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Mike Wilbon
Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. It is International Tiger Day. Tony, you like tigers?
Tony Kornheiser
I'm Tony Kornheiser. Yes. Especially Al Kaline.
Mike Wilbon
Oh, I see what you did there. Al Kaline, Gates Brown, Willie Horton. Those are the tiger teams I sort of feared when I was a kid. Have you ever seen a tiger outside captivity? Only the zoo. Or have you been like to Nepal?
Tony Kornheiser
I have not.
Mike Wilbon
Never seen it.
Tony Kornheiser
I have not. I've not been to Nepal. But I will tell you this about the Detroit Tigers. I believe their home uniforms with the gothic D. The greatest uniforms.
Mike Wilbon
Great in baseball.
Tony Kornheiser
The greatest in baseball as far as I'm concerned. Welcome to pti, boys and girls. In today's episode, the Blue Jays could sell. Bryce Harper wants the Phillies to buy and the Raiders choose Kirk Cousins over Fernando Mendoza for now. But we begin today with the potential intersection of Tarek Skubal and Shohei Ohtani. Skubal surrendered three earned over six and two thirds to the Orioles this afternoon, just days ahead of Monday's trade deadline. Out in Los Angeles, Shohei Ohtani revealed that he's got a bicep issue in addition to his ailing knee. And his next start date is a mystery. Wilbon, can the Dodgers count on Ohtani or do you think they actually need Scubal to win a third straight World Series?
Mike Wilbon
Okay, I'm going to be contrarian to start the show. I think those things have nothing to do with one another. No, they can't really count on Shohei because biceps. This is not incidental. He's a right handed pitcher and we're talking about his right biceps. So no, you can't count on him. You may be able to count on him in October. That's a long way off. Today as we make decisions about who to acquire. Perhaps you can't count on him, but the Dodgers also figure to get back a figure 2, not mandatory. Snell Glass. Now Edwin Diaz. That, that's an embarrassment of riches on the mound starting in relief. If the Dodgers get those guys back. So it doesn't mean they need Scubal. It doesn't mean they need anybody. The Dodgers, according to you and others, were going to be impossible to catch. You already awarded them the Bud Celic trophy or whatever it is. So let the Dodgers get their people back and play baseball. They're supposed to be the best. They don't need to deal for Scubal.
Tony Kornheiser
Okay, so there are two separate questions here. The first question is can the Dodgers count on Ohtani? Well, he's not going to be pitching in the near term and maybe not all year, but he goes out there every day as the DH and he bats. And yesterday if I have this correct, he went 3 for 4 with a double, with a homer and three RBI. So yes, they can count on Shohei. He didn't pitch at all last year, I don't believe. And they won the World Series and as you say, they're getting people back. Now he's pitched great this year. I think his record, Mike is 8 and 2 and 14 starts with a 179 era. But you just need him to hit. They've got the pitching coming back and yeah, I think they are by far and away the favorite to win this. The second question is do they need Scubal to win the World Series? No, they don't need Skubal because they've got. They're tied for the best record in all of baseball right now. It'd be nice if they had Scubal. You know, Scubal is the reigning Cy Young winner in the American League two years in a row prior to today's start when by the way, he had a 7 nothing lead and they lose that game. He's on the mound at seven nothing prior to today's start. In his past three starts he went 19 and third innings, gave up only 13 hits, only three earned runs and struck out 26. He is the best available guy in baseball. He makes everybody better. He's basically LeBron. Now the question that comes down now is are they going to trade him?
Mike Wilbon
They got to trade him.
Tony Kornheiser
They thought they could make the playoffs. Well, because now you say because of this one game, you say they can't jump over the teams and make the
Mike Wilbon
third wild card because why free agency Plus Scott Boris, plus your team, Scott stinks means bye bye Detroit. Let's not mince words. Let's not try to give some phony tease. Yep. But the point is here, if I'm the Tigers and if the deadline helps me, I know that's an if. I'm going to get as much as I can for School bowl cuz he ain't staying here Those discussions have to
Tony Kornheiser
be had already, right? Last. Last. Yesterday you said that the warriors couldn't get anything for Curry. You couldn't get a haul. Maybe you can't get a haul.
