What should the Astros do at the Trade Deadline ?

Summary

Payne & Pendergast — “What Should the Astros Do at the Trade Deadline?”

Date: July 28, 2026
Hosts: Sean Pendergast (with Brandon Scott sitting in for Seth Payne)

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Episode Overview

This episode is a quintessential mix of sharp Houston sports analysis, lively banter, and some classic “pedicast” tangents from Sean Pendergast and Brandon Scott. The primary focus is a deep dive into the Astros’ recent game against the Angels, the looming MLB trade deadline (with an emphasis on Jeremy Peña’s future), and the Astros' philosophical direction. The show also weaves in listener interactions, Rockets win total bets, and a bit of comic detour about etiquette at high-end steakhouses.

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Astros’ Dramatic Comeback & Rotation Woes

Timestamp: 02:44 – 09:58

• Game Recap:
  The Astros overcame sizable adversity to beat the Angels 6-4 after some viewers, including the hosts, had “hung it up” prematurely with the Astros down 4-1 early. (03:01)
• Pitching Carousel:
  • Imai (referred to as “e Ming”) struggled and was knocked out in the first inning, which has become a worrying trend. (03:34)
  • “Blue Ball” came in as relief to steady the ship, escaping a bases-loaded jam.
  • The real hero was Christian Javier, who offered 5 innings of “shutout relief with seven strikeouts, no walks. Christian Javier was outstanding in this game for the Astros. That’s huge.” — Brandon Scott (04:06)
• Ninth-Inning Drama:
  • Angels’ manager intentionally walked Yordan Alvarez with runners on first and second, loading the bases.
  • Isaac Paredes, the next batter, was hit by a pitch to force in a run.
  • Defensive errors by the Angels, including “a ball through the legs... That was the one where you’re watching you go, oh, this could happen against a bad baseball team.” — Brandon Scott (05:41)
  • Discussion over whether the inning constituted an Astros’ comeback or an Angels’ collapse.
  • “That error... is the line of demarcation between comeback and collapse.” — Sean Pendergast (06:19)

Notable Quote:

“A win is a win, we need them all. But if we are going to split hairs here, that's where it officially, to me, becomes a collapse right there on that play.”
— Sean Pendergast (06:49)

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MLB Trade Deadline: Should the Astros Trade Jeremy Peña?

Timestamp: 09:19 – 16:52

• Chandler Rome’s “hot take”
  Chandler Rome (The Athletic) predicts Jeremy Peña will be dealt to rejuvenate the farm system, citing parallels to the Kyle Tucker situation and Peña’s recent agent switch to Scott Boras.
  • “That’s hot take-y.” — Sean (09:58)
  • Debate over whether such a trade would be waving the white flag.
• Astros Philosophy:
  • Sean: “Trading Jeremy Peña is what’s best for the long term viability of the franchise, especially if you’re not going to pay him.”
  • But he confesses: “I decided…right now I think I care more about the moment and the short term viability. Cause I don’t know when they’re going to play baseball again…I’m not as concerned about the future.”
• Ownership Mentality:
  • Brandon praises owner Jim Crane’s willingness to make bold moves: “That same mentality that has them thinking...we’re going to be a buyer here, we’re not going to be a seller, is the same mentality that…turns them into World Series teams. When you’re willing to make big moves like Verlander, like Greinke, like Gerrit Cole...” (14:15)
• Lockout Looms:
  • With a probable lockout and fear there might not be a 2027 season, the guys debate: Does this motivate the Astros to push chips in the middle THIS year and let Peña walk, or trade him now with offseason uncertainty?

Notable Quote:

“I think the same mentality…that’s going to take the really good teams and put it over the top. If I were to make a football comparison, it’s probably how Packer fans had to deal with Brett Favre back in the day... led the NFL in career touchdowns and career interceptions.”
— Brandon Scott (15:21)

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Listener Banter & Astros’ Trade Philosophy

Timestamp: 16:06 – 18:28

• “Playing Defense” by not trading Peña within the AL:
  Sean notes that holding onto Peña also prevents strengthening another contender.
• Contract Offers:
  • Recaps that the Astros reportedly offered Peña a 5-year, $120 million extension; comparable to earlier deals proposed to Correa and Bregman.
• Tommy John Pitchers:
  • Wisneski (piece of Kyle Tucker deal) recovering from Tommy John.
  • “None of these Tommy John guys have worked out.” – Brandon (18:25)

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Segment Break: Parenting, Babies at Steakhouses & Show Culture

Timestamp: 18:34 – 24:08

• Extended debate about parents bringing babies to nice restaurants, Sean clarifies:

  “The choke point for me is just don’t bring a baby to a restaurant and don’t bring him to a theater...worst is people that bring crying babies to a theater and then don’t leave with the baby. Those are bad people. I’m just going to say it.” — Brandon (19:54)

• Show Banter:
  Amused discussion about the show’s culture: “That’s all we do. We’re the pettiest show in the city” — Brandon (23:53)

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Rockets Win Totals, Futures, & Roster Fit

Timestamp: 24:09 – 32:38

• Rockets NBA Futures:
  • Vegas has set Rockets’ win total at 47.5 (down from 52 wins last year).
  • “It surprises me that Fred VanVleet returns and their season win total dips by four or five games.” — Brandon (27:19)
  • Speculation: The West got tougher, and perhaps "the view of [the Rockets]...is lesser than it was before.”
• Roster Shoehorning:
  • Real talk about on-court fit: “There is a true conflict on both ends of the floor with their best young player...Alperen Şengün...neither guy can shoot from the outside...and a legitimate conflict on the defensive end of the floor with Reed Shepherd because the two of them are both defensive cones at times.” — Sean (28:31)
• LeBron to Sixers at Point:
  Discussing ESPN’s news that LeBron James will play point guard in Philly.

  “We are in the era of positionless basketball where your 6’9”, 260-pound all-time leading scorer in NBA history can...be your point guard.” — Sean (30:41)

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Tank Dell & Texans Training Camp

Timestamp: 33:01 – 44:14

• Training Camp Anticipation:
  Buzz around the Texans camp with special focus on WR Tank Dell’s rehab.
• Nick Caserio Soundbite (June 3):
  Caserio: “I think the goal is training camp...if he stays on schedule...his attitude, his approach, he’s chomping at the bit.”
• Lingering Questions:
  • Will Tank Dell start camp fully active, on the “side field,” or on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list?
  • The labeling is meaningful for fan mental health: “If Tank Dell is one of those (on PUP), it is going to generate conversation tomorrow...it would feel like a step backwards.” — Brandon (41:25)
• Caserio praised for candor, but if Tank Dell is still on PUP, “It runs contrary to what [the GM] said the forecast was.”

Notable Quote:

“He could be the difference between the offense that we saw last year and the offense that we could potentially see this year. Like, he’s that significant...”
— Sean Pendergast (44:03)

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More Petty Wars: Kids, Tickets, and Restaurant Etiquette

Timestamp: 44:14 – 51:12

• More on Kids at Games:
  Sean defends kicking out “random stinky kids” from expensive seats above the bullpen:

  “If they were their seats, I wasn’t gonna kick them out...But not when those are your seats. I stand on that. And, you know what? ...the people that were also sitting near them saw me as a hero. I guarantee it.” (45:10)

• Studio Crossover:
  John Lopez shares his take:
  “Once stuff starts happening, you go outside. You remove yourself from the table. You never should have stayed. The moment the baby was a distraction, you step out.” (49:44)
• Summary Judgment:
  “You are both 100 right and 100 wrong,” Lopez says, arguing for both empathy and common sense.

