How Should We Feel About The Tarik Skubal Trade? | Local Hour

Summary

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The Dan Le Batard Show – Local Hour

Episode: "How Should We Feel About The Tarik Skubal Trade?"
Date: August 3, 2026
Location: Live from the Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami

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Episode Overview

This Local Hour dives deep into the seismic impact of the Tarik Skubal trade to the Dodgers—a transaction so jarring that the show’s panel likens it to some of the most controversial and transformative trades and free agent signings in sports history. The episode explores the fairness, the perceived collusion, and the emotional ripple effect of the Dodgers' relentless accumulation of MLB's brightest stars, while also touching on Marlins deadline strategy, legendary baseball sounds, sports fan frustrations, and more. With humor, incredulity, and a dose of Miami flavor, Dan and the crew ponder what this trade means for Major League Baseball—and whether the league, and the sport itself, is better or worse for such shakeups.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Tarik Skubal Trade: A Sport-Shattering Move

• Dan opens (01:28) with the idea that the reaction to this trade is unprecedented: “Have you guys found a trade anywhere in sports since, I don’t know, LeBron, Wade, and Bosh coming here that ends up echoing to create the conversation that the Skubal trade does, where everyone’s just like, that's not fair.”
• The focus is not that Detroit got “too little,” but that the Dodgers have “too much”—creating a perception that the trade “shouldn’t be allowed.”
• Consensus among panelists: No other MLB or NBA team could have triggered this level of outrage by acquiring Skubal (02:19).
• Comparison to past controversies:
  • Durant’s signing with the Warriors (02:43)
  • The NBA vetoing Chris Paul’s trade to the Lakers (04:45)
• “The Dodgers are the new Yankees, but worse:”
  • “They don’t even need [Skubal]...they're just going around the league and grabbing all the best players.” (09:04)
  • Noted the Dodgers now have elite players from Tampa, San Diego, Atlanta, Boston, Japan (“two of the best players in the history of Japan”), and now Detroit.

2. The Fallout & Conspiracy Theories

• Cynicism over motivations and MLB’s role:
  • Chris points out (03:35) that MLB seems poised for a labor stoppage and “attack ads,” making the timing of such a dominant trade “awfully convenient.”
  • Accusations of collusion—owners favoring the Dodgers for bottom-line reasons (04:33)
• Dan’s hot take: Tigers have a “responsibility” not to take the top offer if it means breaking the sport (04:17)
  • “They have to take the second place offer just so that everyone's not looking at them and saying, you assholes, you broke the entire sport.”
• Panel consensus: The entire fanbase is left feeling helpless, with calls for the league to intervene like David Stern with the NBA (04:58, 26:50).
  • “Manfred should step in the way that Stern did on Chris Paul to the Lakers and simply say no.” (26:50)

3. The Dodgers’ Empire—Unmatched and Unapologetic

• Detailed analysis of how the Dodgers consistently outbid and outmaneuver rivals for elite talent (10:12, 12:05).
• Notable stat: “The Dodgers’ six highest paid pitchers would be the 18th highest payroll in baseball.” (12:05)
• GM Andrew Friedman’s philosophy:
  • “Whenever there’s a star level player that is available that can really shift championship odds, those are the moments that we’ll be more aggressive...passionately disagree” (paraphrased, 12:05).
• Discussion on how Los Angeles fans and media view this with pride, but the rest of the league is left shaking their heads.

4. Marlins and the Deadline (Local Flavor)

• Marlins are fascinating this year because—despite the lowest payroll in the majors—they’re in the playoff conversation after bouncing back from a record losing streak (18:52).
• Close focus on the Marlins’ closer situation, particularly Pete Fairbanks:
  • Fan frustration: Untrustable closers cited as the most frustrating position in sports for fans (15:46, 23:43). “He throws 147 miles an hour but you don’t always know if it’s going to be in the strike zone.”
• Team-building philosophy: “Sustainable winner” and trading players at peak value (22:10).
  • Rumors around trading Kyle Stowers or Liam Hicks, “selling high” due to pending arbitration or team needs elsewhere (20:22, 22:10).
  • Traditions of Marlins management discussed, comparing current front office to the “coupon Clippers from Tampa” (23:49).

5. Lighter Moments: Sounds of Baseball and Sports Rituals

• Joy and nostalgia about baseball on the radio—Dan laments that “young people have no use for baseball on the radio,” spurring a tongue-in-cheek debate (05:22).
• Audio highlights:
  • The “perfect home run sound” off the bat of Yordan Alvarez (06:32).
  • The hilarious aftermath of a foul ball clobbering a fan’s sundae helmet (08:12).
• Classic Le Batard humor:
  • Sausage-eating antics (14:38), the “arms up” Moses bit on fan endurance, and mock-serious debates about whether “up in arms” literally means arming oneself (31:23).
  • Quirky poll suggestions peppered throughout, e.g., “Is it hard to type when you’re up in arms?” (31:35).
• Skits and replay:
  • Discouragement over instant replay removing the fun of manager ejections, illustrated by Skip Schumacher’s “God Bless America” ejection dance (33:57).
  • The “angriest” national anthem performance, debating which is funnier: Skip’s ejection or a diva singer getting one-upped (38:24).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

