Ep8: The Everything & Nothing Episode!

[00:00:11] Alright, alright, alright! Welcome to The Diamond Geezers with Carlos, Vinnie, Peter and yours truly Rey, where the game never gets old. Hello gentlemen. How's everyone doing? Is it the game never gets cold? Or old? Well, given the weather, it never gets cold too. Okay. No, it's where we never get old or the game never gets old.

[00:00:36] Today is January 25th. We're having a special episode today, an episode called Everything and Nothing. More Nothing probably than Everything, but we're going to give it a shot. It's sort of a mixed episode, a mixed bag that we're going to talk about. Each of us is going to share some events, some thoughts that maybe, you know, events that have happened over the past several episodes that we've been focused on because we were focused on this particular topic.

[00:01:06] Or, we just want to shoot the shit. Oops, sorry. About whatever talk we want to talk about that's of interest that involves the Mets and the Yankees, or maybe baseball in general. You might even touch a little bit on the Jets. I have something to say about the Jets real quick, but I'm going to say it. So... Vinnie's chopping at the bit. Oh, is he? Vinnie, I have to be honest. I'm impressed.

[00:01:33] Every time we do a new episode, you've added something to your collection in the background. I'm a little concerned because it seems like it's pushing you into the corner of the video. I'm trying to get everything in there, but that's because I'm a geezer. That's how I can remember my name. I just have it up behind me. Gotcha, gotcha. Well, I'll just say this. I just... I spent this morning in the enemy territory in the Bronx, and I survived coming out of it.

[00:02:01] But I was surrounded by a bunch of Yankee fans. It was incredibly horrible. So, just letting you know. Especially on a day where it was... It's so hard to hold back. Oh, don't worry. Don't worry. We'll talk about that later. All right, Vin. So, go ahead. Set this up and you have to set it off. All right. One thing I got to address, and I apologize to our listener.

[00:02:27] I've been pushing the unholy trinity of trying to get that to take hold. It was the Dodgers, the Mets, the Yankees. Then I get an email. SportTrack projects the salaries for the teams going into the season. There was actually a fourth entrant there who was actually second ahead of the Yankees and the Mets at this point. The Phillies. I didn't see... Honestly, I didn't see that coming. So, now, I was looking up... I said, all right, how do I rename this?

[00:02:54] So, I'm looking at, you know, historical foursomes. I got some horrible ones. The Manson family came up. I was like, I can't go that route. That's good. That's right. The Borgia family. So, I actually settled on, we're going to call these four the Wild Bunch. Now, if you guys know who the Wild Bunch is, this is Billy the Kid. It's Jesse James. The Sundance Kid. The Wild Bunch. And Longhead Jim Cartwright. Who were infamous for violence in the 19th century and train robberies.

[00:03:23] The robbery part could be, you know, I could see how that segues to the four teams who are robbing us when every time we have to go to a game to watch them. You know, you have to take out a second mortgage just to go to a game now. But that... I'm going to go with the Wild Bunch now. So, when we talk about them... And the Mets are the leaders. They are the Billy the Kid of this Wild Bunch. Wow. Number one. Ray, am I correct? Wow. Wow. They are the Billy the Kid.

[00:03:52] They are the leaders of the Wild Bunch. They got the most money to spend. No, no. I'm saying woo-hoo a lot. You like it, right? I'm going to have somebody agree with me finally for the first time. Thank you. Okay, so that... I just wanted to say, we'll now be Wild Bunch from now on. Which actually sounds a little better. Which one are we? Which one are we? Which one are we? The Mets, Billy the Kid, the Yankees? Who's the worst? We could be Jesse James. Jesse James. I like it. I like it. Thank God it's not the Manson family because then... Yeah, I know. ...we set these squeaky thrown-ups. Okay. Yeah, I didn't want to go.

[00:04:22] And then we give the Dodgers the Sundance Kid because they're in the Sunshine State. We'll give them that. You know, they're in California. And the long hair, Jim Cortright. They're your Phillies. Because you got... What do they got? Marsh. They got, you know, Harper. They got a lot of guys. They got guys with long hair. So there we go. And I just came up with that on the fly. So here we go. Well played. This is officially the dumbest conversation we've ever had with this whole, you know... This is your idea.

[00:04:51] And a whole... No, the guys are dumb. This is your idea. Because... Because... Okay. When that was said about the Yankees, it was because they were disproportionate to everybody else. Okay? The fifth highest payroll... Okay? I don't... The fifth highest payroll is only 30 million or so behind... And they haven't done yet behind the Mets. There's no one's blowing anybody out of... Well, the Padres.

