Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
It's time to chat with Adnan.
Chapter 2: What latest baseball news is discussed with Adnan Virk?
It's Adnan Berkey's on the show. We're gonna talk some baseball and take a trip to the silver screen. That's right, it's time for Adnan. Yes, Adnan Berkey joins us now. We'll head out to the ball game and talk about all the films he's seen. 703 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Brev, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brev in the morning is brought to you by Sands & Associates.
They're open seven days a week and open late to help you get debt-free. With no judgment or upfront fees, visit them today at sands-trustee.com. We are now in Hour 2 of the program. Adnan Virk from MLB Network is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 2. Hour 2 is brought to you by Jason Hominuck at jason.mortgage.
If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at jason.mortgage.
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Let's go now to the Able Auctions hotline. Our next guest, the presentation of Angry Otter Liquor, Adnan Virk from MLB Network joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Adnan, how are you?
I'm doing great, Mike Jason. I'm so glad Andy Cole gave me his review of Mortal Kombat 2. He called it dumb, but gory and entertaining. So, hey, if I'm desperate just to get out of the house around Victoria Day weekend, maybe Mortal Kombat 2 is the play.
I was going to ask you, but I think I knew the answer.
I just walk around for a couple hours.
This is like Brough's line when I said I had to watch that Flyers-Penguins overtime game. He said, I wish I could have talked to Alvin Poole for three hours. I think that would be a better option than Mortal Kombat 2.
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Chapter 3: What significant moment happened for the Blue Jays last night?
This is a disaster right at the plate. He's going to be 166. Like that is anemic. And 249 on base, a 325 slug. It's one of the things I do love about ballplayers. They are crazy. They'll do stuff like that. Just showering completely with clothes on, eating different meals, eating left-handed, putting on clothes differently, changing their number.
Whatever it is, the guys will do it, which I appreciate. But it's a nightmare right now. Here's the saving grace is thank God. There's still only two games under 500. Like most of the American league. It's so mediocre. If this guy just hits two 40 again, it'll be okay. Now I did think last season was an aberration. I said, there's no ways in a hit 60 home runs again.
But I would have thought 38, 40 home runs, his usual regular, and he'll hit 220. So this is at least 60 points below the batting average of where he wants to be. And again, the slug isn't anywhere near there. So he's not the only one. But normally we're used to saying Julio Rodriguez first half slumps, right? Look at his numbers now. He's hitting 269, 439 slug. Okay, he's figuring it out.
Josh Naylor pronounced slump 306 on base, 367 slump. Those guys haven't been where they need to be, but no one's been as worse as Kyle Raleigh. So you just have to think at some point he will improve and the Mariners will at least get to 500 and then make some noise in that division.
What's the worst slump of a star player that you can ever remember, Adnan?
Well, I do think this Padres story right now with Fernando Tatis is insane. Like, I cannot believe that Nando can't hit a home run. Like, this guy hit 42 home runs in 2021. Like, he was one of the game's great sluggers. He's not just a guy who's fast, and he actually hits the ball with authority. Now, we all know he got proper PEDs, but even after that, he still had 25, 27 home runs. Like, I'm...
astonished that this guy is about as futile at the plate in terms of power as Chandler Simpson. The raised speed through is not known for his power. Luis Arias is a batting champion who has no open his bat. And there's tattoo. You tell me you can't just run into a pitch and get a home run. Like he's sitting two 50 and he has zero home runs. And we're almost at Memorial day slash Victoria day.
I I'm astonished by it. He's, he's one of the league's No home runs through 38 games this year.
It's wild.
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Chapter 4: How is Dalton Varshow's performance impacting the Blue Jays?
Because as you guys know, there's no place to hide. And when it gets to you, it gets to you. I mean, I remember Jeter one time, I can't remember the year, but Jeter got off to a terrible start. I remember it was like sub 200 around this time. And it was like, oh my God, is Derek Jeter done?
And that was pretty shocking for a guy like Jeter, who was always so consistent in terms of bat to ball skills. But that was a pretty shocking one when Jeter was struggling.
Okay, so we got through Vladdy, Cal Raleigh, Fernando Tatis. I got to ask you about Shohei Otani's struggles at the plate because his come with the caveat. It's seemingly the worse he bats, the better he pitches. His numbers on the bump this year are out of this world. He looks phenomenal. But at the plate, it has been a bit of a struggle this year. So what's going on with Otani?