The Trade’s Fairness and the Dodgers Overkill

• Dan Le Batard (01:28):
  “A trade happens in sports and the consensus is that doesn't feel right. That's not something that should be allowed. Can something be done?”
• Chris Cote (03:35):
  “A huge part of that attack ad is like, man, isn’t it unfair what the Dodgers are doing? And then to give that team the prize of the deadline...it feels unfair and it’s awfully convenient for Major League Baseball.”
• Jeremy (11:02):
  “This is one of those things with that particular player who’s about as famous as any baseball player not named Shohei Ohtani...ending up with that particular team that feels more like the evil Empire than even the Yankees...everyone’s shaking their head and going, what are we supposed to do?”
• Dan (12:05):
  “The Dodgers’ six highest paid pitchers would be the 18th highest payroll in baseball. And their general manager, Andrew Friedman… ‘Whenever there’s a star level player that is available that can really shift championship odds, those are the moments we’ll be more aggressive.’”

On the Insanity of the Market

• Dan (04:17):
  “The Tigers have a responsibility to take a lesser offer there and not do that to their sport...they have to take the second place offer just so that everyone's not...saying, you assholes, you broke the entire sport.”
• Chris (26:14):
  “[I’m] mad on behalf of you and Jeremy, guys that actually listen to this sport on the radio that love it that much because it seems as though MLB got their hands dirty and they pulled off a heist and everyone knows it.”
• Dan (26:28):
  “This is not a conspiring from baseball.”

The Personal Side: Skubal's Exit

• Jeremy (30:13):
  “Tarik Skubal’s a guy that they love. They just gave him a standing ovation for his thousandth career strikeout. He cried on the way out. He didn’t want to leave.”
• Dan (28:03):
  “That made Skubal cry because he was so emotional about how hard the last 12 months have been.”

On Marlins’ Fan Frustrations and Deadline Drama

• Dan (17:46):
  “It’s the closer who blows leads...the most frustrating kind of closer is that he throws 147 miles an hour but you don’t always know if it’s going to be in the strike zone...His stuff is totally filthy, and when I say filthy it’s because it’s always in the dirt.”
• Chris (24:46):
  “I am surprised that they paid anybody anything...Are you not licking your finger and testing the air right now like the winds are blowing? And fan conspiracy theories are that Major League Baseball orchestrated the trade of the best arm available to the single best team, the single most hated team…”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Tarik Skubal Trade Outrage: 01:28 – 06:00
• Conspiracy Theories/MLB League Dynamics: 03:35, 04:45, 26:14 – 26:50
• Dodgers Empire Discussion: 09:04 – 14:25
• Marlins Trade Deadline, Pete Fairbanks, Fan Frustration: 17:46 – 24:46
• Marlins’ Sustainable Approach & Deadline Rumors: 20:22 – 22:51
• Polls, Humor, and Sausage Running: 14:38 – 15:45, 31:23 – 31:44
• Manager Ejection/Instant Replay Skit: 32:32 – 34:21
• Anthem Showdown & “Rockets Red Glare Lady” Debate: 35:25 – 38:24
• Arms Up Moses Bit (Sports Rituals): 39:02 – 41:16

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Tone & Language

The episode maintains the Dan Le Batard Show’s signature blend of wry humor, incredulity, and sharp sports analysis, peppered with friendly bickering, local Miami in-jokes, and an energizing sense of righteous injustice over the state of Major League Baseball.

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For listeners and fans who missed this episode:
You’ll come away understanding not just what happened with Tarik Skubal’s seismic trade to the Dodgers, but how it sends shockwaves through the emotional landscape of fans, the mechanisms of MLB power, and the lunchtime culture of the Le Batard crew itself.

Transcript

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[Dan Le Batard]

top of your head? Have you guys found a trade anywhere in sports since, I don't know, LeBron, Wade and Bosh coming here that ends up echoing to create the conversation that the Skubal trade does, where everyone's just like that's not fair. Where the reaction from everybody is a trade happens in sports and the consensus is that doesn't feel right. That's not something that should be allowed. Can something be done?

[Chris Cote]

I think there were hints of that with Jaylen Brown, but we were too busy laughing. And a little bit with Luca too. Especially when you consider the reasoning that Dallas gave, which was wanting to be able to depend on Luka's fitness and then acquiring Anthony Davis.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, but you're doing this the other way though. The way that I'm doing this is not that Detroit didn't get enough, it's that the Dodgers have too much, that the Dodgers shouldn't be allowed to be the one that acquired that. Any other team there wouldn't have been this reaction. There's only one team you can trade him to where you get a a sport Cratering kind of reaction where everyone's like, that's not right. You shouldn't be allowed to do that.

[Jeremy]

Durant in free agency when he went to the warriors and they had already been to the back to back finals, like being in that spot.

[Chris Cote]

Yeah, but specific to trade. I do think that a big part of this. And look, I'm not going to pretend to know that the depths of L. A. S farm system, but a big part of this is like, that got you scuba.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, but no, the baseball people are saying that that is a good offer and that somebody could have beaten that offer and nobody did. I'm just. I didn't think that baseball could do one of these. I didn't think that baseball could have a transaction. And I can't even come up with a hypothetical other than this guy to this. That makes me feel the way that I feel today, which is that everyone is now saying that's simply unfair. It's not even an analysis of the trade. It's just that shouldn't be allowed to happen.