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• “Santa came early.” — Sean narrating the crazy comeback (03:04)
• “Sometimes you end up with Justin Verlander, sometimes you end up with Jose Abreu.” — Brandon on Crane’s risk/reward ownership (15:32)
• “Don't bring small babies in strollers to upscale steakhouses.” — Sean, standing his ground against social media backlash (35:54)
• “Karen can be right. Karen's right in this case. Smelly people out of here.” — Brandon & Sean, on removing stinky kids from good seats (47:03)
• John Lopez: “Bring your baby, but after that, whether it’s breastfeeding or crying, you go outside the damn restaurant. That was a horrible move.” (49:47)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Astros comeback/game analysis/rotation talk: 02:44–09:58
• Trade Deadline/Jeremy Peña debate: 09:19–16:52
• Listener banter/Astros trading philosophy: 16:06–18:28
• Steakhouse/Babies tangent: 18:34–24:08
• Rockets’ season win totals/Roster fit: 24:09–32:38
• Texans camp/Tank Dell update: 33:01–44:14
• Kids-at-baseball/restaurant etiquette: 44:14–51:12

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Overall Tone & Style

The episode blends energetic, smart sports debate with the hosts’ signature blend of comedic, occasionally petty observations and listener integration. Sean and Brandon keep the show moving with inside jokes for regular listeners and plenty of quotable moments, all without shying away from tough questions about Astros’ direction and fan anxieties about the future.

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Bottom Line

If you missed the show, this episode delivers:

• A sharp breakdown of Astros’ win, bullpen has-beens, and rotation crisis.
• Unfiltered opinions on Jeremy Peña’s future and Jim Crane's gunslinger mentality.
• Thoughtful (and heated) takes on trade deadline direction in the face of a possible MLB lockout.
• Bonus entertainment: Petty wars about parenting, etiquette, and listener pushback—always in classic Payne & Pendergast style.

Transcript

[Brandon Scott]

If you can make a dish, you can make a signature recipe and showcase it on your beautiful website that you built with Squarespace. And if you can make a stitch, you can make an outfit and put it on your online store that you built with Squarespace. And if you can hit the pose, you can teach the class that they can book on your site that you built with Squarespace. Because whatever your business, you can build it at squarespace.com use offer code EMPIRE for 10% off your website or domain. Life can feel overwhelming, but you don't have to go through it alone. On my podcast from the Heart with Rachel Braethon, I share openly and vulnerably about everything life brings us and what

[Sean Pendergast]

we can learn by living with our

[Brandon Scott]

hearts a little bit more open. Every Friday, a new episode brings you a new story with topics on self care, motherhood, healing and more. You are enough just the way you are. This podcast is a reminder of that. Follow and listen to from the Heart with Rachel Braythan wherever you get your podcasts. Sports Radio 610 presents Pain and Pendergast Someone's suggesting on the text page that once a month high end upscale steakhouses do baby night. So for the month, if people are wondering why we're digging deep on this topic, I was telling the story of my wife and I going to Mashrose. We had a great time. By the way, Mastro's is amazing, but there was a couple sitting next to us that had brought a baby in in a stroller in like a carriage stroller with the intent to sleep and the baby did anything but sleep. And the couple that was there did anything but take the baby out to either breastfeed or calm the baby down or anything like that. So that's why it was in the pedicast. And that's why we've been mentioning it, because we're getting a ton of texts on this. This is the by far the thing we've gotten the most texts on. But the person texts in says, I'm a sales and marketing guy. You know, they should do once a month. Kind of like, this is me talking now. Kind of like where the Astros have the day where you can bring your dog out to the ballpark.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Maybe you're not a dog person. Well, don't go on dog night.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah, there you go. Bringing the dog. They also have those programs with kids and dogs, basically. But they got, they got kid programs where they let the kids go out there and run the bases.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

But they don't let the Kid, you know, when they don't let the kids run the bases in the seventh inning, you know, when the show's going on, they wait till either before or after the game and let the kids run around.

[Brandon Scott]

Good point.

[Sean Pendergast]

But not in the middle of the game now. Not during the seventh Inn in stretch.

[Brandon Scott]

No. Oh, my God.

[Sean Pendergast]

What are we doing?

[Brandon Scott]

All right, we'll read some of these texts in just a little bit. Oh, Byron, did I hijack the bump in here?

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Oh, sorry about that. You're good. Now you know how Ben Gary felt all those years. Here's what the final call of here's what the final call of the Astros game last night sounded like.

[Sean Pendergast]

Broken back, hater backs up, fields it, throws in time.

[Brandon Scott]

Astros win at 6 to 4. Not an easy play as hater navigated

[Sean Pendergast]

the back of the mound, kept his feet, and threw out Grissom to end the game.

[Brandon Scott]

Plumber.

[Sean Pendergast]

That was not a classic. Top half of the night bidding, but

[Brandon Scott]

what a comeback by the Astros.

[Sean Pendergast]

Santa came early.

[Brandon Scott]

Well put, Plumber. Well put. If you missed it last night, and a lot of you probably did, a lot of you probably did the same thing that me and B. Scott did, which is that we both decided to hang it up when it was four to one.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

You know what? Three, four innings into the game, something like that. If you missed. And I can see where a lot of you watched maybe the first inning, and you're like, here we go. Imai gets knocked out in the first inning again. Gonna be one of these games.

[Sean Pendergast]

Imi.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah, He's e Ming. He's pulling an e mine.

[Sean Pendergast]

He's pulling an e mine all over the mound.

[Brandon Scott]

Yes. Like he's want to do E Ming all over the place. He got knocked out in the first inning. Blue box came in in in the first inning and was able to steady things for a bit. Left the bases. The Angels left the bases loaded. So the damage could have been far worse if blue ball hadn't come in. Blue ball ends up giving up a couple of runs. The story of this game was the ninth inning that we're about to outline here, but it was also Christian Javier. Christian Javier came in this game and gave the Astros five innings of shutout relief with seven strikeouts, no walks. Christian Javier was outstanding in this game for the Astros. That's huge. I don't know what that does for Javier. As part, as far as the trust level goes, you know, we do the circle of trust from time to time on this show for the Astros, and I almost feel like all season long the starting rotation has had its own sub circle of trust going on. I don't know if that outing last night gets Javier back into the starting rotation. Circle of trust. Look, the Astros may not have a choice here because you keep having guys get injured like Spencer Arrogetti, whatever the case may be. So Javier was a big story. The other big story was the comeback in the ninth inning. Four to two, top of the ninth. And the Angels had two hit by pitches, one with the bases loaded. Keep in mind, the bases were loaded because the Angels manager intentionally walked Jordan Alvarez with runners on first and second.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yes.

[Brandon Scott]

Okay, so he pushed. He. The Angels manager voluntarily put the tying run at the time on third, but

[Sean Pendergast]

he's also at that point challenging his pitcher to get the next guy out,

[Brandon Scott]

who was Issac Peredes, who's been very hot lately.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. But to at the very least, don't pluck.

[Brandon Scott]

Don't beat him. And he plunked him. So they had two hit by pitches. There's a passed ball in there. There were two errors, awful errors. A ball through the legs, errors by the second baseman. That would have been a double play.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's the big one. Like just right between your legs.

