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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
All right, welcome back to Blair and Barker on the Sportsnet Radio Network. That was fun talking to you, Chance. It was. I mean, I know I talk about that show a lot because it is on 360.
It's a good show. It's a really good show.
I learn a lot of stuff. Those of us who are not proficient sports wagers, I learn stuff. I learn stuff from it. And Jensen's got opinions, too. Yeah, you don't have to bet to watch that show. No.
No, you learn something.
Exactly. There you go. The Jays and the Braves will open their three-game series tonight. In Atlanta, Kevin Gossman on the mound for the Jays. Bryce Elder for the Braves. The Braves, 40 wins, the first team to 40 wins in the majors this year. It is the fastest a Braves team has got the 40 wins. It's been a remarkable year. I think I looked. I did have it up here.
I believe the Braves have been in first place since, like, April 8th, something like that. They've been in first place in that division all by themselves. And, yeah, well, we're very pleased to be joined by the president of baseball operations and general manager of the Atlanta Braves, Alex Anthopoulos. Alex, thank you so much for joining us. We trust that everybody's keeping well.
Yeah, I've been, I see a lot going on. School gets out earlier in Atlanta. We got approved for our green card, so we have to go back to Toronto last week. get some of that stuff done, and just getting going with the year now. And obviously two months into the season, so still a long way to go. Yeah.
Hey, I was going to ask you, you know, it's ā I didn't realize this until I was listening to an interview you did earlier this year. I believe it was with 680, the fan in Atlanta. But ā It talked about... I'd kind of forgotten that Brian Snitger and you... You were there... Brian was your manager the whole time, basically, in Atlanta. And this year, you had to change... You changed managers.
You went with Walt Weiss. And it was interesting hearing you talk about the process of, you know, ensuring when you made the managerial change, not just that you were getting the right guy in, but that you gave the coaches an opportunity to get jobs elsewhere, et cetera, et cetera. And I was thinking... You know, how different is it to make that type of a change after, what, six years?
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Chapter 2: What managerial changes did the Braves make this season?
He had three years left on his deal. They did a successor consulting contract. So we basically signed him at that time to an eight-year deal. We added on a year as the manager. and then added on five, but we weren't going to announce anything because, look, if things change and he changes his opinion. So that was always the plan, but, you know, depending, we were rolling. We were winning.
The next year we win the most wins in the league at 104, so it was back-to-back at 100. So we were doing great, and he was so successful, and he's a great partner for me. So when he came to me at the end of the year and said, look, I think I'm done, I'm going to be 70, you know, he saw what happened to Bobby with the stroke, and they're very, very close.
And, you know, he still wanted to live the other part of his life. Still involved, but it's not exciting. I've been through this. Obviously, I went through it with the John Farrell hire, and obviously with Gibby as well. It's a ton of work. It's a heavy lift when you're doing a manager hire, and then the coaches and the staff. And look, we had a state in the office.
We did not have a good year last year, and I knew I had to make the roster better and the team better. So I was just like, in an ideal world, you don't have to have that on your plate, but You get through it. We had October because we weren't in the playoffs, so that gave us a head start. But I respected what he wanted to do. He's still very involved. He's around.
I bounced stuff off him through the manager search and so on. And he's really slid into the role that Bucs had when I got here. So he's involved in everything, and he's going to be here for life.
Okay, it seems like you picked the right guy, Alex. I do want to ask you about your roster. You mentioned your team. There has to be a little bit of a surprise. You got 40 wins right now. I mean, I know you think very highly of your team and your organization, but I'm not sure you think 40 wins. of your team this early in the season.
Is there one side of the ball that you're more surprised about? Because, you know, digging into your team because the Jays are playing you guys, you really don't have a weakness. Like, your offense is off the charts. Your pitching staff's off the charts. Your defense looks like you got Acuna Jr. back who's out of his freaking mind. Like, there's a lot of good things going on.
But surprise-wise, is there one of those sides of the ball that you're like, man, now we're cooking?
