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00:00John, Boston and New York, Yankees and Red Sox.
00:03It has a certain ring to it, the historic rivals.
00:07We did it last year, last October.
00:09It starts again Tuesday night.
00:11And you and I are probably going to talk a lot about that series here
00:14and for the next week.
00:16Absolutely.
00:17I mean, two historic marquee teams going at it once again.
00:22Last year, the Yankees barely got by and were, I don't know,
00:26either spent or they weren't as good as Toronto for the next series.
00:30They've got another, if they win this one,
00:32they've got another really tough one with Tampa coming up.
00:36But it should be a very, very interesting series.
00:38A lot of injured stars, a lot of great pitching, a lot of left-handers.
00:44It should be a very, very interesting series.
00:48I feel a little bit better about the fact we did well with the Yankees.
00:52No surprise.
00:52They get in there every year.
00:55The Mets, we didn't do so well.
00:57And we're going to talk a little bit about the Mets as well today
00:59as they had their year-ending press conference.
01:03Yeah.
01:03We'll try to break down all the important elements of this wildcard round
01:08with the Yankees and Red Sox.
01:09David Stearns did a wrap-up press conference.
01:12John and I will talk about what he said about why 2026 went badly
01:17and what he thinks will make 2027 better.
01:19I'm sure John and I will give our thoughts about what can make 2027 better.
01:23We'll play hit and error at the end if you stick with us on the show
01:26with Joel Sherman and John Hill.
01:33John, a year later, we're kind of back where we were last year,
01:37which is Yankees-Red Sox back-to-back for the first time since 2003-2004
01:42in the postseason.
01:43I think back then you could have made an easy case.
01:45Those were the two best teams in baseball.
01:47I'm not sure you can make that case this time,
01:49but it's the Yankees-Red Sox.
01:50It's always compelling.
01:52And part of what's making it compelling this time is so many players
01:55from both teams are trying to beat the clock back to try to be eligible
01:59for this series and viable.
02:01Like, you know, there's one thing to be on the team.
02:03You want to make sure you have a role on the team.
02:06And so the one that's obviously the most interesting is Aaron Judge.
02:11You and I are both doing this from Yankee Stadium after a Yankee workout on Monday.
02:15I would acknowledge that a good deal of people who hear our podcast will know
02:20by 10 a.m. Tuesday what the Yankees' decisions were
02:24and what the Red Sox' decisions were on their roster.
02:26We're flying a little more blind.
02:29We watched Judge take batting practice.
02:31John, you know what stood out for me?
02:33In his pre-workout scrum with reporters,
02:36he mentioned he had run on an anti-gravity machine.
02:40And after he took batting practice,
02:42he, as opposed to Trent Grisham or John Carlos Stanton,
02:45who both also are coming back from leg injuries,
02:47they ran on the field.
02:49They ran the bases.
02:51Judge did not.
02:53It makes it harder for me to imagine that that player
02:56is going to be an active player.
02:58But it is Aaron Judge.
03:00He says he has no say.
03:02I'm not sure I believe that.
03:03What do you think?
03:05Yeah, he's underplaying how much say he has.
03:08I think he has some say.
03:09He shouldn't have too much say.
03:11It should be up to the doctors for the most part
03:14in conjunction with Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone.
03:20Those should be the guys that make the decision.
03:22I'm with you.
03:23I mean, look, he hit.
03:25He looked fine in the batter's box.
03:27I mean, he took a lot of pitches.
03:28He walked a few times.
03:30He didn't swing that much.
03:32He did not look bad in the batter's box.
03:34But, you know, this is a simulated game, sort of, I guess.
03:39You know, I don't think it proves anything.
03:41I do think that hearing that he's not running
03:45and seeing that he hasn't run
03:47and hearing that the only running he's really doing
03:50is that anti-gravity machine,
03:53well, gravity is in the forecast tomorrow night.
03:55So I would say I don't see how he patrols the outfield.
04:01And as he acknowledged,
04:03that's how he would really help the team, right?
04:05If he's a DH, they're losing a very good hitter
04:08who's in practice, who's in form.
04:11He's not in form right now.
04:12And we saw when he came back earlier in September,
04:15when he's not in form, just like anybody else,
04:18he really wasn't completely himself.
04:21It was four for 23 with 13 strikeouts.
04:24So I think they should wait.
04:27I think they should be cautious.
04:28It's in a tricky part of the calf.
04:31And, you know, let's wait for a later round.
04:34I just don't think that he should be,
04:37and I'm not reporting anything here.
04:39I don't know.
04:40But I don't think that he should be activated.
04:42Stanton, it does feel like Stanton could be
04:45because Stanton is running, as you said.
04:48Yeah, look, the only thing I would acknowledge is
04:51it is a funky round where you play three days in a row
04:54and it's a best of three.
04:57And I know the Yankees are seriously considering
05:00carrying 10 pitchers and 16 hitters,
05:03like three over what they would normally carry
05:05as far as position players during the season.