[Chris Cote]

Well, what's hanging over all of this is the MLB's taking out attack ads and preparing for a labor stoppage. And this is awfully convenient. And it further galvanizes MLB fans everywhere. And. And a huge part of that attack ad is like, man, isn't it unfair what the Dodgers are doing? And then to give that team the prize of the deadline, the hot stove season, it feels unfair and it's awfully convenient for Major League Baseball.

[Roy]

It feels like the Dodgers were Joe Pesci and Goodfellows, where they're like, hey, you want to trade for Derek Schoolboy? And they're like, yeah, where is he? He's in this room over here. And then everybody walks in, it's just them. And they're like, wait a second. All of a sudden it goes black. Like, did any other team. I'm not plugged in on baseball, but did any other team have a chance to get him?

[Dan Le Batard]

Yes, there were other teams that had a chance. And the Tigers have a responsibility to take a lesser offer there and not do that to their sport. Like, I legitimately think that they have to take the second place offer just so that everyone's not looking at them and saying, you assholes, you. You broke the entire sport.

[Chris Cote]

Well, that's also a different type of collusion. Right. But I think the, the biggest issue here is that they think that the owners and the Tigers were a part of it. Send them to LA because it helps our bottom line.

[Dan Le Batard]

The one trade that I was Thinking of in basketball was when basketball stepped in and didn't allow to be traded to the Lakers, right?

[Chris Cote]

Marcus Sewell was in that trade.

[Roy]

David Stern's dead body was acting out.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, that's what it made me think of. Like, man, it made me think that Bud Selig should come back from the grave, even though he's still alive and say, you can't allow this man for it. You are listening to the Dan Lebatar

[Chris Cote]

show in partnership with the DraftKings Sports App now live in all 50 states.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm largely alone, correct. Not just because Zaz is on a cruise and this room is awfully spacious with no one else in it, but I am awfully alone on the idea that baseball on the radio is the best. None of you, all of you have outgrown baseball on the radio, correct? You guys, young people have no use for baseball on the radio.

[Jeremy]

Strong disagree.

[Dan Le Batard]

Also, hey, put it on the poll at LeBatard show. I don't think anybody was worried about where you were, Jeremy. I think we need a big heroic welcome.

[Chris Cote]

How do you feel about this Zazzle

[Dan Le Batard]

for Jeremy trade at LeBatard show. Put it on the poll. Do young people have any use for baseball on the radio? But I love the ambient sound. It's one of the things that I love. So Chris Cody is maintaining that Jordan Alvarez of the Astros, who every time that man bats, I expect a double off the wall. Like, just every single time he's up, I expect something scorched that the outfielders think they can get to that they can't get to because it's been hit too hard. Chris Cody is claiming that this is a perfect home run sound. Listen to the ball come off the bat of Jordan Alvarez. At 743 miles an hour,

[Skip Schumacher]

Jordan Alvarez crushes one high and deep. Forget about it. 44 just matches the first pitch he sees tonight for his 35th home run of the year. And the Astros out in front, one to nothing.

[Zaz]

I've changed it to my Texas alert. That's what I hear now when a text, I receive it.

[Dan Le Batard]

I did not need any of the words. I knew what that was as soon

[Jonathan Saslow]

as it hit the bat.

[Skip Schumacher]

You're Don Alvarez.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's called Unpalo.

[Skip Schumacher]

Get about it.

[Dan Le Batard]

I want to talk about the Marlins today because the Marlins have a trade deadline and I don't think they're going to trade Sandy. I hope they don't trade Sandy, but I want to play another sound from you guys without any help from the announcers. You guys, tell me what you think happened on this play with this sound. Any guesses on what? And Roy, we'll play it again. But any guesses and take your best guess on what you think happened here.

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[Chris Cote]

Someone get hit.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yes.

[Chris Cote]

In the balls.

[Zaz]

I don't want to admit where my mind went. I'm like, someone fell from the upper deck.

[Jeremy]

What?

[Zaz]

I mean, that's like a girl, like a. I think.

[Chris Cote]

I think it would be a more sustained.

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Only some people saw it.

[Dan Le Batard]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Jonathan Saslow]

What?

[Dan Le Batard]

No one fell from the upper deck. But that sound played again, Roy is a foul ball being hit straight up in the air and a spectator getting hit on the top of the noggin. And it bounced so high it wasn't even that they noticed it hit him on the top of the head. The way that it bounced is that everyone reacted because the ball flew up just as high as where it had come from. And they're like, that must hurt to have a ball fall out of the sky. It's just a pop up, but it hit someone square on the head who was eating like a sundae out of one of those, you know, helmets. Out of one of those small plastic helmets. And it just hit him on top of the head and it bounced. It was two pop ups. The one that landed on his head and the second one that popped up off of his head.

[Roy]

Chichung City right there.