Mike Wilbon
I don't know about a school for Curry.
Tony Kornheiser
You can't get a haul anymore. School's younger than what you said said they couldn't.
Mike Wilbon
You know, Steph is getting up there. It's almost his own.
Tony Kornheiser
He's being rented for two months.
Mike Wilbon
I like half.
Tony Kornheiser
It's a rental.
Mike Wilbon
You know, it's a rental. Maybe. Unless he goes to a team that Boris sets it up with that he wants to sign with, then it ain't a rental. Let's move from last year's World Series champion Dodges to the runner up Toronto Blue Jays. They lost again last night. The Blue Jays did this time to your Nationals, Tony. Adding injury to insult, Vlad Jr. Left the game early with a tight hammy. The Jays came so close to winning it all last year, but now find themselves in last place in the AL least. Should they sell at the trade deadline?
Tony Kornheiser
Let's emphasize how close they came last year. They went to the 11th inning in Game 7 before Will Smith, I believe in the top of the inning hit a home run. That ultimately was the margin. I was watching the Nats last night, and by the way, this afternoon already, Toronto beat the Gnats. Okay, so they have a win already today. But last night I was watching when Vlad Jr got hurt running out of ground ball. At that point, he's their best player, but he's having a lousy year in terms of power numbers, Mike. I mean, he's got another six home runs and 44 RBI in 103 games. The team is now 50 and 59. They're. They're like something like 14 games out of Tampa in their division, their last in the division, and 12 and a half, something like that away from the Yankees. Should they sell? I called Tim Kirchen today. I had him on the podcast. I asked him. So he knows much more than I do. He said they're probably going to sell. They're not going to sell Vlad Jr. They're not crazy. They're not doing that. But he mentions a couple of guys that he mentioned.
Sponsor/Announcer
He.
Tony Kornheiser
Kevin Gossman, a starting pitcher, might end up somewhere else. Dalton Varsho, a very good defensive outfielder, might end up somewhere else. I don't think anybody wants Shane Bieber today because last night against the Nats, he had six walks in the first inning. He didn't get out of the inning six Walks, one hit, four runs. They would have been better served with Justin Bieber. He would have been better with him. Go ahead. You can.
Mike Wilbon
Well, the other thing, Tony, you know Springer, who you'd want for about 10 years, you might not want now because he's 37, so he's a free agent. So if you add him to Gosman, Bieber, Springer and Varsho, is there much there? There might be enough there to cobble up, cobble out some picks, some high picks. I mean, you just had a draft. Maybe you get somebody. You can see two years down the road, Vlad Jr going from great to this. Wow, that's a downer.
Tony Kornheiser
Right.
Mike Wilbon
And so I. They couldn't have seen that coming. I'm not going to blame Toronto for that. But, Tony, the pressure that exists in other teams in that division for the Yankees, for the Red Sox, those pressures don't exist for Toronto. It's not the same market. Their players aren't going to get booed when they walk into a restaurant if Toronto has a bad year and tries to rebuild and not reload. So Toronto can take a different look at this than the Yankees and Blue Jays would or might.
Tony Kornheiser
I give you all that I really like. I think, yeah, I like the trade deadline. I think there's a lot of action. I think it's better than the NFL trade deadline, better than the NBA trade deadline. I mean, you want to see what happens here and then maybe nothing. It's just more fun. It's more fun.
Mike Wilbon
More fun sometime.