05:07Possibly the Red Sox are doing the same thing.
05:10The Red Sox summoned from their minor leagues
05:12a guy named Brayden Ward,
05:13who is a pinch runner extraordinaire.
05:17And they might put him on the roster
05:19and he's never played a day in the major leagues
05:22and he just came up from their minors.
05:25Is it possible that the Yankees look at
05:29all the left-hand pitching on the Red Sox?
05:31The Red Sox had faced 1,000 more batters
05:35as a lefty pitching group than any other team.
05:38I think it was 1,080 more than the Phillies
05:41who were second.
05:42So the Yankees are going to see a ton of it,
05:44including if it goes three games,
05:46certainly in game one, Peyton Toll,
05:48if it went to three,
05:49Marendra Suarez would start three.
05:51And they have a lot of lefty relievers
05:52and they have a lefty closer in a roundless Chapman.
05:56Could they just say,
05:58hey, he's armed great and worn,
06:00but it's just for a potentially three at bat?
06:02I think that's what Stanton is going to do.
06:04Squish your three over par for position players anyway
06:07and just put him on,
06:09make him active to take some swings
06:11because he's Aaron Judge.
06:13And if you've got to take big at bats
06:15against lefty pitchers,
06:16you're more comfortable with him, say,
06:17than maybe putting Ahmad Rosario on the roster.
06:22I don't know.
06:23I'm just thinking out loud about it.
06:25I mean, they could do that.
06:26I just don't think it's worth the risk
06:28because if you're at bat,
06:30you may have to run if you hit the ball, right?
06:33I mean, he didn't really hit many balls today
06:34and there was no obligation to run anyway.
06:37But personally, I don't think it's worth it.
06:41Could I see that?
06:42Yeah, they could carry 10 pitchers
06:43and 16 position players
06:45and they could have the two big right-handed bats
06:48off the bench as potential pinch hitters.
06:51I would caution against that.
06:53You know, this issue that he has in his calf
06:57is in a very tricky spot.
06:59He acknowledges that.
07:00It's in the lower portion,
07:02the soleus muscle near the Achilles.
07:05I mean, why take a chance?
07:07Again, I'm just giving my opinion.
07:10But you make a point.
07:12It is possible that he could be a pinch hitter
07:17and they could take that chance
07:18and hope that he hits a home run
07:20or walks or get a pinch run for him,
07:22something like that.
07:23But I mean, he's not really running now.
07:26So, I mean, how is he?
07:28He can't be playing the outfield.
07:29To me, that would be crazy.
07:32And, yeah, I mean, he could be helpful as a pinch hitter.
07:35But, again, he's not in form.
07:37We saw in September, what, 8th when he came back,
07:40he was not in form and he was 4 for 23.
07:44So, I don't know the value of it versus the risk.
07:47The risk-reward, I think, is not good in my opinion.
07:51Yeah, John, I was throwing it open as a possibility.
07:54I think I agree with you.
07:57Look, I understand part of being a great player
08:00is probably having a level of delusion
08:03where you just believe that you can get through anything,
08:07hit anybody, do it in front of 50,000 live
08:09and a million's watching.
08:11But this is a cap injury.
08:13It's not even three weeks.
08:15It's not been described to say the lesser end of the cap injury.
08:19It's more, they use the term moderate.
08:21So, I'll assume it's a grade two, which is in the middle,
08:23which is usually a lot more than three weeks.
08:26It's also, as you pointed out, in the worst possible spot
08:30for quick healing and feeling comfortable
08:32to put somebody back on the lower part of the cap.
08:36And, you know, the Yankees are into the guy into the future.
08:39And I just think the Yankees are going to have to try to figure out
08:41how to win this series.
08:42Look, even if they do what I suggested is possible,
08:45we're talking about three at-bats maybe in these series,
08:48they're going to have to generally win this series
08:51without Aaron Judge.
08:54And to me, a lot of that then therefore comes down to this.
08:58I mentioned just how much lefty pitching Boston has.
09:02It's going to contort the Yankees.
09:04I assume Elio Ramos, as bad a defender as he is,
09:07will play right field to start against Toll.
09:11That Caballero or Rosario will play third base.
09:15But, John, there's going to be a lot of lefties in the lineup.
09:18There's still going to be a lot of left-on-left at-bats
09:20against their bullpen.
09:21And one of the success stories of the 2025 Yankees
09:25is how many left-on-left homers different guys hit them.
09:28They were not as good at it this year.
09:30They are just going to have – I keep saying this.
09:32Ben Rice could go one for four with three strikeouts
09:34as long as the one is a two-run homer.
09:37Or Austin Weld or Jazz Chisholm.
09:39Or, you know, pick your left-hand hitter who could take advantage.
09:43You've got home field advantage.
09:45You've got the porch.
09:46You're lefty leaning.
09:48You're going to have to hit some balls out of the ballpark.