[Dan Le Batard]

But Amanda Chichung. The trade deadline is today and it doesn't feel quite like the basketball and the football trade deadline. But I do think the one thing that happened in baseball is the single thing that could have happened to make everyone in the sport on a weekend. When the Dodgers get swept at home by the Red Sox, they get swept at home, they trade for school. And I believe it's just to keep Scubal from pitching against them three times in seven games in the postseason. I don't think they even need. They don't need him. They've already got Tampa's best pitcher. They stole San Diego's best pitcher. They got two of the best players in the history of Japan pitching for them. The history of a country pitching for them. They don't need Scubal in any meaningful way. They've also got Boston's best player. They've also got Atlanta's best player. So they're just going around the league and grabbing all the best players. But I put it on the poll at LeBatard Show School. Did the Dodgers get him to use him or did the Dodgers get him to just make sure he doesn't pitch against them. Pitch against Freeman and Shohei Ohtani as a left hander three times in a seven game series.

[Chris Cote]

Two of the best players in the history of Japan. And Yamamoto.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's right. Two of the best position play, a position player and a pitcher. And Yamamoto as well. I can't remember a reaction like this to a trade. The Yankees dominated salary for a long time without sort of guaranteeing themselves an unfairness. The Dodgers are by run differential. They were until losing this series to Boston. I don't know if it's changed. Milwaukee has passed them, but the Dodgers somehow are underachieving even though they've had the best record in baseball most of the season and they've had the best run differential most of the season. How did you guys react to the reaction to this trade? Because I thought it was more interesting than the actual trade. I don't think you can let the Dodgers get him if you're a team in Major League Baseball. If you're the Detroit Tigers, I don't think you can allow the Dodgers to get that.

[Jeremy]

Picture it, fans, the flames of all of the conspiracies when you look at him ending up with the Dodgers, because you have all of these people who are like, mlb wants the Dodgers to win another one. MLB wants this because they want to enforce a salary cap. They want to convince fans. All the people I was with when this trade happened were like, oh, that's it, it's over. The Dodgers won again. They need a salary cap. That's enough of it. Until I started explaining some of the logistics of the player side. But this is one of those things with that particular player who's about as famous as any baseball player not named Shohei Ohtani because of his dominance, ending up with that particular team that feels more like the evil Empire than even the Yankees of the late 90s and early 2000s where everyone's shaking their head and going, what are we supposed to do?

[Roy]

I get the All Star roster. They were one swing of a bat away from losing the World Series last year. Like if Miguel Rojas of all people doesn't hit a monster home run at a super clutch time, they lose. And we're not really having this conversation, are we?

[Dan Le Batard]

The entire conversation to me is crazy for a number of reasons. And I'm going to repeat what it is I just said. They saw Tampa's ace and best pitcher and they took him. They saw San Diego's ace, Cy Young winner, pitcher, and took him. They saw Atlanta's best player and took him they saw Boston's best player and took him and now they take Detroit's best player. And a lot of people are throwing this stat around. The Dodgers six highest paid pitchers would be the 18th highest payroll in baseball. And their general manager, Andrew Friedman, who's coming under a lot of criticism for winning too much and being greedy and doing his job, quote, whenever there's a star level player that is available that can really shift championship odds, those are the moments that will be more aggressive. When asked about the narrative the Dodgers are ruining baseball, passionately disagree. Friedman said, and while I'm at it, they took the Cubs, one of the Cubs best players as well. Like they just, they're wandering around baseball. We have it here locally, right? And I don't mind it so much locally when the Miami Hurricanes can go and just see Duke win the ACC and say, okay, I'd like your wide receiver and your quarterback. They can come over here. Don't mind it so much when it's my team. So Los Angeles loves this. Like they're crazy about the Dodgers. This is great in, in terms of what it is that what can be an apathetic sports town feels about baseball has been alter by the fact that the Dodgers are now the new empire. They are the new Yankees. The Yankees have to settle for taking Washington's best slugger, Luis Garcia. They, they don't. And they don't even need him like that. Well, they need offense because their guys are all hurt. But they, they need a shortstop. They don't, they don't need the positions that Luis Garcia plays. But there's just funny stuff that's going to happen at the trade deadline and one of them is that the Dodgers are ruining the sport. But we'll get back to that. I want to talk about the Marlins for a second. What do you guys believe as a customer, as a fan base? If I say to you, you have all of sports at your disposal, what's the thing most likely to frustrate you as a fan on the field? Like what position on the field? Any sport. Any sport. What position on the field? What situation on the field?

[Chris Cote]

Free throws. God, man, we, we love saying make your damn free throws.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh my God. You guys are going to get frustrated

[Zaz]

with Giannis missing a PK in soccer.

[Chris Cote]

You're right. God. Lead off walks.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's because you were, I saw you shoveling sausages by the cup into your mouth and that's the reason that that happened. Like I saw you couldn't eat it before the show. You were eating them during the show. You were distracting me because you were eating sausages and I just heard them in your throat.

[Zaz]

I had a panic during our show open. I was like, I didn't have any sausages yet. So I scurried. I wish the camera could have caught me. I have like 45 seconds. I went and I got when I zapped it in the microwave because no one wants a room temperature sausage Video

[Dan Le Batard]

team, can you please get the surveillance video of Chris Cody running to get his sausage that made his first words look like there was an obstacle in his esophagus. That was a sausage that was not properly chewed. That's a good one. Free throws is a good one. I've got a nominee here locally and I felt it yesterday, but any other nominees from you guys on the position most likely to be hated by the entirety of a fan base or Frustrated by a fan base? Because in our town you guys like to point out Kyle Lowry before, but before there was Kyle Lowry there was Antoine Walker and then everybody shut up after he won a championship. But everybody was wildly frustrated with Antoine Walker just shooting three after three after three because by his own explanation there are no fours.