[00:05:20] 50 million, I think it was. No. It's the Blue Jays. I'm sorry. It was 40-something million. The Blue Jays at 223. Houston's at 211. I mean, these things aren't like the Dodgers, the Yankees, the Mets are at 280 and everybody else at 120. No, this was Sport Track, Pete, projecting what the payrolls would be. I'm looking at a Sport Track. Would be... The text I got... I'll actually go to it right now because now you're pissing me off. 290 for the Dodgers. It's having me a stupid conversation. 290 for the Phillies.

[00:05:50] It had the Dodgers at 374. What? It's projecting their payroll. Tax... I'm sorry. Tax payrolls, including the tax. Well, this is total payroll allocations. 290. 374 for the Dodgers. 303 for the Phillies. 298 for the Yankees. 292 for the Mets. 243 for the Padres. That's 50 million. That's a big enough distance. They don't get entry into my little wild bunch. They're out.

[00:06:20] Over. It's over. It's the wild bunch, not the unholy trinity. It's a new one. I understand that you didn't want to sit by yourself being called mean names. And so you want to drag as many people next to you so when they throw the rocks, you're not the only ones sitting there. I understand Vinny. Well, of course you need cover. We'll stand there with you. Why do I got to take the bullets? Why does Carlos got to take the bullets? We need cover. That's how it works. As long as we call it what it is, we'll stand there with you, make you feel better.

[00:06:49] You don't feel alone. It's only a matter of time, Pete. You guys will be passed with the Dodgers. And once Vlad is a free agent, you guys are just, it's, you guys are laying in the weeds. When it happens. What is Ray? What is it Ray? Last man standing, last team standing. See, see, see, see, see, now, now, now, now, understand something. You're putting me in a very bad spot because. I know. You're, you're, you're, you're, you're tying, you're pushing me into a corner here that I'm not comfortable with.

[00:07:17] And you're going to make me say something about the Yankees that I don't want to say. Okay. What are you going to say? I'm sorry. I haven't, I haven't, I haven't figured it out yet. I'm going to, I'm going to save you. I'm going to save you without looking at sports. Thank you. Without looking at sports track. Yeah. Yeah. It's a stupid comment, but, but the hell. How many teams do you think the average age is 30 and higher?

[00:07:47] 30 and a what? 30 and higher. How many teams do you think the average age on their roster is over, is over, is 30 and over? Well, that's dropped. I'm sure that. Well, the Yankees and Mets both, I think are on that list. But overall. Yeah. I think they, I think they're both around there. Yeah. I actually looked it up there. They're, I think they're almost the same average age of their team. It's pretty close. How many teams do you think have 30 years age or older? The average. Average?

[00:08:17] The average. The average of their roster right now. 30 and over. Five. I was going to say eight. 22. 22. Wow. I was surprised. The oldest. The oldest. The oldest. The oldest. Is Texas with an average age of 32.2. That I didn't see. All the way down. All that Toronto. Is number 22 at an even 30 years old. But. Minnesota. Detroit.

[00:08:48] Tampa are all at 29.9. Okay. Who's the youngest? The youngest. I am at 28. That's it. 28. How the heck. They got, do they, I didn't know that they had anybody legal to drink on that team. I get. Right. The Yankees. Average. 31.8. The Mets. 30.7. Yeah. So. I still say. I still take the position. The Yankees are an old team. Because.

[00:09:17] He just told you. Oh my God. He just told you the number. The starters. What is your position? Because. Because. Because they count. Because they count guys. As a total team. I get it. But if you look at who's going on the field. The Yankee Stadium. You have a senior citizen at first. You have a senior citizen at third. You have a senior citizen pitching staff. At least in the front end. And. Actually. I'm sorry. Where's the senior citizen. Injury riddled. Injury riddled. Injury riddled. Injury riddled. And. And look.

[00:09:47] Here's the line up. Who's throwing the ball. From third base. For the Yankees. To first base. But still. It's still. It's still. It's still not set. Exactly. Princess Alvarez. He's a catcher. No. Who's catching it from Lindor. When he throws it. Is it. Is it going to be like. Bugs Bunny. Bugs Bunny first base. But we're not finished. That's the. That's the. You guys are. You guys are. We're not finished. Sure you are.

[00:10:17] You are proudly. We're proudly. You are proudly. Taye. You are proudly. Typing. In the WhatsApp chat. That the Yankees. Were at 300 million dollars. Which is. I think. 30 or 40 million dollars. When they were last year. Sadly. They're not doing anything. They're not the Yankees. Like they used to be. They're the Mets. 300 million. The Yankees are the Mets. The Yankees are the Mets. The Yankees are the Wilpon Mets. They are not. You should be embarrassed. The Wilpon Mets never would have even been in on Soto. Embarrassed.