09:50Yeah, I mean, you make some good points.
09:52I mean, I felt fairly – until I heard you,
09:54I felt fairly confident the Yankees were going to win this.
09:57I mean, we know they beat them last year.
09:59That's a year ago.
10:00I get that.
10:01To me, the Yankee pitching is even better.
10:04Their rotation is outstanding.
10:06These are going to be very low-scoring games.
10:08You're going to use – they've got three really good relief pitchers
10:12who've been excellent all year.
10:14I know Hedrick had one little miscue with the Grand Slam in Arizona,
10:19but basically these three guys have been outstanding.
10:23They have four excellent starters.
10:26Rodon will be in the pen, adding another good reliever for the team.
10:30So Boston is not hitting.
10:32They scored 13 runs in the last eight games.
10:35So to me, the two biggest factors – and I hear everything you're saying,
10:39and you're making me a little less confident in the Yankees.
10:42But to me, the overriding factors are Boston is not hitting,
10:45and the Yankees are pitching better than anybody.
10:47You know, John, you mentioned the other thing I think is important in this series,
10:51which is the Yankees starting pitching.
10:53And I don't just mean the three guys who are lined up to start,
10:56who are Schlittler, Freed, and Cole.
10:59I do mean Carlos Rodon.
11:02I mean Will Warren.
11:04And part of this workout today, Ryan Weathers threw.
11:08He faced the two hitters.
11:09He faced Stanton and Judge.
11:11It was abbreviated.
11:13Is it abbreviated enough?
11:14And did they see enough to say,
11:15okay, you might not pitch in game one on Tuesday,
11:17but we feel you'd be viable on Wednesday and Thursday?
11:20Because quite frankly, you minimize it there.
11:24I think they have a Brent Hedrick problem.
11:26I don't think he's thrown the ball well for about the last month.
11:29I think he hit a real wall.
11:31And if I have to bring in Carlos Rodon from the left side
11:34or Ryan Weathers from the left side,
11:35you might actually need that.
11:37The Dodgers won the World Series last year
11:39by being very aggressive with the Snells
11:41and the Yamamotos as relief pitchers.
11:43As we remember, the 2019 Nationals kind of followed
11:46the same path to a championship.
11:48I think they're going to have to lean heavily on starting pitchers,
11:51including starting pitchers as relievers.
11:53And I think it's the biggest difference maker for the Yankees.
11:56It's so clearly the strength of their team.
11:58Yeah, look at them compared to some of these other teams
12:00in the American League.
12:01I mean, Houston's going with a bullpen game.
12:03The White Sox, who knows what they're doing?
12:05Eric Fetty is somehow in the mix now.
12:08And so is a kid named Sandlin.
12:10We'll see.
12:11I mean, obviously they got Burke and they've got Davis Martin
12:13who are okay.
12:14But I mean, they don't even crack the top five of the Yankees.
12:17I mean, that is such an advantage in this American League.
12:21And really, I mean, it should be Yankees and Rays.
12:24That should decide this.
12:25And we'll see if the Yankees get there.
12:27They're going to have to get over a team that's been very streaky.
12:31Now, they're not on a good streak at the moment,
12:32but who knows?
12:33They may be turning around.
12:35I mean, they won 15 in a row at one point.
12:38You know, they certainly have it in them to be very, very dangerous.
12:41And their pitching is very good as well.
12:43So this should be a very low scoring.
12:45The Yankees have to keep their mistakes to a minimum.
12:48As you pointed out on this podcast many times,
12:51they're not good guarding the bunt.
12:53They're not good on certain defenses.
12:56And they better be careful about that
12:58because these are going to be very low scoring games.
13:00They were last year.
13:02And the pitching is even better this year for the Yankees.
13:04And I think it is for Boston too.
13:07I think we'll see if Crochet comes back.
13:08But obviously, they added Suarez and they added Tully,
13:12who's starting game one.
13:13So their pitching is in great shape as well.
13:16So they're going to be very low scoring games.
13:18And, you know, mistakes could determine things.
13:21The Yankees do have a better lineup.
13:23I mean, particularly with Contreras having his issue.
13:26I mean, obviously, you take Judge out, potentially.
13:29You take Stanton out of the starting lineup.
13:31That certainly hurts the Yankees.
13:33But the Yankees are deeper and more powerful in terms of the offense.
13:37Yeah, you know, Tully faced the Yankees twice this year.
13:40The Yankees were 4-for-43 against them.
13:43You know, he's kind of a little bit of a lefty version of the guy he's facing,
13:48Hugh Schlittler.
13:49He doesn't throw quite as hard.
13:50But both of them throw like 9 out of 10 pitches for both guys
13:53as some form of a fastball.
13:56And both of them dominate the other team.
13:59Schlittler dominates Boston.
14:00Tully has dominated the Yankees.
14:04It sets up an interesting situation there.
14:07You mentioned Contreras' injury.
14:08He batted twice in the final game of the season.