[Jeremy]

A kicker who misses extra points.

[Chris Cote]

Kicker kickers up there. Most hated positions right now get up

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this episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally, break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required Compatibility and availability Various 18

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[Dan Le Batard]

Levatar what is the worst part of the life? Jonathan Saslow

[Jeremy]

the worst part of the life of what?

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show. My nomination after second place I'd put the cornerback who's always getting burned but I think they've changed football enough that that is harder to. The cornerback who's always getting burned doesn't play me anymore. Like they just like they've sort of.

[Roy]

They're extinct.

[Dan Le Batard]

They've just sort of. There's no such guys there's no such thing as Terrell Buckley and JB Brown anymore who like they just, they just get. But I think that the survival of the fittest sort of evolution of football has made it so they don't fan bases no longer have the one cornerback who's always getting burned because he just, he just becomes extinct. It's the closer who blows leads and it's. And it's Pete Fairbanks. The Marlins have a closer. He's the most frustrating kind of closer and that he throws 147 miles an hour but you don't always know if it's going to be in the strike zone. And so he starts walking people and he just. His stuff is totally filthy. And when I say filthy it's because it's always in the dirt. Like it's just when he gets wild you can't trust him. And while he's pitching better I don't trust it like at all. I'm watching that game yesterday and I'm expecting the Marlins to lose to the Mets. So the Marlins have been weird this season. Okay. If not for that 12 game losing streak that is the worst in franchise history. And it's a funny way to start a sentence.

[Chris Cote]

It's like an Abraham Lincoln.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, Abraham would have. He really would have enjoyed the play. If not for the gunshot. If not for that 12 game win streak. The Miami Marlins after beating the Phillies up after beating the Mets up before the 12 game win streak making the Nationals realize even though they have the best offense in baseball. Did you guys even know that? Are they still leading the sport in home runs? Put on the poll at lebaton show. Did you know that the Nationals had the best offense in baseball but after clubbing an assortment of teams I thought that that is a team that can compete for the playoffs all season. Then they lose 12 in a row and I'm like as soon as I said that it's all over. Then they win six of seven. And what they've done is the most impressive thing they can do with the lowest payroll in baseball, which is they're interesting. They're. They're an interesting team. That is interesting at the trade deadline and I don't know what they're going to do at the trade deadline because it wouldn't appear that they're going to trade Sandy. Sandy has fixed his problems. Sandy is last. He pitched against the Mets, didn't allow a run for seven innings and he's been the guy who goes out there even during the 12 game losing streak and shuts the opponent down. Jeremy, what is the word around the Marlins on what it is that they're going to do? And do the Marlins feel about Pete Fairbanks the way I feel about Pete Fairbanks, which is they have to keep him out there because he's one of the few guys they're paying to do that role. And so they're going to keep using him as a closer even though he hasn't been trustable the first half of the season. They're just going to keep putting him out there.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, last year they didn't use a closer at all. They sort of slotted guys by where they felt they best matched up with the, the lineups in high leverage innings. He's the one guy that they have with, they're like, that's a closer. And luckily for them, he's four. For his last four, he's got five straight score scoreless innings, which has felt like a miracle this season. He lowered his ERA from 7.18 to 6.37 over the course of those appearances. I don't think they feel that way right now because it's been going well. But throughout the season it's been incredibly frustrating to have these leads and blow them with the guy who's making more than Sandy Alcantara is. And their starting pitching has been so great that when your relievers blow it, it can be infuriating when your team that's playing in the margins when you come to the trade deadline, the Marlin sort of mentality is always, even when you're having short term success, it's long term thinking. Their, their whole mantra is about building a sustainable winner year after year, sort of like your race. And so they're always going to be in a position whether they're 15 games under, 15 games over or right near 500 buyers and sellers. The names that are out there right now, all of a sudden yesterday there was smoke around Kyle Stowers which would be surprising to me if they traded Kyle if it wasn't for a massive haul. Liam Hicks is a guy that seems like the odd man out Rule 5 pick last year who they've turned into a really good player. He's a catcher. Which position of need across Major League Baseball right now, particularly in the AL East. The Yankees, the Rays, the Red Sox all need a catcher. He's a left handed hitter which he would do great at.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yankees, the Marlins don't need a catch.

[Jeremy]

They don't need him.

[Dan Le Batard]

Joe Mack is found a catcher. Yes, that's been a surprise. Hits a home run yesterday, straight away center field. I didn't think that he had that kind of offense in him. But they'd be selling, they'd be selling high on Hicks that that's the thought

[Jeremy]

process if they sold and that's always going to be where they are is have we reached a space of maximum value on this? Whether it's the best they're going to be skill wise or contract wise. If you look at Stowers, the reason theoretically he would be moved is he's now headed toward these arbitration years. So while he's under team control that salary will increase and do you want to go toward an extension? And we're looking at a space where every team is operating. It's. It relates back to the school stuff. Every team is operating unsure if next year is a year that even exists in Major League Baseball. And these players are going to age. So that's a strange part of this entire deadline around the league.