Tony Kornheiser
Let's move to football camps open this week all across the NFL and Football Talk dominates the shows on this network. Thankfully, the Raiders, under their new coach, Clint Kubiak, have said Kirk Cousins will be the Starting quarterback over Nova 1 pick Fernando Mendoza, who last year won the Heisman and national championship at Indiana Wilbon. Are the Raiders right to name Cousins as their number one quarterback?
Mike Wilbon
Hell, yeah. Yes. Yes. The Raiders are right to name him as a quarterback. That's why they got him. You know, everybody doesn't have to start a rookie right away. I understand my franchise put Caleb Williams out there and said, let's go. All right, but we didn't have a guy like Cousins, a veteran guy who's even been in playoff games. There's Rush Mendoza. For what? Where the Raiders going? They're going to beat out Kansas City. Unlikely. They're going to beat out the charges. No, they're going to beat out Denver.
Tony Kornheiser
No, no, they're going nowhere.
Mike Wilbon
So let the kid learn. Don't rush him out there. You got like 30 rookies on this team and second year players. You don't need to do anything but let him watch.
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, I'm in complete agreement about that. Kirk Cousins is a professional quarterback. This is his 15th year in the league. He has won 88 starts in the NFL, lost 77 times. I mean, you could do a lot worse than Kirk Cousins who's a four time Pro Bowler. Atlanta found out they could do a lot worse. They benched him and then they needed him for the last four starts of the year and he won all four. Mendoza has never taken an NFL snap. He's learning an entirely new system with an entirely new coach. To me, you would start anybody over, Mendoza, but if you have Cousins, it makes it better. I actually see Tom Brady's hand behind this. I do. I would not put him out there. Mendoza in game one or game two or game three. The Raiders stink. They were 3:14 last year. They were 4:13 the year before. You make the right point. They got no squad, they're in a terrible division. So I'm looking at Cousins for at least five or six games. And if they win a couple.
Mike Wilbon
Yeah, maybe more.
Tony Kornheiser
Because. Because the best they can do is Hope to be at.500. If you're the Raiders, I mean, why are you throwing this kid to the wolves? He's your long term guy. You don't do it.
Mike Wilbon
Not only that, he used to snap. He's not even used to taking direct snaps. Taking a shotgun or you know, the trigger, the gun, whatever they call it in whatever system. He's not used to playing the way he's going to need to play in the NFL. So you don't need to rush it. And so you and all the other talking head people obsessed with football on this network, they can give you all the analytics they want. No, the Raiders don't need to do anything. They are under no pressures and they should be under no illusions about how to bring along slowly their rookie quarterback.
Tony Kornheiser
So you're yelling at me as if I'm the enemy and you're saying exactly what I said. Well, you know, think about that. Let's take a break. Still to come, Bryce Harper says his Phillies must add players at the trade deadline. What is the word for that?
Mike Wilbon
And how best to describe the Angels pitching to MVP front runner Yordan Alvarez with the game on the line. What a pound time.
Tony Kornheiser
I love the trade deadline. I do not want The Nats trading C.J. abrams or James Wood. I do not.
Mike Wilbon
They better not do it.
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Tony Kornheiser
by Rich Eisen here with some advice. If high interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an audible. With a Sofi personal loan. It consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required. And with as soon as the same day funding, you can make the right play fast. Call an audible on your debt today@sofi.com debtplay loans originated by Sofi Bank NA member FDIC terms and conditions apply. NM LS 696891 fast funds terms supply@sofi.com Detlay. It is time to overwhelm Wil Bond with wonderful words. What's first?
Mike Wilbon
It's blank for Bryce Harper to say the Phillies need some help at the trade deadline.
