The Dodgers are back in action tomorrow night, opening up a three game series against the Chicago Cubs, first time the Dodgers will see the Cubs since Tokyo, and on Sunday Night. It will be a nationally televised broadcast. That means the Sunday Night Baseball crew will be in town, including my favorite Buster Only, my favorite guy from Vermont. It's not Ben or Jerry, it's Buster Only. Buster. Thanks a lot for the time appreciated.
Gee, It's not a good start because they know you're not sincere about liking anything for Vermont man.
Ben and Jerry was great in the nineties of Buster, but I feel like I've moved on.
It's great now. I don't appreciate the shots. And you'll never get that the best maple syrup in the world, which is from.
Vermont, No doubt you got that going for you, and they got Buster going for them as well. When we last spoke, when you came to Dodgers Stadium for the whole home opener, it felt like the Dodgers were in a very different weight class than everybody else. What do you think now after thirteen games that.
They still eventually will be I mean we haven't. They haven't played a game this year. When you get a fully healthy Bookie and a fully Freddie Freeman, and I do think there's going to be a time of that, because we know that the way the Dodgers handle injuries is through the prism of getting players ready for October, and so you know, we'll see that happen. But I think the you know, maybe what you're referring to is
the evolution of other teams in the division. The Nationally West might be more competitive, not because the Dodgers aren't a great team, but because the Giants are clearly better than they have been in the first year of Buster
Posey running baseball operations. The Diamondbacks are the great offense, and even though the Padres were eliminating that division series last year, when I was around them, it's pretty clear that group of players walked away from that believing, you know what, we can beat these guys, and they've got a lot of great players.
When you look at that division, I feel like the Padres are the most forgotten team in baseball. Many of us believed they could have won the World Series if not for the Dodgers winning the NLDS. UH what's the sense you get from those group of players in twenty twenty five.
Yeah, and I think the Dodgers share your sentiment on that. I mean, in the in the post uh, you know, post post World Series interviews they did last year, so many of them were referencing the fact that they felt like the Padres were the toughest team. You know they are, so start Layton. You know, you've got Manny Machado. Uh, You've got Fernando Tett Jr. Who moved up another level this year with more play discipline than he's had in
the past. Uh, you've got Jackson Merrill, who's one of the best young players at a five ninety six slegon percentage after the All Star break last year. You know. The the reason why the Padres are forgotten, I think is because their offseason was so you know, they've got this ownership going on, you know, fight over who's in control, where the payroll is going to be going forward, and so A. J. Peler, the general manager, didn't do a lot like we're accustomed to, but at the end of
the winner, he did make some moves. He sign Nick Pavetta for the rotation, which they desperately needed. They signed Jose Glacier's depth in the infield, it still feels like that that's gonna be the biggest challenge for the Padres is how much depth will they have. It's generally speaking a pretty top heavy lineup, and they need their stars to stay on the field and stay healthy. So like right now, you know this hamshring injury for Jackson Merrill.
It it's a big blow to them because they're not a lot behind that front that that great front line they have.
Buster only is joining us. He's on the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball crew. They'll be in town on Sunday for Trews and Cubs. And we just got back the Dodgers just got back from my East Coast road trip. That
reminded them they are human. And I guess since it's only thirteen Gamesbuster, I got to ask you this in that context, do you believe the Phillies might be the best and maybe the toughest competition for them considering how well they've matched up the last two years if they see each other, Because now I think it's nine out of eleven times Philadelphia has beaten the Dodgers.
One hundred percent, And look they're a really experienced team. We talked about the Padres. Believe that they'll be able to debat them. You know, Bryce Harper it is hard believes that, Yeah, they can beat the Dodgers. You know that Kyle Schwarber thinks that they've got a guy who might be the best pitcher on the planet, Zach Wheeler. You know Christopher Sanchez, developing young left hander who is absolutely dominant. We saw him, you know that at Bad
against Shohe and these great stuff. They can do that now, I think, you know, we thought that last year. People forget that. Most of last year we thought that the Phillies were the best team in baseball, and they just staded down the stretch. It's interesting because I was talking with an executive with another team during the last week and he mentioned the similarities between the Phillies and the Dodgers.
You have this great lineup, but both of those teams are older teams that are probably going to be susceptible to injuries, and they're probably not going to be as good defensively just because of the h factor. But in terms of confidence to beat the Dodgers, yeah, it'll be there.
Buster, you just mentioned defense and I know on yesterday's podcast you talked about it with Tim Kirkchin. Just now the Dodger defense may not be right now as good as it was last year. How unprecedented is it for the best right fielder in the game to try to move at age thirty one to the most demanding position outside of catcher. And what's the reviews you're hearing early on about this year's Mookie Betts.