[Brandon Scott]

That was the gateway play of that inning. I didn't. You know, when he. He hits Taylor Trammel to open the inning. Okay, that's going to have the elite off guys get on all kinds of ways late in games. And then there's a pass ball, gets Taylor Tramell to second. All right. It's two run game at that point. It's not like the tying run just got into scoring position. Closers should be able to manage their way out of this thing. The. The double. The potential double play ball that rolled through Grisham. Grisham's legs was. That was the one where you're watching you go, oh, they. This. This could happen against a bad baseball team.

[Sean Pendergast]

You. You did mention, and this is not me trying to split hairs here, but you mentioned the comeback. I think it was that error, specifically the. The ball going between the legs. That was supposed to be a double play. That is the line of demarcation between comeback and collapse. So.

[Brandon Scott]

Oh, like is. Is this so kind of the question, like, did the Astros seize this game or did the Angels give it away?

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, and sometimes it's both. But I think that is what turned what. What flipped the ledger in the collapse direction versus the. Come now, we'll take it either way.

[Brandon Scott]

Yes.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right. As a win is a win, we need them all. But if we are going to split Hairs here. That's where it officially, to me, becomes a collapse right there on that play.

[Brandon Scott]

Yes. Yeah. And there was. There was an inning, the. I'll tell you the inning. I decided to go to bed. It was when the Astros. It was when the Angels scored a couple more runs, when Jose Altuve fields a routine ground ball to second and just sails the throw. Oh, yeah, just sails the throw. And then the next guy up. I think it was the next guy. It was the same inning because it drove in a run, hits a pop up behind first base, and Christian Walker's just like casually jogging back there to go get it. Yeah. And the thing drops in between him and Cam Smith.

[Sean Pendergast]

There were some issues with locating the. The fly balls for the. For the Astros, specifically, because the. The parts of this game that I did see, I want to say Lamont Wade had a. Had a tough time locating a fly ball as well. So this. This was a part of the game, within the game of not being able to see the fly balls. But, yeah, when you're talking about comedy of errors and what direction it could have gone in, the Astros kind of had their moment there as well.

[Brandon Scott]

That's when I went to bed. That is when in the rundown, I typed the sentence F these A holes. That's all I typed was F these A holes. And then I woke up in the middle of the night to. To. To hit the bathroom, you know, 2:30 and 2:30 in. In the morning. There.

[Sean Pendergast]

And now you love these a. Hol.

[Brandon Scott]

Grab my phone like I normally do, like any insane person would at 2:30 in the morning. Because that's what you need when you get up to go to the bathroom is to get hit with a bunch of sensory stuff that's going to make you even more awake and unable to go back to sleep. Yeah. But I was curious about the outcome of the Astros game, and I open it up, and I've got eight push notifications on Twitter from Mark Berman, who basically live tweets these games. It's fun as hell.

[Sean Pendergast]

We miss you, Mark. But not that much since you give us this much content.

[Brandon Scott]

This version, I like this version. Twitter version of Berman even better than the breaking news version of Berman.

[Sean Pendergast]

Fair enough.

[Brandon Scott]

Because he's got opinions now.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

You know, he never put opinions out there before because he was a newsbreaker. He was a journalist. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

He was a professional.

[Brandon Scott]

He's a professional now. He puts opinions out there. He's got strong opinions sometimes and still

[Sean Pendergast]

mixes in, like, what we could call now aggregation.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

He's quoting folks on the broadcast.

[Brandon Scott]

But I look down and Berman's like, Berman's quoting Blum and he's quoting Kevin Eschenfelder from the studio show on how the Angels gave this game away. I'm like, holy crap, they won. So I immediately went over to my iPad real quick before I went back to bed, and I said on F these a holes, they won the game. Yes.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, take my F back.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah, man.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, I'm with it.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah. Chandler Rome. They did a. I felt kind of bad for Chandler about this yesterday because clearly this was one of those pieces on the Athletic where they were trying to get something click worthy out of all their beat writers. And they had to do a trade deadline prediction. Each of the beat writers for their team. And Chandler Rome is obviously, he's the Astros beat writer. And, you know, there's. And there's some in here predictions that aren't all that hot. Takey some that are. I truly wonder if this is just Chandler hot taking or if he really thinks this is going to happen. His prediction, Jeremy Pena will get traded before the trade deadline.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's hot. Take it.

[Brandon Scott]

He says the Astros will recognize their myriad of issues, acknowledge their long odds of making a meaningful run in the playoffs, and reinvigorate their farm system by trading. Jeremy Pena talks about them coming close to a contract extension last year, but then he hired Scott Boris. And then the Astros have shown they're willing to move on from guys before now. Granted, Kyle Tucker was in the off season, not in season. Kyle Tucker did not signify a waving of the white flag because of when he was traded. Yeah, he was traded in the off season. You actually got major leaguers back. I know Cam Smith is the crown jewel of that trade, or we hope he is eventually.

[Sean Pendergast]

So far has been Isaac, but it

[Brandon Scott]

is like has been the best player from that trade. Yeah, but Cam Smith has shown signs as to. Okay, I could see why they thought this was a good idea.

[Sean Pendergast]

Highest upside guy.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah, but. But that was in December or whenever it was. This would be a. This would be the Astros saying, we. We don't think we can win this thing this year. We think we have no chance.

[Sean Pendergast]

It would feel that way. It. It. It could also be that. Look, we feel like we could replace Jeremy Pena both as a leadoff hitter and that somebody could come in here and play respectable shortstop for us defensively. But that would be a tough sale. Like, they. They could try to sell it and they might even actually believe it, but it would certainly fit. Feel like to your point. Feel Like a waving of the white flag. One of your best players. You're already, as I point out all the time, you're already a top heavy and infield heavy lineup. Right. So all you, most of your production comes at the top of the lineup for which Jeremy Pen is the lead off hitter and it's infield heavy for which Jeremy Pena is a shortstop. And you're trying to get some more from everybody else. If you take one of those guys away, then it feels like a waving of the white flag.

[Brandon Scott]

Yep, it definitely does. But Jeremy Pena is doing everything he can to make himself a very, very intriguing asset to teams right now.

[Sean Pendergast]

So here's.

[Brandon Scott]

By the way, by the way, we haven't mentioned this player of the week for last week.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's right, that was mentioned it in headlines.

[Brandon Scott]

Jeremy Pena, we got, we were so swept up in the nature of last night's game, Jeremy. Jeremy Pena, who hit.500 last week, he was 13 for 26 with five dingers.

[Sean Pendergast]

All right, so here's where I'm at with the Jeremy Pena thing because I feel like objectively we can acknowledge that trading Jeremy Pena, especially if they're not going to pay him and none of us believe that they are trading Jeremy Pena is, was it is what's best for the long term, for the long term viability of the franchise. It is best to trade Jeremy Pena, especially if you're not going to pay him, for the long term viability of the Astros franchise. But I think I decided over the weekend as they're handling business against the Chicago White Sox, that right now I think I care more about the moment and the short term viability of the franchise. Cause I don't know when they're going to play baseball again. I'm not as concerned about the future of the Astros. True. Because I don't really know about the future of baseball as a whole or in general. So why not just go all in on the potential of. And I'm not saying this is a great Astros team by any stretch, but there ain't no great teams in the American League. Like the idea that you could still go out there with this middling team and still have a chance at a pennant with Jeremy Pena and then be like the last American League champion or if they go even further than that and win the World Series, be the last champion for, I don't know, six months, eight months, nine months, a year or longer or however long. I'm intrigued by that.