Tony Kornheiser
I think it's completely reasonable. I like the Phillies a lot, Mike. You've heard me say many times, I think they have the best every day, 1 through 9 lineup in baseball and it's led by Harper and your boy Kyle Schwaber. I think the top of their pitching rotation with Zach Wheeler and Christopher Sanchez is very good. But you know what, they're ten and a half games behind the Dodgers at the moment. You know, so they need something. They have to be able to get back into this race. I mean, and we've already discussed the fact that the Dodgers are getting their pitchers back. They're getting Diaz back, they're getting Glasnow back, right? I mean, they're getting Snell back. So the Phillies have to do something. And the Phillies, worse now, they're in a slump. I believe they're three and nine at the moment since the All Star break and I think in six of those games they've only scored one run or less. And Harper's having a terrible July. Harper, last time I looked, was batting like 165 in July and his OPS was somewhere around.610. And that, as we know from Dave Dombrowski, the GM, we know that's not elite. That's very good, but it's not elite anymore. So is Dave Dombrowski still an elite general manager or is he just A good general manager now. Cuz if he's an elite general manager, he's going to get the Phillies the help that they need. And I would think it would be maybe some bullpen help or another bat, I don't know. But I think Harper's reasonable, Tony.
Mike Wilbon
I think he's honest and frank. Those aren't my words. My word hyphenated is music to my ears. Cause as much as you like Philly, I hate Philly.
Tony Kornheiser
I know you hate Phil.
Mike Wilbon
I don't mean everybody in Philly, because I love Kyle Schwaber, which you know. I hate the Phillies.
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, but you hate all the Phillies.
Mike Wilbon
And it's music to my ears. Cause they're chasing my team. I don't give a damn about the Dodgers. They're chasing the Cubs, who are in the wild card catbird seat right now. So when that thing was a half game here and a half game there, I was nervous as hell. But I'm not right now. Cause the Phillies are going slowly down the tubes with all that talent. And you and Buster Olney keep, keep telling me how they're going to challenge the Dodgers. Let them challenge some time at the crib. Let them go fishing. Music to my ears.
Tony Kornheiser
Because you hate Philadelphia and everything about it. Even though they signed the Declaration of Independence. What's next?
Mike Wilbon
We could have signed that. The Angels decision to pitch to Jordan Alvarez in the ninth inning last night was blank.
Tony Kornheiser
It was dopey. In hindsight, it was really dopey. They pitched to him in the first inning and, and he hit it about 500ft. Why would you pitch to him again in the top of the 9th inning in a 22 game with 2 on? That means there's an open base. You walk him. You have to be crazy to pitch to him at that particular time. He's batting. Let me get these numbers right. 325. He's got 35 home runs, 80 RBI, leaves the league. Okay, that leads the league in all those categories. Not all the baseball. No. Leads the American League. He's on the way. So on the way to triple crown. The other game had the same situation the previous game in the night, and they walked him. Now, the Angels didn't win that game, but it wasn't because Alvarez beat him. Now they go, they pitch to Alvarez, first pitch of the at bat, gets a single, drives in a run. It's three, two. Afterwards the manager says, I sent him. I sent a pitching coach out there to say don't give him anything good to hit. Really well. He did and that's why the Angels are at the moment 42 and 66.
Mike Wilbon
God, the angels, as a side comment, are just stupid. Now, my word is actually, again, sort of hyphenated. Say what? Jordan Alvarez. What, the news didn't get to you? What is it? Shipping a bottle across seven seas that you don't know that Alvarez is having the best year in the American League since. In a triple crown since 2012 with Cabrera? What are you thinking? Say, what is my word? It's unbelievable. In little League, you don't need to be having somebody come out. The people in your little league team, the infielders, somebody the toughest kid says, let's go talk to the pitcher. And you say, you know what? Yeah, four wide. Put this kid on. Put the big kid on base. We're not pitching to him or we will take you out. And if you throw him a pitch, say what? It's just dumb.
Tony Kornheiser
It is remarkable how the Angels have just laid down for years and years. They've ruined the just awful. They've ruined his career. They've ruined the best Trout's career. That's it. I win. Let's take one last break. Still to come, Luka Doncic. I don't think you even like him either.
Mike Wilbon
I do.