[00:10:47] They would have just sat in the corner. I put you in five minutes ago. Correct me if I'm wrong. But weren't the Wilpons. Didn't they still have one of the highest payrolls. In baseball. Yeah. Exactly. They weren't top three Pete. Not five. I would say top five. I don't even think they were top five. And you never were involved on top guys. Because we were cheap. We didn't want. The Yankees were toe to toe for Soto. Who the Yankees. What big contract did the Yankees sign someone to?

[00:11:17] Some guy that's going to pitch for eight years. And an average of 12 or 13 million a year. Whoa. Wow. He. Is that probably the second highest contract someone got this offseason. What? It might be. Freed's. I think he got more than Burns. You know, I'm willing to say that the Yankees signed him to that. I'm willing to say the Yankees signed him to that stupid. Yeah, it was free. Yeah. I'm willing to say. Soto was the anomaly, right? I'm willing to say. Nobody was getting close to that. I understand. I'm willing to say that Yankees signed free to that long term contract because they don't

[00:11:46] have money to sign him to more than $12 million a year. What? What are you talking about? Oh, you know what I'm talking about. You got more than 12 million a year. I think the average is like 12 or 14 million. What did it come out to on average? Something like that. Wasn't eight years over 200 million? 219. Do the math. All right. Stick to law. Because obviously math. Well, do the math. Do the math. It's not even close. The math is even close. What is eight divided by 219? I don't know. Now they're going to make me go to Chad C.P.T. You just told them.

[00:12:14] I don't know what it is off the top of my head. 31.9. And he's like, no, they have to be older. So. Yeah, no. He goes. Carlos is right. Oh, the numbers are 31.9. But in my opinion, I think they're older. Right. No, no. I said older or injury prone. That's I corrected myself. I'm sorry. He can't give an injury prone list. Yeah. His base salary. His base salary is $12 million in the first years. Yeah. That's this season. Yeah. Because the Incas are cheap.

[00:12:44] Oh, I'm sorry. So. Tommy's deferment and what the Dodgers are doing. What are they paying? Two million a year. But look what they did because of the deferment. Look what they did to the. They signed top notch receivers. They signed a top notch from Japan. I mean, the Dodgers at least doing something by saving money. The Yankees, what are they doing? Signing a guy to play first base that can barely get from the dugout to first base. And who the hell is playing third base? DJ Romero. Who? I don't know. I'm going to be Chisholm. I think they'll sign Brendan Rogers. That's what I think. Oh, Brendan Rogers. Wow.

[00:13:14] He's a former glove glove second baseman. Young guy. This is right. This is. And you sound just like they met fans. No, you know, he was. He's not. I'm sorry. One year. Go ahead, Carlos, please. No, I'm sorry. The Yankees are cheap. Okay. What they bid for. So that's a cheap team is going to do that. What do they do afterwards? They made free the highest paid left. I'm sorry. They didn't offer anyone else the same money. So they don't have a clone. I don't know what to tell you. I understand. Nobody got that offer.

[00:13:43] They're going to be 30 or 40 million from that down from last year payroll. You guys haven't done anything but Soto. You brought Mania back. And now what you got Clay Holmes. I'm impressed. Griffin Canning. But it's not over. It's not over. Every podcast is like, oh, what about Pete Alonzo? Right. That list of players. I keep looking at the available free agents. Yes. That list is dwindling real fast of the top guys left. I understand. But there's still four guys on that list.

[00:14:13] It's Pete Alonzo. Go ahead. Let me see if you're four or my four. You never know. Pete might be going around and then crying back to the Mets. I'll sign with you for one year. We don't know what's going to happen. Can I go back to my average age? I'm waiting for the back page stuff. You're supposed to make back pages. How the back pages are favoring the agents. Hold on a second. All right. In 2020, there was no team that had an average age at 30.

[00:14:39] The highest was Minnesota and Washington at 29.5. In 2021, Oakland had the highest at 30. Next was San Francisco at 29.6. So only one team. In 2022, this is bizarre to me. The Mets had the oldest team at 30. White Sox with 29.6.

[00:15:08] 23, the oldest team was the Dodgers at 30. Next was 29. No, I'm not making a front. All of a sudden, 22 teams. But that's cyclical. If you think about it, it's cyclical. They're the younger. And they're not coming as fast as we thought. Say that again? One more time? The trend in MLB was that the teams are getting younger. And it's not trending as fast as we thought. Wait a second.

[00:15:35] I just said, there was one team, two teams. And then all of a sudden, we get to 2020. Even in 2024, there's one, two, three, four teams that were over 30. How does it go from there to 2025? I have to go all of them. The only thing I can think of, Pete, is these teams, if you stay together. So say I got my average age is 28 five years ago or four years ago.