You never know exactly what to expect. Bobby Cox called them the propeller heads. We have massive baseball ops department and R&D advance. Last year, going into the season, we had projections as the second best team in baseball behind the Dodgers. That didn't work out. We thought we had a good team. You have no idea what you're going to get in terms of wins, especially the first 60 games.
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Chapter 3: How has the Braves' offseason strategy focused on depth?
Oh, absolutely right. It'll kill your team if you're giving up runs late. And you're losing baseball games out of your pen in the eighth and ninth inning. Yeah. Look at the Jays, right? I mean, you just can't figure out ways to overcome it. And for them to do the things they're doing ā Jeff, they got a bunch of dudes who know how to drive in runs.
I mean, Austin Raleigh is sort of the forgotten guy. And he's got what? Eight homers and 32 stakes. Like, you know, it's just kind of like he's just kind of fit in there, just driving in a bunch of runs, kind of the forgotten, plays great defense at third. Like, they're just ā You know, I talk about cooking with gravy a lot.
And if they can keep Acuna, I think Acuna Jr. to me is one of the top five players in baseball. He's a game changer. He is a game changer. Oh, absolutely. Without question. I mean, he's not Judge. He's not Otani. But to me, he's in the next level.
Yeah, well, to your point, the last seven games, seven hits, five homers, ten RBIs, ten walks, five stolen bases. I mean, that's basically doing whatever you want whenever you want to. How many players you can say that about? That when they're healthy, you can't stop them. It's like, and he's leading off. And I know he's got a bit of attitude, but, man, I think he's fine.
You've got to have all.
I mean, if I was Ronald Acuna, I'd be. Every once in a while, I wouldn't run to first either.
Yeah.
You know?
I'm with you, man. I'm tired. I'm tired.
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Chapter 4: What role does Raisel Iglesias play in the Braves' success?
Wish we had you on an hour and a half ago. It would have gone a lot easier. Thanks for doing this, Shai. Enjoy the weather. Appreciate it, guys. Be well. Shai Davidi, Sportsnet's MLB reporter.
Been pretty warm in that dome, though. Huh? Been pretty warm in that dome. Well, he's talking about it being warm, and, you know, the warmer it gets, the hotter you get offensively. They do play in a dome.
Yeah, but it's warmer when the roof's open.
It's pretty warm in there when it's closed, too.
You just ā
I'm searching.
You are. Again, you've been very, you've been very mid today. I've been a little swirly. You've been a little 3.75. I mean, you got to do, you got to, you got to have a hell of a closing kick to get up to 3.75 right now. Yeah. I mean, I'm giving you a, maybe a 3.2, you know, which is less than half of five, right?
That's fair. Virginia. It is. Yeah. Oh yeah.
So there you go. So it means nothing that Vladdy has hit more home runs in June than any other.
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Chapter 5: What factors contributed to Matt Olson's MVP-caliber performance?
Mm-hmm. A. I can't wait. Got all the guys keeping on the field, man.
That's all.
Jeez. I can't. Really. You really said that with two minutes left. Yeah. I'm finishing strong, man. You really said that. I'm aiming for four out of five. You really said that with two minutes left. With a straight face, too. Like you meant it. What? Older guys? Like, Georgie's old. Err. What? So you don't think a DH will ever get a day off? You want my honest answer or you want my?
Yeah, absolutely. Never. He DHs. He plays half the time. All right. And when you're not hitting, you really don't play half the time. You're really aiming for that four or five. When you're not hitting, you're not running to the bases, you're really not playing half the time. Okay, so, yeah. I'm going to give you a solid 4.2. I get it, the toe. We all get it.
But the fact of the matter is he's playing. So we should stop talking about the toe, no? All right. That's all I'm saying.
4.2. Well done.
Listen, I can't wait to watch the series.
7.15 first pitch tonight. Blair and Barker will be doing Blue Jays talk following the game. Could be a winning addition. I think it might be. I think it might be. I got that feeling. Enjoy the baseball.
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