Tony Kornheiser
He springs for a Lakers mini camp in Slovenia.
Mike Wilbon
I don't like his. And the NHL has the new highest paid player. He's a wizard.
Tony Kornheiser
If I take you to Philadelphia, if I take you to the University of Pennsylvania in the Palestra, if I walk you around, do you think you might change your mind?
Mike Wilbon
I love. I love going there. I do. It's fun. I'm a cheesesteaks dude. They got great hotels. The best hotel in America. The Four Seasons in downtown Philly. I love going to see basketball. I might get to hug Allen Iverson.
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Mike Wilbon
The best part of waking up.
Tony Kornheiser
A full cup of Folgers coffee and music on full blast.
Mike Wilbon
Wake me up. Wake me up every evening with a big smile on my face. The Best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup shop, Folgers, K Cup pods and more at your nearest retailer.
Tony Kornheiser
Happy time, people. Happy 33rd birthday, Dak. Prescott, the Cowboys quarterback, has his money. Now he needs to win some playoff games. The Cowboys didn't make the playoffs last season, but it was hardly Prescott's fault. He was fourth in the league in passing touchdowns with 33rd in the league in passing yards with 4552. Led the league in pass completions with 404. It was Dallas's defense that didn't show up, not Dak. The defense was dead last in points allowed, 30th in yards allowed. So the Cowboys fired defensive coordinator and you, your boy, Matt Eberfluss. In a recent ESPN survey of quarterbacks, Prescott was ranked sixth overall. But he hasn't been to the playoffs since 2023. And he's 2 and 5 overall in the playoffs.
Mike Wilbon
Yeah, there's way too much talk about Cowboys quarterbacks. And then. Look, none of these guys are Aikman. And Romo was terrific at times. Prescott has been great at times. Doesn't matter. You got to have a whole team. And people can obsess over the Cowboys and their quarterback. It doesn't mean Jack, they're not going to win the division again. Even though Dak, as you say, I'd like to have him. If I didn't have my guy, I'd have Dak. But doesn't matter.
Tony Kornheiser
Happy anniversary, Sparky Anderson. This is posthumous. But on this day 40 years ago, Anderson, who was already the first manager to win championships in both leagues with the Reds and the Tigers, then became the first manager to win 600 games in both the national and American Leagues when his Tigers beat Milwaukee 9, 5. When the Brewers, Milwaukee was then in the American League. Since then, Tony La Russa has won at least 600 games with the Cardinals, Athletics and the White Sox. Bruce Boesy had over 900 wins with both the Padres and Giants, and he won a recent World Series with Texas. And Terry Francona won over 700 games with Boston and Cleveland. At Anderson's induction speech at Cooperstown, he said, and I'm quoting here, I got good players, stayed out of the way, let them win a lot, and hung around 26 years.
Mike Wilbon
You saw all of Sparky's teams. You covered some of the great ones. Would you take the big Red machine of Rose, Morgan, Foster, bench and Griffey ahead of even those Dodgers and Yankees teams that you think were so great?
Tony Kornheiser
Just about the best team? I'd Ever seen. Didn't have pitching, didn't need pitching because it seemed like they scored 80 runs a game. Remember, happy trails to Liv, golf's season ending event. Reports say the Saudi Tour is on the verge of canceling its $40 million season ending team championship. The tournament had been scheduled for the end of August in Michigan. This surprises no one. After the Saudi PIF announced it would stop funding liv, it was only a matter of time before the league crumbled. This will be the second LIV event canceled this season and leaves just two more remaining on this year's schedule.
Mike Wilbon
As they say, Tony, as long as the payroll check cashes. I mean, what are you going to do? If you're John Rahm and some of the others and you've already accepted somewhere between tens of millions and hundreds of millions, what are you going to do?
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, you're going to come back to the PGA Tour and work it out. One correction. Shohei did pitch last season. 14 appearances in the regular season and four in the postseason. Including game four of the NLCS where he pitched six scoreless innings and hit three home runs. My bad about that. Totally mine.