[Dan Le Batard]

Baseball is funny this way. And they are wise to trade pieces that they have that are valuable when they're selling high because somebody's a Rule 5 pick and they're about at their ceiling. They did this with Cabrera. The Cubs traded for him after he had a good season. Have one good season here that's an outlier and get rid of him. But I want to talk about the Fairbanks thing for a second. I told you guys the other day that Dave Dombrowski, a Hall of Fame executive is the oldest executive in Major League baseball at 70. When he got the young Marshall, one of the things that he did in 1993 is he said and my closer is going to be Brian Harvey, one of the best closers in all of baseball.

[Chris Cote]

Great mustache.

[Dan Le Batard]

I don't want a young team to suffer from having been close to winning games and then having it blown at the end and just sort of living with going home from the park all the time losing games late.

[Chris Cote]

Dombrowski is the old executive. Now that's crazy. He was the hotshot young guy.

[Sponsor Announcer 2]

Yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

70 years old and he is the oldest executive in baseball. They tried something with Brian Harvey and it makes me wonder what the Marlins did this year when they've got the coupon Clippers from Tampa running their front office and they're saying to themselves the one guy we're going to pay is Fairbanks. It's the Marlins did this with Heath Bell where they had a fragile thing that they thought was foundationally almost good enough to win big and they needed to protect games late. And Heath Bell is among the most unpopular players in the history of this city because he kept coughing up leads in the season where they opened up the ballpark. Are you guys surprised to hear me say to you that Pete Fairbanks, that they decided before the season that they were going to be better than I thought they were going to be because they decided that they had to pay a closer to protect games late in the season and only a closer because they're not paying anybody else except for Fairbanks and Sandy.

[Chris Cote]

I am surprised that they paid anybody anything. And look, guys, I understand it's Marlins. They're interesting, especially locally because will they or won't they? But I mean, are you not putting licking your finger and testing the air right now like the winds are blowing? And fan conspiracy theories are that Major League Baseball orchestrated the trade of the best arm available to the single best team, the single most hated team, a team that has all these weird deferred contracts and additionally doesn't actually have to pay revenue taxes the way that they should because Major League Baseball cut them a side deal when their TV deal went dry. This to me seems like it's all too convenient for Major League Baseball. And it slots right in with all the momentum for the argument that they're laying out for work stoppage. And it's just perfect. And you said it didn't matter if they won the World Series if it goes the other yes it be would they're always in that conversation if Toronto wins that people would be just as mad.

[Dan Le Batard]

I am just as interested in that as you are. I am saving it for 15 minutes and 26 seconds from now because I'm talking locally now about what the Marlins are going to do at the trade deadline because you're going to be grateful for it when it segues into University of Miami football. And there's room for that in the local hour and there won't be any room for it later in the show. So I'm going to get to Scubal and all the things with that because I'm mad.

[Chris Cote]

Yeah, I'm mad. I'm mad on behalf of you and Jeremy, guys that actually listen to this sport on the radio that love it that much because it seems as though MLB got their hands dirty and they pulled off a heist and everyone knows it.

[Dan Le Batard]

No, what happens here with conspiracy theories is that the people who know the least know it when it's not actually. So this is not a conspiring from baseball.

[Chris Cote]

Are you accusing me of not knowing much about baseball? Because if so, play on.

[Zaz]

I'm with what you said before. They need to conspire against the Dodgers conspire in the other direction.

[Chris Cote]

And this by the way shows me to yes.

[Dan Le Batard]

And on Fairbanks I do think Chris that Manfred should step in the way that Stern did on Chris Paul to the Lakers and simply say no. I'm going to concoct an assortment of reasons that this can't be so that you're not just simply allowed to get school. I'm telling you, the Dodgers would trade for him if they could just put him in a box and not play him at all all season just so they don't have to see him during the playoff. Freeman and Otani do not want to be facing that person three times. It knew they scanned baseball, the Dodgers scanned baseball and they're like who can somebody else get that we're going to face somewhere else in the playoffs who takes out all of our advantages and this is the guy and so they can overpay for him with prospects. And people are saying, people who know more than me are absolutely saying that the Dodgers offer looks and sounds like the best of offers. That just because people don't know the Dodgers farm system don't mean that a rental of Scubal for a couple of months didn't just bring the Detroit Tigers the kind of haul that they wanted. And that made Scubal cry because he was so emotional about how hard the last 12 months have been.

[Roy]

So Detroit just gets off easy with like sorry, they just gave us the best offer.

[Dan Le Batard]

We're going to do this I guess

[Chris Cote]

when they're a part of this whole thing.

[Roy]

That's my point.

[Chris Cote]

They wanted to send them to LA because they want the cap too.

[Roy]

Exactly right.

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[Dan Le Batard]

Hoy is Captain Slappy. Jonathan Saslow is this Chum Bucket. This is the Dan Levatar Show.

[Jeremy]

I don't know if that's the case. I think what you're looking at what

[Chris Cote]

if you're a Tiger fan, you're like give me a cap right away. I just lost my best player. If you're a Tiger fan, you're up in arms.

[Jeremy]

It's the way that this sport works where you have great players that end up with major market teams all the time. And and Tarik School's a guy that they love. They just gave him a standing ovation for his thousandth career strikeout. He cried on the way out. He didn't want to leave. But Scott Boris is his agent. You have a guy who had an a minimally invasive but an elbow surgery earlier in the year. So teams are looking at a guy that they're trading for as a rental. The biggest issue is that Scubal's going into a free agent year here year and they're looking at the Dodgers as a team that's willing to just pay as much as it takes to get him in the off season. Why acquire him for your AAA level prospects when you're just going to have him as a rental? And he could potentially no.