[00:16:03] If that team stays together in four years, they're all going to be over 30 years old. So that same team now, the average age is going to keep jumping. And if you're not supplementing it with signings or bringing in young guys, the Yankees dropped, I think, because now you have Dominguez. Even though they added Goldschmidt, but they added Dominguez and Chisholm now from the start. They got rid of Trevino and they had Wells from the start.

[00:16:32] These guys are all younger in average age. If they had, what was the Yankees last year? Hold on a second, Randy. How do I go from four teams to 22 teams? How does four teams have an average age of 30? Hang on. You would have to find who were the 18 that now are now added to the list. What were their average ages last year? Okay. We're not going to sit here and wait for you to go through those 18.

[00:16:58] You have trades from those four teams or signs from those four teams. But they have someone else's team. But other teams might have been close to that and that one signing tipped them over the balance. But, Ray, what if the 18 last year were all 29, 29.5? Now they're a year older. So now those same teams who were just on the cusp of being 30 and over, a year later they're going to be 30 and over. No, no, but Pete's point is not that.

[00:17:28] Pete's point is how do they go from 14 to 20? I just said that. You'd have to look at the other 18, Ray. If those other 18, save Ray those 18 averaged. Oh, I see. You're saying it's a combination of both. Okay, that's fine. Yeah, so because if you were 29 last year, the next year you're going to be 30. Yeah, Pete, I think the key is to find out how many outside of those four teams, how many of the rest of the teams are at 29 point something. Because that's the point. My point was bigger than that. My point was going back to 2020.

[00:17:59] There was one team, two teams every year, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. It goes up to three, four teams rather. And then 25, it goes to 22 teams. How do you average for four years? Because it could have been that the other teams were on the cusp of going past that mark. Or, Pete, there's not an influx of young talent as much as you would think. Well, that was the point. I'm going, you know, go back to 20, I go back to 2013.

[00:18:30] The oldest team in 2013, New York Yankees, 29.8. I'm trying to figure out how that, I mean, sincerely, how does that connect to what Vinny was saying at the beginning? Absolutely nothing. It doesn't. It's a whole different point. No, here's the thing. He said what I said was the dumbest conversation and then he went and he had to beat it. And now this is the dumbest conversation. Gotcha. Okay. No, no, no dumb conversations. All others. I tell you, nobody's talking about this anywhere on any podcast on WFPN.

[00:18:59] So for reasons, they just don't understand to shake. They just don't. They just don't. They just don't. What's your, your gripe or your topic or your issue you want to talk about? Oh, not, not, not really a gripe, but we had, you know, the Hall of Fame and inductees this week. And just a note about, about, about CC and you know, it's funny.

[00:19:24] Um, my greatest memory of CC is not even him as a Yankee, but him as a brewer. Um, what he did, I don't think you're ever going to see again. It's his free agent year. They asked him to pitch on three days rest. And he went out there and he was a beast. He really was. And, and you know, you go like, well, I see a pitcher could be an MVP or whatever. That's an example of a pitcher can be an MVP. He carried that team on his back.

[00:19:53] It was, it was, it was just, it was great baseball. It was, I don't think we'll ever see anything like that again. I mean, can you imagine, um, if we age in year, team wants to pitch on short rest, man, the agent's gonna have a heart attack. Right. I don't know if there's any more players that are ever going to do that. You know? How about what he did with the Yankees when he was a Yankee against Tampa, when he was, he had to pitch one more inning at the half million dollar bonus. And he drilled. Cause somebody hit one of their plays. He drilled the catcher.

[00:20:19] And as soon as he came out and he, he fell short of that bonus, but I think they wound up giving it to him anyway. But that just showed you, he was all about team. And, and he was old school. Like you hit my guy, hit your guy. He's definitely. Or what he did for Batances. That was a story I heard this week, guys. You're going to tell it. So when Batances got called up, he had Batances as locker put between him and Jeter. And that's when the Yankees used to travel wearing everywhere they traveled, they were suited and booted. That's how they traveled.

[00:20:49] Hang on, Ray. I had to run. I want to run in your parade. Hang on. He had Batances fitted for a suit and bought Dylan Batances 20 suits. Wow. So that when the Yankees traveled, he, he didn't have to come out. He's a rookie making, you know, no money or not compared to, to what CeCe was making. And he had 20 suits delivered to him, custom suits. So now when he was traveling with the team, he, he was properly fitted, properly attired.

[00:21:19] Look at that. Go ahead, Ray. Go ahead. I love the WPI moment there. I don't think any, well, none of the things you said has anything to do with him getting into the Hall of Fame. These are great stories about it. Yeah. All right. But we're talking about him getting into the Hall of Fame. And I got to be honest. I could see why he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. I could see that. I can see that. Here we go. It's coming. But.