Mike Wilbon
Yeah.
Tony Kornheiser
Let's go to the Big Fish. Luka Doncic, who you don't like, will host his own Lakers minicamp in Slovenia this summer. You impress.
Mike Wilbon
I like this move. It's going to be nearly 20 dudes. That's a big tab he's picking up. Good for Luka. Curtis Mead suffered a broken wrist after getting plunked during just his second at bat with. With the socks. That a big deal.
Tony Kornheiser
Terrible bad luck came over from the Nats. Like you said, second at bat maybe season ending. The Sharks are making Macklin Celebrini the highest paid player in the NHL. Does that make sense to you?
Mike Wilbon
Kinda for the moment. But Conor, the real Connor, he better be the highest paid in a year or so. Signed a short term deal. The Indiana Fever scored 100 plus four straight games. Is that significant?
Tony Kornheiser
Well, it's only a 40 minute game and they won all four, so it's a good trend to be on. Last one. The MLS All Star game is tonight. Really? You intrigued by that?
Mike Wilbon
Yeah. Mexican All Stars versus the MLS All Stars.
Tony Kornheiser
You're gonna watch it?
Mike Wilbon
I'm not gonna watch it. I'll go from Cubs cars to that. Not the Nets.
Tony Kornheiser
You don't have to watch the Nets. They played already. Do you pay attention to this show? We talked about this. We're out of time. Trying to do better the next time I'm sewing.
Mike Wilbon
Cornheim could have been a day Night. Double Hefty. I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads. You know when you're locked in, focused and fearless? Welcome to the wnba. Your vision narrows. You can't look away. Every assist, every stop, every logo. Three from beyond the logo, every. Did you see that moment you been. What records are going to be broken this season?
Sponsor/Announcer
All of it.
Mike Wilbon
Right here. Lock in. It's the WNBA on ESPN all season long.
Hosts: Tony Kornheiser, Michael Wilbon
Main Theme:
An action-packed discussion of looming MLB trade deadline questions, focusing on whether the Toronto Blue Jays—a 2025 World Series runner-up now languishing in last place—should become sellers, along with debates on the Dodgers’ injury predicament, the Phillies’ needs, and big NFL and NBA news.
“No, they can’t really count on Shohei... You may be able to count on him in October. That’s a long way off.”
— Mike Wilbon [01:44]
“Tarek Skubal is the best available guy in baseball... He makes everybody better. He’s basically LeBron.”
— Tony Kornheiser [03:38]
“They got to trade him... get as much as I can for Skubal ’cause he ain’t staying here.”
— Mike Wilbon [04:12]
“The pressure that exists in other teams in that division... doesn’t exist for Toronto. It’s not the same market. Their players aren’t going to get booed when they walk into a restaurant if Toronto has a bad year and tries to rebuild.”
— Mike Wilbon [07:37]
“Kirk Cousins is a professional quarterback. This is his 15th year in the league. He has won 88 starts... You could do a lot worse than Kirk Cousins.”
— Tony Kornheiser [09:37]
This PTI episode dives deeply into the MLB trade deadline drama, using sharp banter and expert analysis to dissect the Dodgers’ roster, Shohei Ohtani’s health, Tarek Skubal’s trade value, and Toronto’s likely pivot to a rebuild. Wilbon and Kornheiser deliver trademark hot takes—Wilbon with biting honesty and Tony with layered, stat-based arguments—while moving quickly through NFL rookie-management philosophies and the latest MLB oddities. The “Word Game” segment brings signature humor and pointed critiques, while the “Happy Time” detour pays homage to sports legends and offers brisk takes on the day’s rapid-fire news.
For listeners looking for expertise, entertainment, and the inside line on baseball’s high-stakes deadline, this episode delivers in spades—with vintage PTI chemistry.