14:12It's like the only time he batted in the last few weeks.
14:15They lost Mickey Gasper, which might have sounded like a funny joke about May.
14:19But he turned into an important part of their team.
14:23Raffaella has been limping around a lot between a quad and a hamstring situation.
14:29I think he's good to go.
14:31Chapman and Whitlock have hardly pitched late in the season.
14:34Is that because, hey, they were locked into the three, let's get them reset, etc.
14:39Or is there more going on?
14:41Chapman had at least a lot recently.
14:43So the Red Sox have beat up, John.
14:45And it leads to kind of like where I think I want to go to end this segment,
14:49which is I think the Yankees are the better team.
14:52Best of three series.
14:53You know, you can play Colorado with the Angels and lose a best of three series.
14:56They're fickle.
14:58But they're fickle every year.
15:00The Yankees get to the playoffs pretty much every year.
15:02And at some point to me, I admire how incredibly consistently successful they are, right?
15:08As we were doing this today, as we were listening to Cam Schlittler today,
15:13was the exact same time David Stearns, 10 miles away, was doing a press conference.
15:18So I know a New York team can have a big payroll when all the advantages come to New York
15:22and
15:22completely tank.
15:23So I have great respect that the Yankees are consistently successful.
15:26But man, they need a chip.
15:28They need to win this series, and they need to finally get back on the championship board
15:33and get number 28.
15:35Yeah, and people really, I don't think, appreciate enough how difficult it is to win every year
15:40and to make the playoffs almost every year.
15:43What Boone has missed one time in the playoffs, I believe.
15:46That's pretty good.
15:48Cashman's had a winning record every year.
15:50It started in the 90s.
15:52So that's really good.
15:55But they better win the series because there's going to be quite an outcry.
16:00You know, Yankee fans, you could say they're a little spoiled, but it is true that they
16:05have not won.
16:06A little.
16:07They haven't won since 2009.
16:10That's a pretty long time.
16:12And to go out to your rival in round one when you haven't won in a long time.
16:17Now, Boston did go out to the Yankees last year, but they've won a bunch of championships.
16:21If Boston's, you know, either great or not so great, the Yankees are consistently good.
16:27It is interesting, which is better.
16:30It is pretty amazing to win, to be as consistent as they are.
16:34But if they don't win this series, there's going to be quite an outcry, I'm sure.
16:39Yeah, no, I think our friends on social media will handle it well.
16:44They certainly didn't.
16:46If you were a Mets fan, that wasn't handled well.
16:47I made reference that today was the wrap-up press conference for David Stearns, where
16:52he talked about what was in a bad season for the Mets and what he hopes for in the offseason
16:57moving forward.
16:58John and I will talk about that and also talk about what we think the Mets should be prioritizing
17:02if you stick with us on the show with Joel Sherman and John Hayman.
17:10David Stearns talked to reporters today.
17:14The Mets decided to have their press conference at 2 o'clock or at about the same time things
17:18were going on here.
17:19I don't know.
17:20That assured that a lot of us who might have gone to that if they did it earlier in the
17:24day wouldn't be there.
17:27So Stearns, I thought, did a couple of interesting things.
17:31He acknowledged, like, he doesn't get a mulligan on Alonzo, but that came as close to acknowledging
17:35it was a mistake as he has in the years since he let him go.
17:40He said he wasn't going to use the term run prevention anymore after kind of that became
17:45the line.
17:46But then he used the term that what they did last season had uncapped a downside scenario.
17:54For a guy who's trying to show he's not a robotic guy, that was something.
17:59And to me, John, the one that stuck out the most, and again, we weren't there.
18:03I always want to give that maybe we missed something in tone or something, is he acknowledged
18:08that they have to do a better job of figuring out, like, oh, yeah, like guys who can play
18:13and handle New York, well, one of the upsides of David Stearns was supposed to be, he grew
18:19up in New York, a Mets fan.
18:21He was supposed to know stuff like this.
18:23Did it really come as a surprise that, like, you need the right temperament to play here?
18:29Yeah.
18:29I don't know.
18:30It didn't strike me.
18:31Now, again, we're not there, like you said, and we're reading the quotes on Twitter, and
18:34I listened to some of it until we were let into the Yankee clubhouse.
18:37It didn't strike me like it struck you.
18:40I think he was just acknowledging that they've got to do a better job of doing that, and
18:47it's not good that he did do a good job of realizing, you know, New York is a thing.
18:54I mean, I don't know.
18:55What was he supposed to say?
18:56Was there a better answer to that?
18:57I don't know.
18:59That one didn't bother me.
19:01The uncapped one, I still don't know quite what that means, other than we bombed this
19:07year and finished last, and it was terrible.
19:09I do think on the Alonzo, we don't get a mulligan.
19:14That's cute.
19:15You know, I'm not sure he's acknowledging that's a mistake yet.
19:19Come out and say we made a mistake, but I mean, in his mind, he hates having those long
19:24deals, right?