[00:21:49] Come on. But. All right. I'm watching. However. Here we go. This, this, we had a back and forth. Uh, in the WhatsApp chat. Yeah. And. This thing about cheater. Oh, wow. Oh, I didn't even know you were going to go there. Yeah.

[00:22:19] And this wasn't even the topic I was going to bring up, but I'm bringing it up because I, and his thing, it annoys me when I see you two guys are emblematic of many Yankee fans that, oh, CC got suits for this guy. Like, you know, like that's such a special Yankee thing. There's nothing special about the Yankees. I'm sorry. We didn't say there was a special Yankee thing. You're waxing poetica. We're saying that's what this man did. But my story is when he was a Brewer. This leads to. My story was when he was a Brewer. This leads to old man.

[00:22:49] This, this leads to when you guys, so during the WhatsApp chat, I overstepped my bounds. I admit by saying, I don't know if Gita was all he's a whole fan. Okay. But the, the fact that you guys think hands down, hands down should have been unanimous and screw that one guy that voted against them. Really? He's not a hands down hall of famer. I could see guys saying, I don't know. And the reason I say that is because when he played, we all had this debate. I'm sure you guys are approached about it.

[00:23:20] Is Gita the best shortstop in baseball at the time he played? And there was an argument that no, he wasn't the best shortstop in baseball. So if you can make that argument about somebody that he wasn't the best when he played, then that sort of brings you down a notch. You're a hall of famer. No. I'm not arguing that, but not, not, not unanimous, not unanimous. I mean, I think there's something that we said there. You're taking out of context. Okay. Tell me why. When he first started to play and we, and we, no one has a crude numbers yet. Yeah. It was debatable.

[00:23:50] You want a rods power or, or no, or no more. You know, you wanted that power. He didn't have power. Power was not his game, but you know, you'd like to say last team standing. Well, he's the last shortstop standing. Remember that sports illustrated cover they did with all the shirts, Alex Rodriguez, Ray Adornes, you know, that was Jeter. Yeah. It wasn't his name. Oh, let me see.

[00:24:16] It was, it was Garcia Farah, Jeter and Aroh. It was, I mean, I gotta be honest. Aroh, Aroh is the better shortstop. Aroh was classy enough. The one moment in his life, he was. I'm sorry. Hold on. I moved to third base. It was Arod. Arod was 20. Edgar Renteria. Omar Vizquel. Miguel Tejada. Barry Larkin. Omar Vizquel. They were all on the top. Come on. Omar. Yeah. Omar Vizquel had 11 gold gloves.

[00:24:45] That's it. Look at his offensive numbers. They are not Hall of Fame. They're not even close. Look it up. Right. But his defensive metrics outshine Jeter. Good. So when there's a defensive shortstop Hall of Fame, Omar or Vizquel will be in it. You're saying defense, I mean, by itself, I agree, or offense. But so basically it's, if offense by itself, that dictates when you get a Hall of Fame. Screw the defense. No, the defense bolsters you.

[00:25:12] But if you have just defense and your offense is weak, I mean, come on. Vizquel was a nice shortstop, but he's a good player. But it's not even up for debate. He's not a Hall of Famer. He's not even close. And it's also an argument that no more Garcia Paris peak years are better than Jeter's peak years. Well, no more Garcia Paris. It's a body of work. I think he was better. It's a body of work. All right. It's the net. I'll be there. So the Jeter got in the whole thing because he played longer. Okay. That's nice. Well, 3,500 hits almost.

[00:25:42] I think it was 34, 69. Yeah, it's not. Over 300 steals. He played longer. Right. 310 career batting average. I think he had a 377 career OBP. Right. Almost 2,000 runs scored. I get it. I understand. And I'm not even talking about his postseason numbers. It's a consistent. If not arguably the best postseason. And clutch. Yeah. You guys also can admit he was one of the- I'll be the first guy at the time. He was one of the Yankees. You didn't want to. He's the most feared. With Mets fan, he was the most feared guy at the plate. Hands down. For me.

[00:26:13] I didn't want to say so. Get at it. Oh, I don't know. Jeter in the first game. Jeter. I knew he was- I think Bobby Jones disagrees with you, Pete. I think Bobby Jones disagrees. And I were- It was Paul O'Neill who gets the lead off walk. Jeter got the lead off home run in that game. Oh, no. That was different. I didn't know- The Mets go back- In the game that we- In the fight- It was- In the first game when we were winning, and we blow the save,

[00:26:42] it's O'Neill who works on a walk against Benitez, and then we scored- You guys scored two runs and we lose the game. Paul O'Neill came to the play. I can't stand the guy. He would do something to annoy the crap walk, a stupid base hit, you know, that kind of thing. Jeter, I always felt like- Didn't Jeter- I'm sorry, it's going to be close to the lead off. You check him out. You come back to Shea, the Mets are psyched, they come back to Shea, because they- Oh yeah, first pitch. They should have taken one of the two games the Yankee stayed in, but Timo Perez- Right, the one night for me, there's a lot of one.