Is this really a case of like... I know it sounds almost ridiculous to say it this way, but... When he gets better at pitching, he gets worse at hitting.
Yeah, that's probably it. Vice versa? No, I think it's bang on. By the way, I've got to finish the Jeter thought. I looked it up. It was 0 for 32 in April 2004, and he broke it by Jason Jamek giving him a gold thong. He went 0 for 32, wore the thong under his uniform, and hit a home run the very first pitch he saw. So if we see Cal Raleigh walking on the gold thong, we'll know why.
I don't want to see that. I don't want to see that.
Back to Otani, I think he made a really smart move by saying, you know what, I don't need to necessarily hit what I'm pitching because I'm exhausted. You can look at his numbers. There's a clear dip, probably about 25% to 30%. And his offensive production when he pitches, that's when he does it. Of course, how could you not?
You're literally exerting so much pressure and energy, throwing 100 miles an hour, and all of a sudden you have to go up there and hit four times. So I think it's about, hey, when I'm pitching those days, I may not hit all good. And I do think his focus has been on trying to win a Cy Young, which I've said before, when people ask me, is he the greatest player ever?
I'm like, you know, hold the phone here. Like, I need to see 10, 12 years of dominance to compare him to, you know, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio. But I've also hedged by saying, but he wins a Cy Young and then it's over. Like, then the debate is truly done because Babe Ruth was not doing the simultaneously as you guys know. He was a pitcher, then he became a great slugger of all time.
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Chapter 5: What struggles are Cal Raleigh and other sluggers facing this season?
Would you be a high socks or no socks guy? I'd be a high socks. If I'm playing big league ball, I'm wearing high socks.
Okay, so do you need to play... a very athletic position in order to wear the high socks. Ooh, good question. Like I feel like you've got to be a really speedy outfielder or maybe just like shortstop.
It's just the aesthetic is all it's about, right? So it doesn't really matter what you do. I think you need to be fast to wear high socks. There is a speed element involved. That's back in our day, though. Really? Yep. There used to be a speed element. Pitchers wear high socks. All the skinny guys that stole bases, they all wore high socks. Otis Nixon.
No, do you know what the speed is? Are there any big... I mean, maybe there are. I don't know. Are there any big sluggers that wear the high socks?
Oh, yeah, for sure. Really? I can't name it offhand. If you can't name them offhand, then maybe there aren't. Because even Vladdy, every once in a while, will hike the socks up. Oh, really?
Every once in a while? Yeah, you try to break it up.
So he doesn't have a consistent... You don't have to be consistent. No, if you want to break out of a slump, you put the high socks on. If you're not a usual high sock wearer, you can throw them on. You know what else helps? Showering in the socks. Really? I didn't try that. I meant to mention that. So, Rowley was in an over 36 slump.
One of his teammates suggested, go shower with all your gear on, just try and change things up.
That was his suggestion?
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Chapter 6: What coaching changes are happening with the Edmonton Oilers?
He made a trade... He traded Ryan McLeod for Matt Savoy. That's looking like a trade that really worked for both teams, but worked great here. He made the fourth-round pick for Pod Coles, and it's a home run, but it's a home run on a middle six winger. What else did he do? There's another young guy that I'm missing here. He's done actually pretty well in injecting some playable youth
into an older veteran team that's trying to win right now. Usually teams in this position, they just get older and older and older and older until they fall over the edge. So good for him, right? Good for him. But the big moves, you know, this organization has had two disastrous July 1st.
Guys who, when they get to the cup, aren't even playing on the team or they're trading them before they get there. They made the Jari trade. I mean, the Jari trade was the worst trade in the National Hockey League by a country mile last year. even if you just traded Jari for Skinner, you lose that trade, but they threw in Brett Kulak in a second round pick and Brett Kulak,
I would say to you that it is a 50-50 poll question. If you went through the Oilers dressing room and asked every player anonymously, what was the worst part about the Jari trade, getting Jari or losing Kulak? Right. Kulak is a glue guy and he can play. And when the games get more important, he plays better.
He was a number five here and was probably as good a number five as there is in the game today. and they traded him away as a throw-in that creates a salary cap, and it was a disaster.
Yeah. So, Speck, what home runs are out there to be hit? I know it's not your job to come up with them, but we're already looking at an unrestricted free agent list that is not that impressive. I mean, Charlie Coyle is off the board, right? It's that sort of thing. Nick Schmaltz is off the board, and then you're looking at the list and going like...