19:24So maybe, I don't know, is it possible?
19:27He didn't say.
19:27So is it possible he'd still be worried about the fourth and fifth year on Alonzo, you know,
19:34because of, you know, all the reasons we talked about, you know, for the last two years?
19:39I don't know.
19:40I mean, you know, it was a cute answer.
19:42He's a smart guy.
19:43But that's the one that bothered me.
19:46I mean, just say, yeah, we blew that.
19:48We blew it.
19:49We should have signed him.
19:50Uh, at this point, uh, I think that's pretty clear, uh, particularly the way they, uh, uh,
19:57handled first base without him.
19:59Uh, they were, uh, abysmal.
20:00Uh, and I, I think they know that.
20:02I mean, they, they've said that young has did a nice job and yeah, he did.
20:06He certainly outperformed any expectation and he certainly could be part of the team next
20:11year, but they're going to have to work on first base.
20:13Cause, uh, Polanco could be a sunk cost of $40 million, which is, it's not good either.
20:18Right.
20:19I mean, he could be a sunk cost already.
20:20I wouldn't be worrying about Alonzo three, four or five years from now.
20:24Uh, I don't know.
20:26Don't, don't you think he could admit, uh, yeah, we blew it.
20:28How about that?
20:29Yeah.
20:29Like to me, it's always, you could let a guy go.
20:32I, the analogy I keep using is Freddie Freeman was more important to Braves history than Pete
20:38Alonzo even was the Mets history, but they replaced him with Matt Olson.
20:41Like, you know, you replaced them with Polanco and Vientos and a bunch of stuff that just
20:46produced the worst offense and defensive combination in the sport at first base.
20:50It just wasn't good enough.
20:52Like you, you, you made a mistake.
20:54You compounded it.
20:55Um, you know, like you are worried about the fourth or fifth year.
20:58You worried about the fourth or fifth year of memo.
21:00And you ended up with Simeon who you have to worry about the first, second and third year.
21:04Like he's a, he's a sunk cost.
21:06They might have to, they might have to eat that contract.
21:09You know, like, I think in utility, maybe, I mean, I think they need to get a second baseman
21:14the way he played this year.
21:16I think Bichette should play second base.
21:18Yeah.
21:18I've, I've heard that, seen that.
21:20I don't know.
21:22What is it?
21:22Can they sign the Japanese?
21:24I guess he's willing to do either.
21:25Uh, like, yeah, I don't know.
21:26Is the Japanese a good third baseman?
21:28I don't know.
21:29He's a good hitter.
21:29Right.
21:30Yeah.
21:30I'm not sure.
21:31Sato.
21:32Uh, yeah.
21:33So John, let me, let, let me turn to the off season.
21:36Uh, he, uh, Stearns acknowledged just a little, I wrote a piece that will be on, uh, New York
21:42post plus, uh, sports, uh, starting on Tuesday morning.
21:46If I, if I were in charge, like where I would be arcing and, uh, Stearns kind of sounded
21:52similarly that he thought they needed to address the top of the rotation.
21:56Uh, everything is tricky.
21:58And so we have to acknowledge that John, and just forgive me for taking a little second here
22:02to acknowledging for people who might not appreciate this yet, who are listening to us.
22:06We are going into an off season where we don't know the financial rules moving forward.
22:11Uh, and right this second, the Mets don't, I think you and I probably both think that
22:16Bo Bichette's going to opt in, but it's hard to plan financially, whether, you know, he's
22:21the 42 million is on your books and you have that bat in your lineup or you don't, they'll
22:25know with that within five days after the world series at the latest by rule, but you
22:31don't know, I'm sure there'll be some grandfathering if there's a salary cap or more punitive, uh,
22:37luxury tax to what's already called the Steve Cohen luxury, you know, part of the threshold.
22:42I think it's going to make it hard for them to do more long-term big contracts.
22:48And so when I wrote, I just simply said, I get it.
22:51If I'm a Mets fan, I'd want Tarek Skubal.
22:53I'm going to take him off the table just because like, I think it would be hard to get to
22:58a number
22:58in the 200 millions, if that's where they have to arc for a salary cap or to avoid big
23:03punishment.
23:04And I threw out a bunch of other names like Nick Martinez, Clay Holmes, uh, and Michael
23:09King from free agency, and maybe in trade, somebody like, um, George Kirby, who's from
23:15New Rochelle, Reed Detmers, who really broke out this year, Sandy Alcantara.
23:19I would at least make a phone call to the Rangers about Jacob the Grom, see if they want to
23:24get
23:24out of that money and would take a bad contract back and a prospect or two, I doubt he would
23:29do that.
23:30I think if he's going to accept the trade, I know he turned down the Braves during the
23:33season, the Braves or the Rays feel like something closer to home that he might accept afterwards.
23:40Anyway, John, I kind of felt like they could go one from column a free agency and one from
23:44column B a trade.