[00:27:12] Do it up for us. Right, right. Well, no, Timo Perez, I think, screwed that up for us. Well- The guy celebrating running on the bases, instead of running on the bases. And Jeter, I think it might have been even the first pitch, fucking home run. Sorry. Sorry, guys. F-ing home run. So- We know it brings up a lot of feelings. It's okay. Absolutely. No, I have no problem. No, it's okay. Jeter, in the Mets Hall of Fame, he's the number one enemy. Peter, you disagree? I get it.

[00:27:37] All I'm saying is that Jeter, because of his consistency at the plate, made the Hall of Fame. But at their peak, Norma was better. A-Rod was better. A-Rod was the best. And what could R-E-E-T-A-Rod was better. That's not how you get to the Hall of Fame, now is it? That's not how you get to the Hall of Fame, now is it? Is it, right? That's it. I don't- Really quick, I'll go back to- You are nasty, Carlos. Very nasty. I just want to say something.

[00:28:06] I'll go back to what Ray said about the feeling with Jeter. Even when I watched the replays of Piazza's last out, I still think that ball has gone off the bat. Yeah, we did too. I still, in my mind, I have a quick hiccup, like, oh, and then seeing Bernie settling under it. But still, it's- That series was a lot closer than people think. Let me ask you, can I ask a question? Me? We're going to move to Peter in a second. Yeah, both of you.

[00:28:35] Is Don Mattingly deserving of being in the Hall of Fame? I- It's- That's tough. I don't know. I personally don't think so. It's close. All right. So you guys want to say maybe it's close, all that stuff. But I just got to tell you that Garcia Parra and Zahada had better numbers at their peak, but that means nothing. And the only reason- What? The only argument you can make about Mattingly, because the only argument you can make about

[00:29:05] Mattingly, is that he was the best first baseman at his peak. That's the only argument you can make. Yeah, but it's- They're also- So why is it- So why is it- So wait a second. Why is it that those two guys who are not in the Hall of Fame- I think- I don't even know if Tejada's in the Hall of Fame. They're not in the Hall of Fame, but they can make the- Probably better argument than Mattingly, but you guys are on defense about Mattingly- I don't know. Can they make a better argument? I think it makes a better argument. I said no, because the injury slowed him down. It looked like if he had not gotten injured, it looked like that was where he was headed.

[00:29:34] You struggled with the no. You went, eh, it was a struggle. Well, because there's a lot of people who think he should be in. There are people who argue he should be in. I never argue that he should be. I think he should be. I think he should be. I think he should be. Yeah, I've actually had this argument with you. And I think- And I think- I don't think he should be. And I think Hernandez should be. I think, to me, if you dominate the sport for a- Like, Sandy Colfax, perfect example. He didn't do it for a long time. He dominated it for a certain period of time.

[00:30:01] If you dominate it for a certain period of time, I think you should be- Evan Ray, that was- Sandy Colfax, I mean, that's like- That's- When you say dominate, there was nobody better. You can argue they might have been better or equal players to Mattingly over a certain- And Hernandez. Okay. Was there a better- I'm trying to help you. No, I'm saying, was there a better picture than Colfax over his career? Even though it was short. Was there anybody that was on par with it?

[00:30:31] I don't know. That's before my time. That might have been your guys' youth. I don't know. So we're at the halfway point. We're at the halfway point. We want to thank our listeners and subscribers. We've jumped up from last week. Not as much as we like, but that's okay. You know, we understand. You haven't really appreciated what we bring to the table yet. And I get that. But to the extent that you can, and you could subscribe to the podcast, that would be wonderful because we're going to be able to do great things with the more social charges we have.

[00:31:00] I want to move on to just really quickly touch upon one thing before you- Ray, where's the subscription button? I was going to leave that to the end, but where is the subscription button? Where is it, guys? Down below. Okay, there you go. Thank you. I'm going to blow you away with this one. Okay? Okay. I, with regard to the Jets, the New York Jets football team, this hiring of Aaron Glenn

[00:31:29] and listening to freaking Big Nick, they'll go on about, oh, I'm good with him. I'm good with him. To me, it's deja vu all over again. The Jets just went down that well again, went again with an inexperienced head coach, a guy that, you know, by the way, look, the lines look terrible defensively for that game. I think 45 points by Washington, but they put 45 points up against Aaron Glenn's defense.