[Brandon Scott]

I just haven't gotten to a point where I'm emotional. One way or the other on it, because I don't think they're going to do it. I think there's a 0% chance they're trading Jeremy Pena because that's not how Jim Crane is wired. He's wired to go for it. He's not wired to concede and people will argue the Kyle Tucker trade again. I think that happening in the off season and honestly feeling like a trade that the Astros have won to this point is, you know, that felt like a practical thing to do. Because we also know another thing. Jim Crane is not going to give out the types of contracts that Kyle Tucker was looking for. Yeah. So it's the irresistible force meets the immovable object. You got to do one or the other or let him walk for nothing.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right.

[Brandon Scott]

And they've let too many guys walk for nothing. To me, that was self awareness. Knowing that your minor league system cannot sustain you, you got to go bring in stuff from the outside. That's the spirit behind these talks with Pena, too. I just don't think. I just don't think they're going to do it. And I, I'm. I don't mind it because I think the same mentality, maybe some degree of delusion as well, but I think that same mentality that has them thinking, hey man, we're going to be a buyer here, we're not going to be a seller, is the same mentality that takes the teams that you already have that are good and turns them into World Series teams. When you're willing to make big moves like that, like Verlander, like Granke, like Gear Cole in the off season, after 2017, when that. When they're already a World Series champ, they made a trade for Garrett Cole. Yeah. That's the type of mentality. So if I've got to live with both, I'd rather live with the owner who is a little delusional in times like this that's going to take the really good teams and put it over the top. If I were to make a football comparison, it's probably how Packer fans had to deal with Brett Favre back in the day. Brett Favre, at one point, I believe, led the NFL in career touchdowns and career interceptions.

[Sean Pendergast]

He did.

[Brandon Scott]

And so that's, you know, Jim Crane a gunslinger, I guess, in a way, because that's what everybody called Brett Favre,

[Sean Pendergast]

Jim Crane, the Brett Favre of mlb.

[Brandon Scott]

A little bit. A little bit like, you know what? Sometimes you end up with Justin Verlander, sometimes you end up with Jose Abreu.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Sometimes you wind up with Jeff Luno sometimes you wind up with being a code GM with Jeff Bagwell and Reggie Jackson for a little while.

[Sean Pendergast]

Dims the brakes.

[Brandon Scott]

But I think it's safe to say, like, the balance sheet of Jim Crane's ownership here has been outstanding. Yeah, the balance sheet. One, two World Series championships. So that's kind of where I'm at with the whole Pena thing. I. I'm not. I'm not strong one way or the other just because I don't think it's happening. I feel like we're. I would be wasting calories worrying one way or the other when I don't think he's going anywhere.

[Sean Pendergast]

I like your point about the Astros in some ways playing defense by not giving him away to another contender. Jeremy Pena being him. Like, I get that. I do wonder, though, kind of going back to the point of the existential crisis of the league overall, MLB overall. I wonder if this situation. Cause it's very similar to the Kyle Tucker situation. But I wonder if the difference. Is there potentially not being an off season? They trade Kyle Tucker in the off season because obviously you don't want to make yourself less competitive during the year. And I don't imagine that they want to do that now. Right. But the difference between now and then is, is that there was an off season to trade Kyle Tucker.

[Brandon Scott]

Talking about the lockout.

[Sean Pendergast]

The lockout. The potential. The potential and what we all think is a looming and unavoidable at this point lockout.

[Brandon Scott]

Did you see some of the reports yesterday? There's apparently owners out there that think there's not going to be a season next year. Yeah, well, they think there's going to be no games played.

[Sean Pendergast]

And that's.

[Brandon Scott]

And that's what I'm talking about saying to me.

[Sean Pendergast]

So are you more likely to. Does it. Does that make you more likely to hold on to Jeremy Pena and say, hey, we're going to go all in for kind of like how I was saying earlier, I rather just go all in and act like this season is the last one ever. Yeah. Or does the fact that there's not an off season to trade Jeremy Pena and, you know, you need to either pay him or get something for him. Does that mean that you have to jump the gun and trade him earlier than you normally would like? Which side of that balancing act is Jim Crane gonna ultimately fall on?

[Brandon Scott]

Someone said the Crane Special, four to five years, 140, 250 million. No more than that. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

I think that horses left the barn.

[Brandon Scott]

They offered. Well, the reported Offer to Pena before he signed with. Before he signed with Boris.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Was something somewhere. It was like a five year deal. Somewhere in the neighborhood of like 120 million.

[Sean Pendergast]

I think that's right.

[Brandon Scott]

So you know, somewhere around, you know, 22, 24 million.

[Sean Pendergast]

Which sounds sort of like the Carlos Correa deal, proposed deal that would have been years before him.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah. Or the Bregman deal was six years, 156 a couple years ago.

[Sean Pendergast]

Very familiar numbers there.

[Brandon Scott]

Don't forget texter. Don't forget that. That Hayden Wisneski was part of that Kyle Tucker trade as well.

[Sean Pendergast]

We haven't forgotten. He's just been injured.

[Brandon Scott]

He had Tommy John surgery. Yeah. Now I know people are going to point out he's coming back. He's going to come back pretty soon. I know.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, we'll see him.

[Brandon Scott]

None of these Tommy John guys have worked out.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah, Stay tuned. But yeah, to Sean's point, like we're not about to hang our hat on the Tommy John guy.

[Brandon Scott]

Let me clarify something here. Someone says, nice knowing you, Sean. The women are going to be all over you for the breastfeeding and public take. I'd only be more worried if you had said something bad about Taylor Swift. Again, let me maybe be clear about this because I laid out the entire, the, the chronology of what happened. It was a couple who brought a baby in a stroller into a nice steakhouse. That's the choke point for me right there.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

That's the issue I have. And the restaurant's hands may have been tied. I don't know what the legalities are of it. I don't think it's illegal for them to bring in. Now restaurants have policies about things. I have no idea. Clearly this restaurant had a policy where they allowed this couple to bring the baby in. And then two things happened. The husband grabbed the baby and put it on its shoulder and walked circles around the table to calm the baby down, to get it to sleep.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

For like 15 minutes.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. A normal thing to do at your home.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah. And then handed the baby to his wife or girlfriend, the mother of the baby presumably to breastfeed it at the table. She put a blanket over her while doing this. Let me be very clear. The breastfeeding is way down the list of things where I'm like, I don't know if that should be happening here in a nice restaurant. I was way more bothered by the father treating the restaurant like it was the kids nursery. And at the table next to us just walking circles around his table for 15 minutes. That was rude.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Like the breastfeeding things, the breastfeeding thing. I again, the choke point for me is just don't bring a baby to a restaurant and don't bring him to a theater. We have people texting that in. Like the worst of the people that bring crying babies to a theater and then don't leave the theater with the baby.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Those are bad people. I'm just gonna say it. They're bad people.

[Sean Pendergast]

One of the most common examples of this is like in a church, you know, and I know this is not a church, but baby starts crying in church, you go out and step into the.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Into the lobby area.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah. Or they got like a crying room.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right. That's a normal thing to do. Not sit there in front of everybody and let the baby cry.

[Brandon Scott]

Yep. All right, Payne and Pendergast on a Tuesday. Brandon Scott in for Seth Payne. Couple segments here and then we'll talk to the guys on in the Loop, see what Lopez has to say about this all important topic. And Reggie. But Lopez being the grandfather and father on that show, I'm very intrigued. The season win totals out for the Rockets boy. Lemonade.

[Sean Pendergast]

Fresh squeezed lemonade.