23:45I want to do it.
23:46And I kind of think that is as badly as they need a first baseman in the third base.
23:50I'm not saying to ignore these other things.
23:52I think their problem this year started with, they thought in spring training, they had
23:57a lot of starting pitching depth and they were wrong.
23:59And to me, begin next year with Zach Thornton as your sixth starter.
24:03Jonah Tong is your seventh starter.
24:05They'll pitch plenty if they deserve to and get five guys in front of them who are more
24:09certain.
24:10Yeah.
24:11Look, I thought they had depth too.
24:12And I even wrote a column at the end of spring training that they had pretty good depth.
24:16Didn't turn out that way.
24:17Freddie Peralta did not pitch well for the Mets.
24:19As many people predicted, he was a lot better with the Rays.
24:23Good for the Rays.
24:24They know what they're doing.
24:25He was not a lot better.
24:26He was great with the Rays, particularly at the end.
24:29They definitely need pitching.
24:31I like some of your ideas.
24:32Those were guys they passed on last winter.
24:36King and Nick Martinez, who were excellent this year.
24:40King, who was from Rhode Island.
24:42Nick Martinez, who was willing to come to New York.
24:44They passed on him.
24:46I'd like those ideas.
24:48It will be interesting on school, although I'm not sure they're getting a cap anyway.
24:52And I'm not sure how the grandfathering rules work.
24:55Are certain contracts off limits and they'll be OK?
25:00Is it better to sign someone now?
25:02I mean, you know, if they do get a cap and they haven't signed anybody great, are they
25:07ever going to be able to sign somebody great later?
25:09I don't know.
25:10So I'm still not ruling out Scooble.
25:13You know, they're certainly one of the teams that can afford him.
25:16And we'll see what the Dodgers can afford now, right?
25:19I mean, are they going to go hog wild like usual?
25:22We're not sure.
25:23They've got a lot of stuff going on there, as we know.
25:25We don't need to get into that now.
25:27But certainly there are other options.
25:29You bring up a lot of good ones.
25:31I think there's no chance DeGrom will accept.
25:33I'm surprised.
25:34And so is Atlanta surprised that he didn't accept Atlanta?
25:37But if he's not accepting Atlanta, he is not accepting the Mets.
25:41I don't think he'd love New York.
25:43I don't know if he's going to put it that way.
25:45I don't think he'd love New York.
25:46So I just don't see that happening.
25:49Yeah, John, I just want to be clear about something is I'm not taking Scooble off the
25:54board as much as I'm just trying to think along.
25:56You know, Scooble is represented by Scott Boris.
26:00Last time we were in this situation, I think his top two clients were Seager and Simeon,
26:05and he got them done before the lockout.
26:07I think it would be incredibly difficult to get a guy like this done if you're the Mets
26:12before the lockout without not knowing the rules.
26:14Now, if you say Scooble lingers in the market after the lockout and there's no cap or there's
26:20real grandfathering in, I think the Mets become totally big players for him.
26:24I'm just thinking along with it.
26:26It should be a limited number of teams, right?
26:28You know, I think they probably anticipate they were going to battle the Dodgers again.
26:33I mean, this happened a number of times, right?
26:35It was basically them and the Dodgers on Tucker.
26:40Good job by the Mets not winning that one.
26:43It was them and the Dodgers on Bauer.
26:46Good job not winning that one.
26:48It was them and the Dodgers on Diaz.
26:50Turns out they look pretty good on that one as well, losing out to the Dodgers.
26:55If it is them and the Dodgers, it's difficult to beat the Dodgers under normal circumstances.
27:01These circumstances aren't quite normal, although the Dodgers do have an advantage, a little
27:06bit one, because Scooble is with the Dodgers right now.
27:09But I still wonder what the Dodgers are going to be willing to do in terms of finances.
27:14They're making money like crazy and they certainly can afford it.
27:18And but they have the cap situation.
27:20And then obviously we know the situation with their owner where he has already sold the Lakers
27:25and he sold the soccer team and, you know, I I'm going to take them at their word.
27:30They're going to hold on to the Dodgers.
27:32But are they going to operate the way they've operated the last several years?
27:34I'm not sure of that.
27:36Yeah.
27:36You know, I done.
27:37And just to go back to something else is I picked a couple of the three guys I picked
27:41for the look into free agency just to double down on.
27:47I want to make sure guys are comfortable in New York.
27:48Obviously, Holmes and King are comfortable in New York.
27:51Holmes succeeded.
27:51Both New York teams.
27:52King succeeded for the Yankees.
27:54Nick Martinez went to Fordham.
27:56George Kirby, one of the trade guys, is from Westchester.
28:01He grew up a Yankee fan, but he's from Westchester.
28:04Obviously, DeGrom, I mentioned, had great success.
28:06I'm kind of trying to think along also about putting people here who I know won't be kind
28:12of cowed by it a little.