[00:31:56] No experience, never a head coach, defensive coordinator, again, hired to be the head coach of the New York Jets because they just keep on going back into that well. And I am concerned that my New York Mets are doing the same thing. Huh? Yes. I don't see the correlation. Yes.

[00:32:20] Despite the number, amount of money, they're going into that well of getting that top guy and then going cheap about everybody else. That's my concern. I think I touched upon this with Peter the other day. My concern is like, you really, they're cutting a close with that roster of theirs. They have, they have yet. Okay. They have Mauricio and they have, you know, they can move against us to first base and they could do those things. And the pitching staff is a nice pitching set, but the depth is not there.

[00:32:50] It's just not. And especially experienced that. It's just not there. And if this is what they're going to go into the season with, I'm going to be very disappointed because then it's going to be like, I'm watching the Wolfons all over again. Well, I don't see the correlation of that and Glenn. Because, because it's like, because it's like, because here, here, the Jets had an opportunity to go ahead and get Pete Carroll, to get Bill Belichick, to get Mike Schmooface from Dallas with Mike McCarthy. Is that okay? From doubt.

[00:33:20] Didn't even interview them. Didn't even interview them. You don't know, Ray. We don't know. We're going to do this again. But here's the thing. You don't know through back channels. Those guys may have said, we don't want to deal with this. You'll never know. They might have just told you. So you're going to give the Jets the benefit of the doubt. No, they might. No, I'm saying. They don't deserve the benefit of the doubt, Ray. They may have actually said, we don't want any part of that, of Woody and that whole situation. Yeah, because Woody wants to be in control. Just like Jeff Bullpond wanted to be in control. In Glenn's defense.

[00:33:50] In his own child's way. In Glenn's defense, Detroit, Detroit, Ray had like 13 starters on the, you know, their defense was depleted throughout the year and they were playing with guys that they barely even knew each other. Well, listen, I'm just telling you, these are facts. We have Hall of Fame coaches out there to coach the team. Is he going to do better? Not even interview them. Yeah, but we don't know if these guys said, I don't want no part of this, so don't even call me. So then there's no report. We know that Pulisic reached out.

[00:34:19] We know that Pulisic reached out. First of all, the stuff he said about the Jets. I don't care what he does. I really want to curse right now. You can't shit on a team like that, the way he did his little indirects and digs on with the Mannings. Well, I mean, is he there about winning or not? I can't stand those two either. What about bringing him in? What about bringing him in to at least get his team? Nobody brought him in, Ray. Not a team. Six openings. Nobody brought him in. Right. How about bring him halftime and have him get hit by a bus in the middle of the field?

[00:34:49] I'm already discussed as a Jets fan. I don't want to see Belichick get out of here. All I'm saying, just to stay up to Jets topic, I do have a fear. I'm starting to change. You see, I told you, as we get closer to spring training, I'm actually starting to change. I'm starting to get worried now that this Soto signing was it. Like, that's it. That's the big thing. Well, let me ask you a question. Let's assume that Mets are done, right? Do you have faith in your GM? Yeah, I do.

[00:35:19] Right. And he comes from a small market team? Yeah. Right? Yeah. And he's good at finding the bargains? I do. Yes. Battle rather. Right. So why are you so worried about? Because, as I told Pete months ago, my concern with him is that he's going to use the same mentality when he has no need to because he has a lot of money. But he has to. I know. But, no, wait. Like, does it hurt him to go ahead and sign Flaherty for the rotation? No, no, no, no.

[00:35:48] Would it have hurt him? Would it have hurt him to sign Bueller for the rotation? No. But Flaherty's still available, isn't he? Right. Yeah, but they will have signed him already. I think that basically, so that we're done, you know, you know how to find the bargains, go find the bargains and go get them. And then we'll do something again for next year, whatever that is. Yeah, but they don't have to find the bargains all the time. They could find the bargains. They have the best of both worlds. That's what we were told, right? They do. The best of both worlds. They blew their budget.

[00:36:16] If they blew their budget, then that's what they have to do. I think Stearns has a plan. I don't know if it's a budget thing. No, it's not a budget. It's not a budget. I think he has a plan. They can get anything. And he's going to stick to that plan come hella hot water. Exactly. And that's it. That's the problem. It's not a budget thing. The Mets could fucking blow out the Dodgers in their budget. That's not the problem. No, it's a self-imposed budget. A lot of cursing going on in this episode. Go ahead. All right, all right, all right, all right, all right. That's one of the records. He's just been sitting back laughing at us. I think we have to find Pete's button. Come on, Pete.