[Brandon Scott]

Lemonade.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, nuts. Is your business struggling to be seen not reaching the right customers?

[Brandon Scott]

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[Sean Pendergast]

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[Brandon Scott]

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[Sean Pendergast]

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[Brandon Scott]

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[Sean Pendergast]

One at a time. Stop missing out on valuable customers.

[Brandon Scott]

Visit digitallocalads.com to learn more about our local advertising solutions. That's digitallocalads.com. okay, people, line starts here. Was the B. Scott and Pendergast compass off on this one? What do we think? Over, under for this season win total? We'll tell you what it is. Coming up next, Sports Radio six ten presents live from the West Point Lincoln and West Point Lincoln of Sugarland Studios. Here's pain and. Oh, boy. This is one of those texts where I'm like, I know, I know. If Seth were here, I know what would happen. I know what the next two words to be uttered would be. Go die. That's what they would be. Text message. Let's skip. Let. Let's stick to sports commentary. Okay. We don't use our platform to air personal grievances. Okay, a couple things. Anytime you're lecturing on a text, like let's stick to blah, blah, blah, that's. That's bad. Um, the. We don't use our platform to Air personal grievances, sir or ma', am, if you are not a broadcaster of some sort, that's even worse. Like we don't. Then now you're a teacher or somebody like that, like an instructor. Like, yeah, we don't do these things.

[Sean Pendergast]

Who is we?

[Brandon Scott]

Who's we?

[Sean Pendergast]

Like who. Yeah, world is we?

[Brandon Scott]

Who is we?

[Sean Pendergast]

Because we buy and appreciate you and Seth for allowing me to sit in this chair in our boss, Parker. Yeah, but this is our platform. You know what I mean? Like the we is you and me. Yeah. And we're all together doing this together. Right, but unless I'm confused here on

[Brandon Scott]

the we part, unless. Byron, did you text the show by any chance? No, you didn't text the show. Okay. If I had an opinion, I just would have talked to you all. You would have talked. You would come in. Would you have addressed us like that? Would you have walked in? Can you picture Byron walking in here? Brandon, Byron walks in like, hey, let's stick to sports commentary. Okay.

[Sean Pendergast]

That would be cringe.

[Brandon Scott]

Like that's like a try hard. We don't use our platform to air personal grievances.

[Sean Pendergast]

And you would be a traitor, a Benedict Arnold, if you will. You're supposed to be on our team, right?

[Brandon Scott]

No, no, I agree with Sean.

[Sean Pendergast]

Like walking around your table and stuff.

[Brandon Scott]

That's just doing too much. Like. No, it is in like, I get

[Sean Pendergast]

it, like, you know, breastfeeding, all that.

[Brandon Scott]

I get it. Like walking around table when people are trying to eat. Cuz like what happens if the dude

[Sean Pendergast]

bumps Sean's elbow or bumps Ms. Amy's

[Brandon Scott]

elbow and her wine hits her outfit? Now what happened? Well, he wasn't close enough to do that. To me. It's just the distraction of somebody walking around their table in circles. If they were doing that without a baby. Yeah, you'd be like, what the hell is wrong with this person?

[Sean Pendergast]

But this lecturing us on the text line. Everybody's entitled to their opinion, by the

[Brandon Scott]

way, but this is.

[Sean Pendergast]

This is like in the realm of annoying, bringing a baby to a high end restaurant.

[Brandon Scott]

Is this yours, right? Is this the first week you've been listening to the show? We don't air. We don't use our platform to air personal grievances.

[Sean Pendergast]

Welcome to Pain and Pen.

[Brandon Scott]

That's all we do. We're the pettiest show in the city.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Oh my God.

[Sean Pendergast]

We do a pedicast. We do an acknowledge me so segment where we're using Roman reigns, sound sound bites and drops to do things.

[Brandon Scott]

Thank you.

[Sean Pendergast]

Come on now.

[Brandon Scott]

So you And I, I asked you either yesterday or one of the days you and I have been doing radio together the last week or so, what do you think the Rockets season win total will be in Vegas for futures. For a futures bet. And I think you said 51 and a half. You were the book. Your number would be 51 and a half.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep. I had them right under their actual total that they've had over the last couple of years. Yeah. Which the point that I was making is that I view them at least regular season wise to be the same sort of caliber team that they've been the last two years.

[Brandon Scott]

So are you a gambler at all?

[Sean Pendergast]

Only a little bit. Like I like I do, you know, draftkings, prize picks, some of those stuff. But I don't, I don't. The only time I really gamble is when I tell some of T Mills. Best bets. Oh yeah. For the, for the after.

[Brandon Scott]

Those are good.

[Sean Pendergast]

Those are good. Yeah, I do those.

[Brandon Scott]

So. So. And you've got, you know, you still got three school age kids that you're doing the responsible thing by not going knee deep into. Into gambling.

[Sean Pendergast]

Mouths to feed, mouse to feed.

[Brandon Scott]

Now I will say this, especially if you feel like 51 and a half was a good number.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Those mouths might be overflowing with food.

[Sean Pendergast]

Hell, I could feed my kids. And the one that was at the steakhouse the other night, you take me

[Brandon Scott]

over on the number that Vegas has put out there on the Houston Rockets. The Houston Rockets, Vegas win total. They just put out the totals yesterday. Bet online.ag did. Or it might have been. I don't. Which outlet is this? I should. Yeah. Bet online. 47 and a half for the Rockets.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, like my, my 51 and a half might be a little bit too ambitious, but I think that this line is on the low end.

[Brandon Scott]

47 and a half. It puts them fifth in the west in terms of number of wins. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Which that is reasonable.

[Brandon Scott]

Yep. OKC is tops with 60 and a half.

[Sean Pendergast]

Could see it.

[Brandon Scott]

San Antonio's right next to them at 59 and a half. So the same way it finished last year.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Denver, which I think was the three seed last year is next at 49 and a half. Now the four and five seed last year were the Lakers and the Rockets.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

They are not next. Next is the sixth seed from last year, Minnesota at 48 and a half.

[Sean Pendergast]

They did add lamelo ball.

[Brandon Scott]

Yep.

[Sean Pendergast]

They're really good. Yep. They. And they beat Denver by the way. So the six did beat the three.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

So not that much of A difference between them.

[Brandon Scott]

So the Rockets are at the the lower end of a tier that also includes the Lakers at 46 and a half. So you got OKC and San Antonio way out in front of everybody else.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep.

[Brandon Scott]

And then the next four or five teams are all kind of a gaggle of teams and bunched up and the Rockets are right in that swamp right there. I my feeling about the Rockets last year was heading into the season was I think they're going to have a really tough time with the good teams. I think they're just going to out talent the bad teams. And for a while that was true. And then they had that stretch where they were losing weird games to bad teams and then they just got really bad at the end of games in holding leads in the end they win 52 games last year. But we know what the playoffs ended up looking like and we know Kevin Durant got hurt. I do think the return of Fred Van Vliet. I think the return of Van Vliet. It surprises me that Fred Van Vliet returns and their season win total dips by four or five games. Yeah, that just feels off to me.

[Sean Pendergast]

I think that I am going to

[Brandon Scott]

put a big bet on the Rockets.

[Sean Pendergast]

I think two things are happening though as to the reason why that is. Yeah, I think that the west got well, so the spurs were sort of revealed to us to be much, much, much better than I think we were giving them credit for going into the season. They were a bit of a revelation throughout the season. So there's that. They were already though at the top end just as they were last year and are anticipated to be this upcoming year. But when you add that with the fact that the Rockets and I know they're getting Fred Van Vliet back, we can use that as the caveat. But everything around Fred Van Vliet and around Kevin Durant in that playoff series specifically was exposed. And I don't think that folks are as, as are as high on the young talent that the Rockets have now as they were last year. And so that's a good, that's a good one.