I don't think they're going to get Malkin out of Pittsburgh. So is it going to be trades? Is it going to be free agency? How are they going to hit these home runs?
Well, that's a good question, right? It's a fair question. I mean, the goalie question is just ever-present.
Yes.
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of Chris Knobloch's firing for the Oilers?
But I don't think it's realistic to say, go out and get a number one goalie. Go out and get a guy that's as good as Demko but healthy all the time. I think history just tells us that that trade's not there. Those two guys have been trying to make it for five, six years. And to me, it can't be there.
I trust in the fact that Holland and Bowman, again, they got their warts, but they're both pretty experienced guys. So goaltending, you're going to have to figure out, and then they have to shore up around here. They're getting older. This team's getting older, right? They need to deploy their guys better.
McDavid and Dreisaitl need to play a little bit less, and they need more guys below them who can pick up some slack. You know, Ekholm, is getting older next to Bouchard. I'm not sure he can be his number two and play the minutes Bouchard can still play. And Bouchard's a legit number one in this league now. But he needs a guy that can hop the boards with him as often as he hops the boards.
And I'm not sure Ekholm's going to be that guy. So there's some showing up to do around here. The good news is you got a number one defenseman. And you got probably the three... You know, up down the middle with McDavid and Drysaddle, no one's got a better one to punch in hockey.
Yep.
So you don't have to go out and get a superstar, but you've got to do some work around the edges, and that's what they pay Bowman for.
Let's talk about potentially moving some contracts out there. Let's just start with the goaltending. Is Tristan Jari going to be back next year? Can they move that contract?
Yeah.
Oh, boy. I mean, any contract can be moved. So, yes, the short answer is yes. But around what, for whom, how are you doing it? You're going to throw in a massive sweetener to move it. And if you move it, you still need a goalie, right? Yeah. You can't just trade them. And now what?
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Chapter 8: How are the Oilers planning to address their goaltending issues?
Knowing Connor a little bit as I do, the most important thing to him here is winning, of course. There is the specter now over his career that oh my God, I can't be the guy that was the best player when all these hearts and all these are Ross's and I never want to come. Like all the great players win cups, all the great players win cups and it validates you.
And this isn't me criticizing chronic David. It's just a fact, you know, Gretz one cups, Sid wins cups, Mario one cups, The next one in that line of conversation is Conor McDavid. So he's going somewhere to win cups, and he's not going somewhere for some stupid legacy or I grew up in Leafs, Jannies, or whatever. He's going somewhere. To me right now, a team like Anaheim is my best example.
They are up and coming. They are good and young and, and good. They have assets they could send up to Edmonton and still be a really good team. You can't go to, you know, you go to Toronto and take three assets off that team. What's left? Right?
What's left? Yeah, the Ducks impressed you, eh? The Ducks impressed me. Like, I didn't think they'd be that good. But when you got a guy like Ludo Carlson who can just, I mean, he was so good in that series.
Oh, yeah. I mean, listen, from an Edmonton standpoint, you go in a series ā Dry settle's coming off a medial collateral issue. Hyman's got a domino issue. First game in, Henrique, your fourth line center, is done for the series. Second game in, Dickinson's got a broken foot. McDavid's got a broken foot. Like, they're not beating Anaheim with all those guys injured.
It's like McDavid said, too many injuries too soon. So I believe that a healthy, evident team would have probably beat Anaheim. I really do. But having said that, I love the Ducks. I love what they're doing. I love how they play. Guys, hockey is in such a good place. The teams that line up at center ice don't make the playoffs anymore and back in. The L.A. Kings, they've been doing it for years.
They don't win because the style sucks, right? Yeah. All the teams that are good now, Buffalo, Montreal, Anaheim, San Jose, like all the up-and-coming young ā Colorado. Colorado. You know, they play the best hockey, the kind we all want to watch. I mean, if you're watching Montreal play and you're not enjoying what they're doing out there, like, find another sport.
Yeah, that's why we're all cheering against Carolina.
I guess, but you know what? They forecheck you. They forecheck you, and they skate. They're quick. You know, they're not Jacques Lemaire's Minnesota Wild here. Come on. That almost ruined the sport forever. Anyway, listen, I'm really happy with where the game is. They play it the right way. And the right way succeeds, I think. In the old days, Jersey succeeded, and it was awful.
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