[Dan Le Batard]

But they gave up two of their top 10 prospects.

[Jeremy]

They did.

[Dan Le Batard]

The other teams wouldn't even if their roster or their minor leagues aren't quite as good as some of the other teams. They gave up two of their top 10 prospects for a two month rental. Chris is up in arms back there. Can you look up for me, please? Up in ar arms. Up in arms is weapons, right? It's weapons in the so.

[Zaz]

But are they those kind of arms?

[Dan Le Batard]

But are you. But is it up in arms like so? What does that mean? So you are enraged and you are fighting with extra weapons. That's why we're up in arms like we're. We're bolstering.

[Zaz]

Can't look it up. I'm up in arms.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, I understand it's hard for you to type when you are up in arms. Put it on the poll as well. Juju at Le Batardjo. Is it hard to type when you're up in arms?

[Chris Cote]

I. I wanted to go weapons, but I think it's when people are visibly upset, they throw their arms up in the air. That's what I think.

[Zaz]

More difficult than I expected. I'm already getting tired.

[Dan Le Batard]

The sausages haven't kept you in prime shape. I hope that video can find for us the surveillance cam of you running and getting sausages because you forgot to have breakfast. Can we check in though with Skip Schumacher real quick? Because I missed the day of the funny ejection. They've been diluted by instant replay. I think it's the greatest thing that instant replay has taken away from us. Put on the poll at LeBatard show. Has instant replay diluted the joy of seeing a manager ejected?

[Roy]

Funny enough, the replay and all the new stuff in baseball, they didn't have any challenges. So there was a strike three call they couldn't challenge. And then this happened. Dan

[Skip Schumacher]

called third strike. Rangers don't have a challenge remaining. That's the end of the inning. Right before. God bless America.

[Dan Le Batard]

God bless America.

[Skip Schumacher]

After God bless America, they went back at it. And Schumacher gets tossed here. After coming back out of the dugout, Tischen didn't want to hear about it anymore. And then Skip would get tossed right here.

[Dan Le Batard]

All right, I want to play all of this again.

[Roy]

We had to stop. Dan. Just stop.

[Dan Le Batard]

Just see if I have this right for the audio audience. I think what I just saw is that Skip Schumacher comes out with no challenges. Because that's stupid. The idea that you can get run out of challenges is just a stupidity. All of it. We're just not in the place we need to be yet with instant replay. But do I have it right that he runs out? He's Furious. And then he, you know, he's grateful to live in America. And so while enraged, he takes off his cap and puts it over his heart.

[Zaz]

And the mangrudgingly.

[Dan Le Batard]

But the man, he was arguing with, him and the up. Both look at the flag, not enraged. They are now stoic and peaceful and fine. And then they go back to arguing afterward. Let me see that. Let me see that again. Please

[Skip Schumacher]

call third strike. Rangers don't have a challenge remaining. That's the end of the interview. Right before. God bless America.

[Dan Le Batard]

God bless America.

[Skip Schumacher]

After God bless America, they went back at it. And Schumacher gets tossed here. After coming back out of the dugout, Kishner didn't want to hear about it anymore. And then Skip would get tossed right here.

[Chris Cote]

That's awesome. Lost art form, arguing with an umpire. It's an endangered species. Not the anthem baseball sound, I think.

[Jonathan Saslow]

Yeah.

[Chris Cote]

I thought we'd be playing.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, let's. Let's play that as well. And I want to find out from the audience which they think is funnier. The one that we just played, which is God bless America, which is not an anthem. The anthems before the game. God bless America is. Is part of the seventh inning stretch, I think, which is unusual.

[Chris Cote]

Arms up like Moses in Exodus 17.

[Zaz]

This national anthem needs some setup here because there's some things to look out for as you're watching this. As they're announcing how we beat Amalek, as they're announcing this woman, Joshua, advances

[Chris Cote]

with your arms up. We lose bodies every time you put your arms down.

[Zaz]

She's the only one that gets announced here. It's not like there's. Because you're gonna hear three people singing. There's a lady singing, and then there's two women behind her that start singing. Only one is announced. The lady in the front. So I think. And then arms up.

[Skip Schumacher]

We're getting slaughtered out there.

[Zaz]

Take note here of when the two ladies start singing. The first lady acts annoyed that they're here. Almost like, why are you two singing during my.

[Dan Le Batard]

Was she surprised by it?

[Zaz]

I'm just saying watch the video, because the way she looks at them makes seem like she's annoyed that other people are coming in on her national anthem.

[Jonathan Saslow]

Oh, say can you see. What so proudly we have at the twilight last gleaming who brought stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O' er the ramparts we watched Were so gallantly streaming and the rocket's red glare the bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there still there O saved Us that star spangled bell. O' er the land of the free and the home of the.

[Chris Cote]

His arms are getting tired. Aaron and her help him.