[Brandon Scott]

Like who got better of those guys last year.

[Sean Pendergast]

And even if you want to argue that somebody did, just as a unit as a whole, it's like the pieces didn't necessarily always fit. And I talk about this all the time, kind of not to get too inside basketball but like there is a true conflict on both ends of the floor with their best young player. Put Kevin Durant to the side for a second. Alpern Shingoon, the two time all star and the best of the young core so far, has a legitimate conflict on the offensive end of the floor with Amend Thompson because neither guy can shoot from the outside. And a legitimate conflict on the defensive end of the floor with Reed shepherd because the two of them are both defensive cones at times and you can't have it's right.

[Brandon Scott]

And having the two of them on the floor at the same time really exposes you defensively.

[Sean Pendergast]

However, ideally you have all three of them on the floor, which means that this conflict exists on both ends of the floor at some point, whether you have the ball or you don't. Yeah, so I think that's a good observation, man. Is that the Rockets the view of them Fred Van Vliet with or without him is lesser than it was before on TV.

[Brandon Scott]

Right now first take is on and they're saying ESPN Sham Sharanya Sixers plan to play LeBron at point guard this goes back to you and I during the Petty cast. We played Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool and noted Boston honk, talking about the, the, the notion he's excited that the six are signed LeBron because he thinks it's going to blow up in everybody's face. And one of the things he brought up was there's only one basketball. If that was your take before LeBron got there, then fine. I get that there's a lot of guys that need the ball in their hands to score. I understand that LeBron should not be something that creates that take. LeBron is an elixir to the need for multiple basketballs in Philly. And this bit of news right here from Shams I think directly indicates that. Yeah, if that's how they're picturing LeBron playing that he's going to be the facilitator out there, then obviously they see Tyrese Maxey, they're. They're essentially going to go with like a three guard offense more or less. Right. With Edgecomb and Maxi and that's it.

[Sean Pendergast]

LeBron James and of course we're in the. Not to make old school basketball fans roll their eyes at me, but we are in the era of positionless basketball where you're 6, 9, 260 pound all time leading scorer in NBA history can actually go out there and be your point guard. And so to the point it looks like LeBron is going to have the opportunity to solve this actual, like to actually solve this problem that we're talking about about too many ball or too many hands for one ball. Well, LeBron James, his job, it looks like, is going to be to make sure that everybody adequately touches said ball.

[Brandon Scott]

So you like this?

[Sean Pendergast]

I do like.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah, I do too. I think it makes a lot of sense. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

I think it's going to work. Like, even if they don't win a championship, I think the logic and what they're trying to do makes total sense and can plausibly work. Yep. They just need health to be on their side.

[Brandon Scott]

Text message. I find Sean's voice, bald head and name dropping distracting. But you don't hear me being a whiny bee about it. No, I don't hear you, but I read your text. Being a whiny bee.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. Funny enough we do.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

We don't hear it, but we see it.

[Brandon Scott]

I heard my annoying voice. Ready your text and now I've heard about it.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Text her.

[Sean Pendergast]

And the irony of you listening to this station for free. But Sean going to that high end restaurant and hard earned money.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. LeBron should be point forward some of text in. I think we're just semantics.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, that, that, that's what we're saying.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah. Yeah, we're, we're semantics.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

He's going to be the facilitator. Reed shepherd done yolked up. Lol. Yeah, Reed. I've seen some pictures and videos of Reed Shepherd. Looks like he's been spending some time either in the weight room or with a pharmacist of some sort.

[Sean Pendergast]

It looks like he, he hit the weights and ditched his razor. Yeah. Because he's got like his peach fuzz is grown in. He's got a beard. Yeah, he's, he's bulked up a little bit. He looks like, dare I say an adult.

[Brandon Scott]

He's turning heel if he starts wearing black everywhere and he turns it into a goatee. Yeah, he's a heel.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. And he needs to do some Dylan Brooks type type of things. Like, I don't know if he can still steal the bit of staring down the competition pregame like Dylan Brooks does, but he needs to do something.

[Brandon Scott]

Something, man.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, something like that. Yeah. Let's add some going.

[Brandon Scott]

Reed. Let's go.

[Sean Pendergast]

On top of. We want you to be less streakier of a shooter. We want you to develop a little bit of a personality here.

[Brandon Scott]

Consistent and personality. All right, I want to circle back to Tank Dell. This is the last segment. We'll be in studio for, for a while. We'll be out at training camp starting tomorrow. Seth will be back. Really enjoyed hosting with the last four shows, by the way.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, man, it's been fun.

[Brandon Scott]

Been a good time. So we'll be out of training camp, so I do want to circle back to the Texans and something Brandon Scott and I talked earlier about. And I want to play some Nick Casario audio. Nick Casario laid out a timeline for Tank Dell back in June. That timeline is now upon us. Let's revisit that. And I actually have a new answer to what would be the most discouraging Tank Dell news that we could get today or tomorrow. That's coming up next. Sports Radio 610 presents live from the West Point Lincoln and West Point Lincoln of Sugar Lane Studios. Here's Pain and Pendergast Payne and Pendergast B. Scott in for Seth Payne for one more segment. And then Seth will be back tomorrow as we will be at Texans training camp. Cannot wait. We'll be at Texans training camp for the next couple weeks. Before we know it, August 13th will be here and we will become 95. 7 the fan. And we're very excited about that. We had actually somebody ask a question earlier on the text page. If this person's still listening, they're a diehard because it showed up on there like two hours ago. But it's a question I haven't seen anybody ask yet.

[Sean Pendergast]

Sometimes it feels like the news is full of things that have never happened before.

[Brandon Scott]

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.

[Sean Pendergast]

Rent too high.

[Brandon Scott]

We've been arguing about that for a while.

[Sean Pendergast]

Each episode is proof the past isn't that far away.

[Brandon Scott]

Listen to History this Week, available now

[Sean Pendergast]

on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast.

[Brandon Scott]

Does that mean that the Texans games on Sundays and whatever days they are will now run on three stations? Cause currently they run on here, 6. 10, 100.3 the bull. They the games themselves run on those two stations. The answer is no. It'll still be two stations. It'll just be 95. 7 the fan and 6. 10 the fan. Yeah, it'll run on those two stations. 100.3 the bull will likely be playing country music while the Texans are playing.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, everything that you're used to on the FM side, whether that's the HD or if it's just 100.3 the bull on a Sunday, any FM destination that you've had to listen to us will now be on as of August 13th will be on 95. 7 the fan.

[Brandon Scott]

Yep. Sean is winning Tyler's turd of the week for his baby. And mastros take lol. I'll stand on it, man. I'll stand on business. Don't bring small babies in strollers to upscale steakhouses.

[Sean Pendergast]

Hey, look, we'll just be stand by that a turd matching a turd. We can be the spider man meme. Right. I'm the turd who doesn't like you bringing the baby and you're the turd who brings the baby. Yeah. But either way, we're just standing where to draw.

[Brandon Scott]

There's nowhere we can go from here.

[Sean Pendergast]

Let's do it.

[Brandon Scott]

Text message. Okay, this is. This will segue us into Tank. Tank Dell is now throwing off flat ground progress. He's playing catch. Tank Del actually is playing catch. I mean he did get in. In the walkthroughs when they, you know, he. I did see him catching balls out there. Yeah, he's playing catch.