28:14John, maybe a way to finish on the Mets is is something more positive because it will
28:19also have great value.
28:21Again, if there's a cap or something more punitive moving forward, they did break in a bunch of
28:27young players who were very successful, and you could read that as inexpensive, too.
28:32I think they have great hope that Jefferson Rojas, who they got from the Cubs for Clay
28:36Holmes and Mitch Boyd and maybe Jonathan Santucci following to those steps next year as inexpensive
28:42guys.
28:43Maybe Tong figures some stuff out also and joins it.
28:47Let's try to end this segment on a somewhat positive note with the Mets.
28:50I think I think I think I think that that is the good news for 2026 in a bad season
28:57and
28:57the good news moving forward for whatever system is coming, especially Benj and McLean, who
29:02are going to finish in the top five for rookie of the year in the National League and maybe
29:06even better than five, maybe two, three someplace in there.
29:09But it feels like they have everything in that group of young players from contributors to
29:15potentially, you know, 10th hole players.
29:19Yeah, I mean, the rookie class, I would say, we tied with the Cleveland Guardians, the best
29:24in baseball this year.
29:25The Guardians, obviously, with Parker Messick, will be top five in Cy Young.
29:29So he was even better than McLean.
29:31Actually, Bazzano was a former number one overall pick, a very good instinctual player.
29:37And certainly the louder had a 130 OPS plus.
29:40So they had a really good production from their rookies.
29:44I mean, same thing.
29:45I mean, Benj was outstanding.
29:47It was a little rally.
29:49It looked like the last week or so there was a rally.
29:51Maybe he steals rookie of the year.
29:53I kind of think Stuart is probably the favorite with the big RBI total for a really terrible team.
30:02But Benj has got a shot at it.
30:04And so McLean was outstanding, particularly in the second half or final one third, whatever.
30:11And A.J. Ewing, I think, showed some excellent signs.
30:14Thornton was surprisingly good.
30:17Tong was better this time around than last time.
30:19So, yeah, I don't know.
30:21I saw you wrote that the Mets were number one ahead of Cleveland.
30:24I might be inclined to agree with that.
30:27So that is a huge positive for them.
30:29I know we, I'm sure they think, and maybe we tend towards negative on the Mets, but we've got to
30:37give them props for that because they are developing players.
30:40And that is the way, one of the key ways to win, particularly if you're not going to be great
30:45at free agency.
30:47Hopefully they'll be better at free agency than they were last winter.
30:50But I think the developing players is huge.
30:54And it was huge for Stearns with Milwaukee.
30:56And no reason it can't be with the Mets again.
30:59And Jefferson Rojas looks really terrific.
31:02And that might end up being, look, maybe they do put, again, I'm thinking out loud here, John.
31:07You put Bichette at second.
31:08You put Beatty at third, who finished strong again.
31:11I don't know what that means.
31:12He finished strong last year and then tanked the first half of the season again.
31:16I'm going to give him a pass on that because he played all the positions.
31:21Yeah, he was really, I thought he was good at third.
31:23I thought it was odd that they picked up a third baseman.
31:26I mean, I'd certainly like Bichette, but I thought he was a good defensively at the third baseman.
31:31And, you know, it wasn't the fairest situation for him to be in, to be a utility man when he
31:36did a nice job.
31:37I thought defensively, I thought Bichette was average at third.
31:40I thought he was above average at third defensively.
31:43So I'm not opposed to that at all, but I don't know what you do with Zemi and then.
31:48Yeah, you might have to eat that contract.
31:51You might have to see if you could take another bad contract back.
31:53The reason I brought it up is maybe Beatty turns out to be a good placeholder for Jefferson Rojas,
31:58who played a lot of third base with the Mets.
32:00And ultimately, maybe that's his position moving forward.
32:04But the Mets at least feel like they have a group of players, young, inexpensive, that make them viable for
32:13trades and building something, regardless of what the system is.
32:17And I think you have to, going into this offseason, as much as we hate dealing with the economic stuff
32:24with baseball that kind of has a chance to shut it down for a while,
32:28I think we're all afraid of, in 2027, you can't just walk blindly into the offseason.
32:33I think you have to recognize that something is coming that will probably make having large payrolls more problematic from
32:41the very strict, the salary cap, to even more penalties.
32:45There is playoffs outside of New York, obviously.
32:49Obviously, John and I will come back, play a little hit and error, and probably get into some of that
32:54playoff stuff if you stick with us on the show.
33:03John, traditionally, I thank our guests.
33:05I'll thank you, as always, your great partner.
33:07And why don't you go with hit or error?
33:09Well, my hit or error is the Padre Cubs series.
33:12We're going to see if the Padres can flip this on the Cubs.
33:14The Cubs beat them last year.
33:16I think these are two interesting teams.
33:17The Cubs, the streakiest team in baseball, with two 10-game winning streaks, a 10-game losing streak.
33:23They're all so interesting to me because, at least going by war and by runs, they have the best offense
33:29in baseball and, I think, the best defense in baseball.