[Dan Le Batard]

I want all of our arms up here for the last five minutes of this segment. I want to see if you guys get as tired as Chris Cody is. I am with Chris Cody. He is correct when he says that black woman was pissed that those other women were singing. She should be pissed because they couldn't sing. And I've never heard. And the rockets red glare said with that much rage behind it, like she was staring at them. You think. You think I'm kidding?

[Jonathan Saslow]

Roy.

[Dan Le Batard]

Roy, I am going to play that again for the audience. Just so. Just so. Just so the people watching on video can see this woman when she gets to. And the rockets red glare. You tell me if her glare is not stronger than the rockets red glare because of how pissed she is.

[Jonathan Saslow]

Oh, say can you see but darling divide what so proudly we hail at the twilight last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars need the punchline.

[Dan Le Batard]

Need the rest of it. Did I miss the rockets red glare?

[Jonathan Saslow]

The perilous spy or the rappers we watch were so callous Watch Lizzie streaming and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in.

[Dan Le Batard]

Am I wrong, Roy? Am I wrong?

[Chris Cote]

She's pissed.

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean, yes, she is enraged. Clearly enraged. Which one's better at Lebatard Show? Put her on the pole. Which one's funnier? Funnier Anthem, Pissed off, Rockets red glare lady or Skip Schumacher? I'm willing to get rid of instant replay and have human error pollute baseball in exchange for getting back managers running on the field and getting ejected in hysterical fashion. Are you guys not.

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Yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

You can't press your microphones with your arms up. That makes it a little more difficult for me to do the show with conversations with all of you.

[Roy]

I got. I got mine out of my elbow.

[Zaz]

Maybe we just all leave them on now. Just all these hot mic.

[Roy]

I kept it up, though.

[Chris Cote]

If you're Moses, you feel like a dick. I'm sorry, but don't do it.

[Dan Le Batard]

We're going to let a good 25 people go. They only had like 100.

[Chris Cote]

Joshua's got it.

[Dan Le Batard]

Chris Cody is not wrong that this is hard to do for 25 minutes. He is not.

[Chris Cote]

Imagine holding a staff and lives are literally in your hands. That's what Moses had to deal with.

[Dan Le Batard]

Put it up on the poll at Lebatard Show. What is the over under on how long you think that you can hold. Hold your arms over your head. I'm going to Say over. Under eight minutes.

[Sponsor Announcer 2]

Over.

[Dan Le Batard]

Under on the pole. Can you hold your arms up in the air and eight minutes and put it over or under on the pole.

[Roy]

Moses did it for the entire day.

[Dan Le Batard]

He did 24 hours. No, he did not.

[Skip Schumacher]

That.

[Roy]

Yes, he did, Dan.

[Dan Le Batard]

No, this. It's not possible. I don't.

[Roy]

They had him hold his arms up. Aaron and her. Did you not listen? They held his arms up.

[Dan Le Batard]

Also put on the poll at Lebatard show. Do you think it's possible to hold your arms over your head for 24 straight hours? Because having just done it for three minutes, I'm here to tell you that nobody can do that for 24 straight hours. That your arms will absolutely get fatigued. And it's not. I noticed all of you have. Now put your arms down.

[Chris Cote]

Because I wanted to look up this Indian dude that kept his arms up since 1973. And it just got. Yeah, and it just got stuck. Yeah. But it was like got emaciated.

[Dan Le Batard]

You're looking this up because I'm trying to be helpful.

[Chris Cote]

Yes. Sam, you know that I don't have anything for you on Fairbanks, but I got something on my back starting to hurt

[Sponsor Announcer 2]

and.

[Roy]

Come on.

[Chris Cote]

I reference Amalek. I'm trying my hardest here.

[Dan Le Batard]

Why am I holding a bat? But you guys are all with me on the idea that your arms did get pretty tired pretty fast, correct?

[Sponsor Announcer 1]

Instantly.

[Dan Le Batard]

But then I think most people would be surprised by that. I think most people listening to this would be surprised by the idea that after three or four minutes, your arms are going to get really tired, your shoulders are going to get tired. Being up.

[Jeremy]

Per Jeff Pass in, the Toronto Blue Jays are acquiring right hander Jose. Jose Soriano in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels. That's after trading away Kevin Gosman.

[Dan Le Batard]

So because I listen to so much baseball on the radio, I will surprise you guys when I tell you that Kevin Gosman for the Blue Jays has been a better pitcher than Roger Clemens and David Wells. Like, he's been one of the best Blue Jay pitchers ever, even though he hasn't been any good this year. I'm going to say it again, Gossman, in terms of value, according to the metrics, better better than David Wells and Roger Clemens, less good than Dave Stieb and Jimmy Key in franchise history. But here's why the Cubs traded for him. And I'm not making this up. I'm watching a Cubs Cardinal game the other day, a rarity for me because it's usually on the radio. I'm watching a Cubs Cardinals game, and they're talking about Colin Ray because the cubs have had 14 players go on the injured list, and they're really hurt. And I got the best description I've gotten of a player from a broadcaster who's not that good since Eric Reed one time got caught up in the air on on a loose ball and said the following and Samaki Walker is a contributor. This is what the announcer said when the colored guy was asked, hey, Colin Ray, what can you tell me about him? He starts with, he's a guy. And then it was a long pause. A long pause. So all I've got is he's a guy. And then he finishes it with who goes out there every five days?

[Chris Cote]

A contributor.