[Sean Pendergast]

Hey, so. So to prelude into your segue.

[Brandon Scott]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Into the Tank Dell discussion. I do want to point this out because I noticed this during the break. The Texans have tweeted out a video saying, hello. It's not Tank Dale doing any kind of workout. It's just a. Hey, Tank Dell. Hey. And the waving emoji with the Tank Dell at. So tagging Tank Dale's Twitter account with him. With him walking. It's a video of him walking into the building and they dap him up.

[Brandon Scott]

Okay.

[Sean Pendergast]

My. My thought is if there's.

[Brandon Scott]

So they're probably doing that with several people.

[Sean Pendergast]

I would imagine with all the guys that we really recognize, especially if it's just like one player to acknowledge this is today.

[Brandon Scott]

They're doing it because today is the day they report. Tomorrow's the first practice.

[Sean Pendergast]

This was posted 25 minutes ago.

[Brandon Scott]

So these are guys arriving at the building for the beginning of training camp, which for them today is. Doesn't involve practice on the field.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. And so I only point out. Point that out to say if there was awful news about Tank Dell, I feel like they wouldn't have done that.

[Brandon Scott]

Okay, this.

[Sean Pendergast]

Stay tuned though.

[Brandon Scott]

This is where. And let me. Let me say here, I think the Texan social media team is excellent at what they do. This is where I wonder if the right hand knows what the left hand is doing.

[Sean Pendergast]

Fair question.

[Brandon Scott]

Everybody knows Tank's popular.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

But there are going to be fans out there that see that see social media. And they start reading tea leaves. Yeah. My God. Tank is One of the eight guys they had walking into the building.

[Sean Pendergast]

I'm doing it right now.

[Brandon Scott]

Right. We're speculating about this. All right, so before we get into hardcore speculation about Tank Dell, which is easily one of the biggest stories of training camp, heading into training camp, this was Nick casario back on June 3rd. Okay. So up to that point, we'd seen Tank doing workouts. Tank was out at otas and minicamp. I don't know if he had participated. I think the very next day. Actually, the very next day was the day that Tank participated in walk through seven on seven. It was literally the day after Nick Casario said this. So. But that's not hardcore practice. That's not contact. That's not pads.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's not violence.

[Brandon Scott]

It's not violence to use. To use the word you used earlier, which I think is appropriate. My question to Nick Casseria here was, are we going to see Tank practice here at some point? Yes, I would say more than likely it'll probably be in training camp. You know, we have about, I don't know, however many days left here in the spring. But there are certain things that he's able to do. He's done some things on the field, maybe separately, kind of off to the side. I think the goal is training camp, so we'll kind of see if he stays on schedule. But, I mean, nobody's worked harder. Nobody's had a better attitude, you know, talking about a player that hasn't played football and, you know, almost 18 months or however long it's been. But, you know, his attitude, his approach, he's chomping at the bit, and he's certainly anxious and wants to be out there. By the same token, we want to make sure that we're taking care of him and doing the right things and putting him in a position where he can go out there and be the best version of himself. So I would say training camp seems like a reasonable time frame in terms of his availability, in terms of next steps. So we're here. It is training camp. Tank dell literally was one of 90 players to walk into the building today.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

So that cut, which was from nearly two months ago, Will, the truth is going to come out here at some point as to where exactly Tank is here. Earlier I had said when we talked about this, the most discouraging thing for me as it pertains to Tank would be if he's one of the. However many guys are still coming back from something that are working out way over on that side field where we can barely see them and barely see what they're doing and we're not even paying attention to them really, because the good stuff's going on on the near fields that we're close to. I said earlier that would be the most discouraging thing. I'm going to amend that slightly because I think this probably goes hand in hand with being one of those guys working out on a sidefield. But purely as labels go, they're going to announce later on today the players that are beginning training camp on the PUP list, on the physically unable to perform list. And sometimes it's guys who are on it for just a few days and they get taken off of it. Sometimes they're guys who are on it and are on it heading into the season and have to miss the first four games. Either way, if Tank Dell is one of those guys, it is going to generate conversation tomorrow and today if it comes out during, you know, the drive. And certainly the guys tonight would talk about it if the label physically unable to perform. And again, most of the time that the label itself is, you know, probably feels bigger than, you know, than. Than the actuality of it.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's a broad label.

[Brandon Scott]

It's a broad label. But. But I think, I think it would be discouraging to fans. I know it'd be discouraging to me. And I think it would probably come with Tank either working out in the building or working out off to the side. And especially seeing how he's moved in some of these videos that he's posted. You know, I don't know if it would feel like a step backwards. It just would feel like, eh, okay. The whole thing about leaving Tank sort of off to the side as his own entity here, you know, whether you're doing it psychologically or that's how you truly feel he is, health wise, you know, that becomes a thing. It's not. That's not fun.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. So when we were first talking about this, you know, and I was first thinking about, I'm like, you know, more than anything, the PUP list in the case of Tank Dell is a. It has the potential to be like a pr. I don't want to call it a PR nightmare to say like the Texans misstep, because if he's physically unable to perform and they put him on the physically unable to perform this in a vacuum, there's nothing wrong with that.

[Brandon Scott]

Right.

[Sean Pendergast]

But just from a fee, from a purely PR standpoint, you're doing a bit of a disservice to Tank and to the fans. When I said Disservice. Might. Might not be the right word, but it's definitely going to do exactly what you're talking about. It's going to cause some angst and some nervousness because you have to think, like, if he's on the physically unable to perform this to start training camp, then what is his road to being physically able to perform these things?

[Brandon Scott]

We know. And by the way, if he's on the PUP list, then to me, it does run contrary to what Nick's forecast. What? Credit Nick for giving an answer. Like, everybody seems to want to dodge Tank Dell answers when it comes to the medical stuff. And I kind of get it. Nick has been by far Casario, the most direct when asked about Tank Dell. We asked him about Tank at the super bowl, and he talked about all the different metrics that they're using to measure how that knee is coming back and things like that. So I appreciate the candor. The fact of the matter is, if he's on the PUP list later on today, then it runs contrary to what they're. You know, to training camp being the forecasted beginning of when he can do things. Because you can't do things when you're on the PUP list.

[Sean Pendergast]

And run. Run. Runs contrary. Not from the standpoint of Nick being dishonest, but runs contrary in this. From the standpoint of what you're talking about. About the. The setback part of it. Right, right. It would be hard to argue that it's not a setback if he's not able to do the thing that the general manager said that he expected him to be able to do once training camp starts.

[Brandon Scott]

The thing we know. The thing we know is, at the very least, they have been extremely cautious with him. Extremely cautious with. With Tank Dell.

[Sean Pendergast]

As they should be. Yeah, as they should be. I mean, he's the. He could be the difference between the offense that we saw last year and the offense that we could potentially see this year. Like he's that significant of a figure.

[Brandon Scott]

Yep. Absolutely. Sean hates kids. This is a text message. He ran those kids off at the baseball game because they smelled like a kid. Now he wants a baby run out of a restaurant for doing what everyone else in the restaurant was doing. Eating.

[Sean Pendergast]

Now, not the baby.

[Brandon Scott]

Let me.

[Sean Pendergast]

The parents know.

[Brandon Scott]

Exactly. The parents. Let me be very clear. I don't want the kid run out of the restaurant. I don't want the kid. The baby. The baby in the restaurant in the first place. Yeah, that's my thing.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. We were perfectly fine with the baby living a happy Life in his actual crib or somewhere where babies actually go.