Yeah, I mean it's never really been done never, and you you respect the fact that he's working at it. You know that he'll get better. The bottom line is he's not going to become an elite defensive shortstop at age thirty one. You know, I think afere the Dodgers with the team that they have there, you're hoping that they make plays and you don't make mistakes. But when you look at the you know, the various guys around the field, you know, Tommy Edmond is considered to be
an excellent defender. I thank Freddie Freeman on his uh, you know, on when he's healthy. He's a really good first baseman. But just talking with folks with other teams, they don't see, you know, high end defense there. Here's the thing, you know, and I know, I mean the Dodgers' front office is filled with really smart people. They know all this, and as one executive said to me this week, they built this pitching staff that strikes out
a lot of people. And so the the in the equation and the feeling is probably within the Dodgers front office that they can out hit some of their defensive mistakes and that their pitchers can strike out a lot of guys and lead runners on base.
Yeah, hopefully that happens for them. They're walking more than they're striking out these days, and their starters aren't going. In fact, buster early on, their relief pitchers have thrown more innings than their starters. This famed starting rotation has less innings pitched than their bullpen, which has been stellar to start again.
And that's in keeping with a trend in recent years where it does feel like at the end of every year and you look at you know, who throws the most innings within the Dodgers' rotation, they're always less than just about anybody else. You know, if their staff leader has been one like one hundred and thirty innings, one hundred and forty innings, they they're not getting a Zach Wheeler with a two hundred inning plow horse. I think they, you know, felt that, you know, a guy like Blake
Snell would get my hundred eighty innings. So far, that hasn't happened. We'll see if they're healthier as we go along this season.
Buster Olney is our guest. He is part of the Sunday Night Baseball crew which will be back at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, and Buster, part of the reason why I'd love to have you on the show tonight was because so much of the talk has been about breaking the Mariners record from people outside of the Dodger Clubhouse, with the exception of Miguel Rojas, but the Stars, Otani, Freeman, bats and even Dave Roberts have only talked about trying to win back to back championships for the first time
since the Yankees that you covered twenty five years ago. What do you remember about that two thousand season when they were going through it. How how can you compare it to what we may expect from this Dodger team during the regular season, as that is their main goal.
So the Dodgers, when healthy or the best team that I've ever seen. When you're talking about the you know, if you have Blake Snell and let's say Glasnow's healthy, Yamamoto, let's say Otani later in the year, Clayton Kershaw, you know, Dustin May, backed up by the best bullpen that Dave Roberts has ever put together, backed up by that incredible lineup they have. It's the best team that I've seen. It's better than the team that I covered with the
ninety eight Yankees, which is saying something. You know, that team won one hundred and fourteen games in the regular season. They won one hundred and twenty five after they blew through the World Series, including a sweep of the Podres. What distinguished that team that year was this incredible drive. I mean, you know, and I know, you know, fans go and I think they expect players to, you know, go to the ballpark every day with the with at absolute peak enthusiasm. But that's not how any of us
do our jobs. That's not human to do that. And what just absolutely stood out to me that year in ninety eight was the Yankees had been beaten in the playoffs the year before by the guard then Cleveland Indians, and they were so motivated through the ninety eight season. They were just on a mission and they played with such such high energy, even against really bad teams. Now in September they played a couple of bad games against
Tampa Bay Rays. You know, Joe Torri, who was managing them, called a meeting and chewed them out and they got back on track. That's the challenge to win that many regular season games, you know, all these guys. Once you get to postseason, you can get ramped up for a playoff game, a World Series game, and that's not going to be an issue. But to push yourself through one hundred and eighty days, one hundred and eighty one days
in regular season, that is a challenge. And that's why, you know, generally speaking, I think it's really tough for any team to win that many games in a regular season.
What about winning a back to back championship. Charlie Steiner, who's now part of the Dodger radio broadcast, was with those guys and he said they treated the race regular season as a warm up to the postseason. What they really cared about.
That's exactly right. In fact, when you know that Yankee team won the World Series in ninety eight and ninety nine and two thousand and I think it actually the regular season got harder and harder and harder for a veteran group, and they did increasingly point towards the postseason to the degree that they actually crawled into the playoffs in a couple of those years. And then they got into October and all of a sudden, the bright lights hit and they were back to full intensity. You know.
That's the challenge that Dodgers have. Which is one thing that I heard constantly from players, especially retrospectively looking back at those teams, is they felt like it was really important to bring in new guys from year to year, a new energy, players who were driven to win, So a Kirby eight for example, being really important, Blake Snell being really important, you know, as you go through the
long regular season to be driven. And those Yankee teams in the year two thousand, which was the last of the three consecutive championships, I think they added seven guys during the July August waiver period because Brian Cashman knew they needed some new blood.
Well, if you want some perspective on that Yankee dynasty and the team, the Dodgers are chasing in some ways the last team to win back to back championships. Buster published one of the best books on that Yankee dynasty, The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty Brings it All Together, and it's still out there on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. It's one of my favorite books. So Buster, love having you on. I think you're the best at what you
do and you always have great perspectives. So thank you for taking the time out and can't wait to see you on Sunday.
That'll be fun day. But I always love talking with you, except when he talks Max about Vermont.
I'll withhold on Sunday when I see you. From here on now, for the rest of Lent, I will not say anything negative about Vermon.
Okay, I'll take it. I will take it.