00:00Yep. August 3rd, trade deadline around the corner for Major League Baseball. Who's a seller? Who's a buyer? A lot
00:08of questions up in the air, but I can tell you this, and we were just talking about it, Craig.
00:12One team that was definitely a month ago, and we were guaranteed selling with guys like Durin, Contreras, Sonny Gray,
00:25all the Boston Red Sox felt like were up for grabs a month ago.
00:30Not so much anymore because, well, they just refused to lose, and now they find themselves a couple of games
00:37over .500, right in the thick of it here in the American League.
00:41You want to talk about going from selling to buying. What's the big turnaround besides, you know, sweeping the Yankees
00:48after that disaster and then heading into the All-Star break and winning again coming out of it?
00:55What's the big turnaround with Boston here, you think?
00:58A few players getting really hot all at the right time. I think that's part of it. Their pitching is
01:03getting deeper into games.
01:04You know, Willier Abreu is one of those players that he was Player of the Month, or Player of the
01:10Week, I believe, last week, and he has just been red hot.
01:14So that's part of it. It is a little surprising because they've had injuries, too. I left them for dead.
01:19I thought it was over with the Red Sox,
01:21but they basically right now are hitting the cover off the ball, as you see there, averaging almost six runs
01:27a game, 22 home runs during this streak.
01:30I mean, that's a very big number, too, and they're getting pretty decent pitching.
01:34So eventually, this is going to end, and my guess is after this hot streak is over, Joe, they go
01:39back to being maybe a 500 team.
01:41So I'm not sure if that gets them in the playoffs or not, but they will definitely, I would say,
01:45stay in the mix if they can.
01:46And you also have to wonder if their interim manager, Chad Tracy, has earned a shot to manage the team
01:52next season,
01:53because I thought that we probably thought a couple weeks ago that the Red Sox could start looking for a
01:58new manager now, but that is not the case.
02:00So I don't see them passing up Tampa, and I really don't see them passing up the Yankees.
02:06So it would be that final wildcard spot I think that they would have their best shot at, because I
02:10don't see them winning the division.
02:11And for whatever reason, Tampa Bay, Joe, they had a really hard time winning on the road, but the second
02:16they walk into Tropicana Field, they win like 6-1 every game.
02:20So I think Yankees and Rays are both getting in.
02:24I think that's a good call, too.
02:26And the Red Sox, listen, tonight they're going to have the young arm, I believe, on the mound for them
02:32here,
02:32but their starting pitching is a big reason why, in addition to scoring almost six runs a game during this
02:3914-game winning streak,
02:40but the starting pitching, Craig, 2.63 ERA, the bullpen, 1.15 ERA during this 14-game winning streak.
02:50They're getting it done on all three levels, and they're stealing some bases, playing some defense,
02:56and that's how you can make up a lot of ground rather quickly here.
03:01But it feels like, is that starting rotation one?
03:05Because they don't even have their lead guy available to them here at this point.
03:09Yeah, look, I think a healthy Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray is definitely good enough to keep them in the
03:15mix.
03:15And if you've noticed, some of the Cy Young markets and prediction markets for Cy Young now includes Sonny Gray,
03:21Joe.
03:21How about that?
03:22I mean, that's something I saw coming, too.
03:25But he's stabilized that rotation, and he has been great.
03:28And Suarez is a really good pitcher, too.
03:30But you see Eduardo Rivera pitching tonight.
03:32Look, this is not a pitcher that you're going to expect if they're fighting for the postseason that they would
03:36have in their rotation.
03:37They'd find somebody else.
03:39I mean, Boston's another tough call here at the deadline because you can't ignore the first three and a half
03:45months of the season.
03:46You can't do it.
03:47Or four months.
03:48You really can't.
03:50And I just don't know that the Red Sox are good enough to go far.
03:53But from a betting perspective, it was funny.
03:54We had George Kurtz on yesterday, Joe.
03:56And he said, look, I don't care who the Red Sox are playing.
03:58I don't care what time they're playing.
04:00And I don't care when.
04:00Until the streak ends, I'm betting them every day.
04:02And that's kind of the way to go about it, I think, in baseball.
04:05When you have a team that's hot, you just keep riding it and riding it and riding it until the
04:09wheels fall off.
04:10Remember the Cardinals won like 21 games in a row a few years ago.
04:13Of course, the A's did famously, too.
04:16Cleveland, when a team gets hot, you just got to get out of the way.
04:19So I would expect the Red Sox win again today.
04:22I really do.
04:23I think they're going to keep this going.
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