[Brandon Scott]

Let me be clear on this running the kids off at the ball game thing. Let's. Let's not lose sight. I don't remember this. Let's not lose sight of the details. I stand on this one forever. Amy and I, our favorite seats at Dyke and Park. We like sitting in the first row above the bullpen because you can BS with the guys sometimes. It's a fun view.

[Sean Pendergast]

I know where you're talking about. That's a good spot.

[Brandon Scott]

I like watching that spot. You know who's great to watch out there? Watch? Watching Josh Hater go through his process out there, starting in like the fourth inning with the elastic bands and everything. He does this in games that are like 8 nothing. Like he gets ready every game as if he's going to pitch. It's really amazing to watch.

[Sean Pendergast]

Don't got to get ready if you stay ready.

[Brandon Scott]

Not quite as fun to watch out there. When in empty seats that don't belong to these two kids who are about puberty age. At least that's what they smelled like. These two kids who were like 12 or 13 years old come down, sit in those seats above the bullpen and they stunk. They reeked you. Amy was sitting four seats over from them. She's like, is that those kids that smell like that? I said, yeah. I said, I'm getting them out like those. If they were their seats, I wasn't gonna kick them out. They bought those tickets. In America, you're allowed to stink, unfortunately. But not when those are your seats. I stand on that. I and I. And you know what? They wouldn't say it at the time, but the people that were also sitting near them saw me as a hero. I guarantee it. Look, there's nobody that enjoys that smell.

[Sean Pendergast]

Hey, I'll go a step further. Like, I don't. I don't think that you need a reason to get anybody who stinks up out the paint. Like, if you smell, I don't care how old you are, you got to go fix that. You can come back, but you gotta come back smelling properly.

[Brandon Scott]

Thank you, Beast guys.

[Sean Pendergast]

And it sounds like these kids were at that age where it's like borderline, where you still have to make the kid bathe.

[Brandon Scott]

Yes.

[Sean Pendergast]

Because I got kids these this age right now. We're like, they're good kids, but they'll only take baths because I tell them

[Brandon Scott]

it's in that anti sweet spot where they don't shower regularly. But they're starting to smell yeah, yeah, yeah. Through it. At some point.

[Sean Pendergast]

I lived through it and I got them now. So that's. That is a thing.

[Brandon Scott]

Thank you. I feel like everybody else here called me a Karen because I got those kids kicked out of those seats.

[Sean Pendergast]

You might be.

[Brandon Scott]

What? They weren't there seats.

[Sean Pendergast]

But in this case, Karen's right.

[Brandon Scott]

Karen's right.

[Sean Pendergast]

Karen can be right.

[Brandon Scott]

Thank you.

[Sean Pendergast]

And she's right in this case.

[Brandon Scott]

Thank you.

[Sean Pendergast]

Smelly people out of here.

[Brandon Scott]

So, Reggie, Hello. Hi. I didn't realize that you were the villain in a Disney Channel movie. That's all I heard.

[Sean Pendergast]

I got to be.

[Brandon Scott]

That's all I heard is that you're like these children ruining the fun adults, making life better for everybody else. Oh, yeah. Because I'm sure everybody at Mashros on Saturday wanted that guy circling his table, rocking his baby on his shoulder the whole time.

[Sean Pendergast]

The baby, who, by the way, is being breastfed and could have burped at any moment. Yeah. Could have created a messy situation. So that's what I'm talking about.

[Brandon Scott]

So, John Lopez, also. Hello. Hi, John.

[Sean Pendergast]

Howdy.

[Brandon Scott]

Howdy.

[Sean Pendergast]

I have a take on that.

[Brandon Scott]

I. Well, and I don't. You always. Yours. Yours was the take I was most looking forward to getting. Because you have kids and grandkids.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yes.

[Brandon Scott]

No disrespect to Reggie. Yeah, none taken.

[Sean Pendergast]

But.

[Brandon Scott]

But did you hear my story earlier? Okay, so, yeah. So I'll give the 15 second version for people who are new to it. Amy and I went to an expensive steakhouse on Saturday. In middle of our meal, empty table next to us, they sit a couple down, rolls a stroller in, like a carriage stroller in, and we're like, okay, well, as long as the baby stays quiet, I guess. I don't. I don't get, like, bringing a baby to a place where your bill is going to be hundreds of dollars, but whatever. Well, within 10 minutes. Within 10 minutes, the husband is holding the baby on his shoulder in, like, burping position and walking around the table.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott]

Circled the table for 15 minutes. Yeah. And then proceeded to hand the baby to the wife or the mother of the baby at the table, who then took the baby in breastfeeding position, put a blanket over herself and breastfed at the table.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep.

[Brandon Scott]

Where are you on the. On whether any of what I just said violates societal etiquette?

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay, so this is where I am. You are both 100 right and 100 wrong. That's 200. You are 100% wrong in that.

[Brandon Scott]

He was a writer.

[Sean Pendergast]

A lot of percent Aggie. Math. You're about to see some 100 wrong in that. You bring your baby to an expensive steakhouse. You bring your baby anywhere.

[Brandon Scott]

Fine. There.

[Sean Pendergast]

There are so many mitigating factors we don't know about. And maybe they just want, you know that. No, babysitter, no, you know, whatever it is, bring your baby. But after that, whether it's breastfeeding or burping or crying or whatever, you go outside the damn restaurant. I can't tell you how many times either. Either my wife or I ate with the other kids or ate by ourselves with the other. With the kid outside. You go outside that. That, that you are 100% right. They never should have done that. Okay, but. But the reason why he's a 100 or 200% right is because if you know you're not going to do that, because I don't think they just like all of a sudden realized, oh, we've got a baby. We've got a. They brought the baby knowingly. So if you know that that's not going to be your plan to go outside or to remove yourself, well, then you should know not to bring the baby. I will never, ever, ever criticize any. Bring. Bring your baby. Doesn't matter how old.

[Brandon Scott]

And maybe it's. Maybe once stuff starts happening. Yeah, yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

You leave.

[Brandon Scott]

You go same page, same page. And I want to make a couple of points here that, that I've made earlier, but I want to make them with you guys here is that I was way more put off by the dad walking around the table than I was the woman breastfeeding the baby because the woman put a blanket over herself. Like, it's. So it wasn't just. It wasn't distracting other than you knew there's breastfeeding, who cares? But you can't even see the baby.

[Sean Pendergast]

Quiet.

[Brandon Scott]

For all you sophomore people on the text page, did you at least get to see a boob? No, didn't even get that. But I was way more put out, put off by the guy circling the table like it was a nursery.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yes, that was a horrible move because that's also how you know that he's not abiding by the rules that Lopez just laid out. Like, if I don't do those, I don't abide by Lopez's rules. But you should. But if this person knows to leave the restaurant once the baby needs some comfort in you leave, then they wouldn't have, you know, it's clearly that they. They did not have that in mind because they did thing that Sean's talking about.

[Brandon Scott]

Hey, this is Richard Deitch, the host of the sports media podcast. If you're interested in what's happening with

[Sean Pendergast]

all the places where you consume sports,

[Brandon Scott]

the sports media podcast has you covered. I've been turning down interviews all week. Koda Kapi reached out. Oprah, George Stephanopoulos. So I said no. I was booked on the Deitch podcast before the Taylor Swift phenomenon. I must live up to my responsibility. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts.