

Hi, I'm PJ Vogt and I want to tell you about my podcast search engine. We try to make sense of the world one question at a time. No question too big, no question too small. We will even answer your questions if you send them in. Stuff like what happens when a cemetery goes out of business. What should we do about teens using AI to do their homework? Who buys luggage at the airport luggage store? Follow and listen to search engine in partnership with Odysee Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jenna Fischer]

A cool and crisp Modelo tastes good. But that fought for every rebound Modelo or that just clocked out Modelo.

[Nick Casario]

That Modelo you earned is just better

[Jenna Fischer]

that that Modelo is the mark of a fighter.

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