33:33Their pitching isn't quite as good, but it should be better than it's been.
33:37And so I think they're a real threat.
33:40The National League is tough.
33:41I mean, all these teams, there's something good to be said about all of them.
33:43But San Diego, obviously, they've got some huge stars, big personalities.
33:48They've got new ownership.
33:49Their second half was outstanding.
33:52They've got all the excitement of the sellouts at home.
33:55They would sell out even the regular season.
33:57And to me, that's a fun series.
33:59That's the one I would like to see.
34:01Of course, it's on even later than the Yankees series, which is on too late for me.
34:06But I'll be here anyway at 8 o'clock with the Yankees series.
34:10What time is the Padre Cup series?
34:1210 o'clock, I think, right?
34:1410 o'clock.
34:14You know, I mean, that's a little bit.
34:16We're going to be busy riding me and you when they're playing baseball.
34:21John, just big picture.
34:23I like that series, too.
34:24I wish I could watch the games.
34:25It's going to be difficult.
34:27Just big picture.
34:28I think about the Dodgers are still the team to beat.
34:32Duh.
34:33They've won the last two championships.
34:34But just down the stretch, they kind of started to get a little healthier.
34:37And they just started to dodge, which is they end games with more runs than the other team.
34:44They just know how to win games.
34:45And it's going to be hard for somebody to win four out of seven against them.
34:48The series I'm looking at is the two teams we thought the Mets would play with in the NL East
34:54this year,
34:54which is the Braves and the Phillies.
34:56And I particularly have my eyes on the Phillies and wondering, is this a last gasp series at all?
35:01We saw them wheeze to the finish line and almost have one of the great choke jobs of all time.
35:06And as we look at this, you know, like JT Real Muto and Harper and Schwarber and like, you know,
35:13we talk about the Yankees need to cash in a check, a chip.
35:16But this group also feels they haven't had the long period of a drought, but they actually won the championship
35:23the year before the Yankees.
35:24Right. No way. And then lost in 09 to them.
35:27And I just wonder, is this like the last gasp of this group?
35:31You know, Wheeler's older, Knoller's older, Real Muto's older, Schwarber's older, Harper's older.
35:36And by the way, like they were accounting on Painter and Crawford kind of doing what Benj and McLean did.
35:42And they didn't get that this year from them.
35:45I'm not even sure they got Fortin and Ewing out of those two guys this year.
35:49I thought that like, again, it didn't help the Mets make the playoffs.
35:51So I'm not looking for a hey, but just thinking about it moving forward, their prospects have not hit like
36:01the group,
36:01like the Boehm-Stott group that they thought they would get more out of.
36:05They didn't. And now Boehm is a free agent.
36:08I'm watching this because I'm fascinated by the Phillies.
36:12I think both you and I have great affinity for Don Mattingly, who might be managing for his ability to
36:17stay in that job.
36:19You know, like I'll maybe have to win a couple of rounds.
36:23That's the one I won't be able to take my eyes off of.
36:26Yeah, it's an interesting one.
36:27Mattingly, you're right.
36:28We do have great affinity for him.
36:30I said the right thing in the celebration, which is we're starting fresh now and none of this matters.
36:37And basically, I'm paraphrasing.
36:39It doesn't matter how you got there.
36:41I think it's kind of what he said.
36:43But I almost think, you know, reality is that it probably does matter.
36:48They did wheeze toward the finish line.
36:50They are in a tough spot, I think.
36:52I mean, the Braves have a very good situation.
36:55They never got the great number two starter that we were all clamoring for them to get.
37:00But they have a great team.
37:01And they're ready.
37:03And right now, the Phillies have a very bad bullpen.
37:06They have a slumping, generally, offense.
37:11They have never had a good defense.
37:14And the big issue for me is that that vaunted rotation, which should be good, is a little bit unsettled,
37:23I'll say, at this moment.
37:24So they've got so many issues right now.
37:27You know, good for Mattingly and them that they got there.
37:30Again, they made it five years in a row.
37:33So I think for them to break that hex or whatever and get over the top and win the World
37:38Series, I think they're about as unlikely as some of those American League teams that we see with basically 500
37:45records at this point.
37:47Yeah, to see them win 13 games from here on with the problems they have in the bullpen is very
37:52difficult from here to there.
37:53You always get surprised.
37:54Guys, I do want to thank – this was a difficult day to kind of work everything out.
37:59And so, as always, I want to thank John for helping work it out today so we can do this.
38:04But Tommy Hogan, our producer, our great producer, thank you so much for sticking with us today so we can
38:09get this done.
38:11Apple, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcasts, please rate and review us.
38:14The New York Post YouTube sports page.
38:17Give us a view when the playoffs are off and running.
38:20John will be back with me next week.
38:21We'll talk about whether the Yankees survived or not if you stick with us on the show with Joel Sherman
38:27and John Heyman.