[00:36:46] Go ahead. Go ahead. I apologize to all the kiddies that are listening, but you know what? You asked me what's the diamond users. Come on, Pete. Go ahead. Where are we wrong? Pete, share your history. What's your feeling, Pete? What's your feeling on this? So I'm going to say that Derek Cheater is a surefire Hall of Famer. Okay? That's not, yeah. Okay. Not because I didn't get a chance at soccer. All right.

[00:37:16] Okay, then I'm going to go to the next. He's a surefire Hall of Famer. But I will say this. Not unanimous. But I will say this. That if I could take any, pretty much almost any five year period of time during Cheater's 20 year career. If I gave you the stats and took out the name, Cheater would not be the first player you picked on any of those periods.

[00:37:45] Like there's very few times where Cheater would have been, oh, clearly that's the guy to pick. I just took the stats out. Clutch hitting. Forget about that. In a league of his own. Okay? As a, you know, forget all that. Just if I gave you the stats in five year chunks starting in 96 through 2009 and I took other short steps and said, here you go. Go pick one. At no point would you pick Cheater. I'm sorry. I'm not sure. Well, well, well, I always thought you were the genius in the family. Okay.

[00:38:15] Now, now to the Mets point. This is why I kept saying what's the plan. See, that's the thing. The thing is, is we don't, we're not supposed to have to do both. Okay. And I think that, I think that, um, I'm sorry, you're not supposed to do one or the other. I think to Vinny's point, a hundred percent Stearns has a plan and the problem is as opposed to past administrations. We don't know what this plan is.

[00:38:43] There is no leaking of what the plan is, but I'm going to have to guess at this point that the plan is that this pitching lab is the, is the best thing since sliced bread. And it's going to fix anything that is wrong with any pitcher ever. And they're rolling the dice on that, which is why we're not getting Flaherty.

[00:39:04] As far as offensively, aside from signing Alonzo for, for, for, uh, emotional reasons. Other than Soto, there was nobody out there to sign for the Mets that you were like, okay, we've got to sort of had to have, you know what I mean? Alonzo, you know, it's emotional. Bregman, this one.

[00:39:31] No, it's, I would have liked to see, let's say, I think I mentioned this to you right. You know, Goldschmidt for 13 and a half million dollars for one year. If I'm not going to have Alonzo, I'd rather have that than to roll the dice on Viento scoring a first and baby can actually hit a ball and he's going to play third. And that I would rather have had Viento stay at third and take a Goldschmidt. And it's a bit frustrating because we're now getting down the end to Carlos' point.

[00:39:58] They obviously don't want Flaherty because I don't know what you're waiting for unless Flaherty is asking for some ridiculous number and then he's just an idiot. We're still hanging around for Alonzo waiting for the sign for some magic number. And if he doesn't sign that I got Henry Winkler at first base and you know, or whatever. I like that. That was very skillful of how you took your constant screwing up with Jesse Winker's name and turning into Henry Winkler.

[00:40:27] I can't get Jesse Winkler's name right. I keep going Winkler to Jesse Winkler and I can't get, so I keep calling him. Well done. Well done. Well done. So, but, but that's the thing. It's like we've waited and we're waiting. We're waiting. I don't, I don't understand. I listen. Okay. You didn't want Tanner Scott and spend that money. I thought I wouldn't mind having Estevez, you know, Ray's not a big Estevez fan, but you know what? Take him, put him in the eighth inning. Right now. Who's my eighth inning pitcher? But that's, but what you see, but here's the thing.

[00:40:56] If they do sign Estevez, right. Yeah. Then that really is going to get me angry because, so wait a second. So you knew that you wanted to get a reliever for that eighth inning role and you let Tanner Scott says last name. Yeah. Pass and a Kirby Yates pass. And you go after this guy. This is the, this is the worst of the three. Well, I mean, the right mentors, the lefty. So that was great. That was a great sign. They might have thought the Scott's left-handed.

[00:41:26] So they may have thought. All right. Well, what about. Well, listen, Scott was Scott's a closer. Right. And so he wants 18 million a year. I mean, that's a lot. Estimates. Estimates not going to be the closer. So. It's a pitching staff. I'm worried about most. Well, listen, that's a pitching staff. I don't care. You guys have what? Nunez, Budo. It's not a bad back end, man. I like, I like, I like our bullpen. It's the, it's the starting pitcher. Pete and I maybe disagree on that. It's just a proving.

[00:41:53] I want, I want, I have a closer and he scares me. Okay. I'd like to have an eighth. We don't have made time anymore. We don't have static anymore. I don't think, you know? Okay. Out of Vino had his problems. We don't have him. So now we have. Yes, we have Nunez. I like them. Budo. Okay. But that's not, you know, this isn't a track record yet. We could have had gates. Didn't cost very much money. Okay. Anthony's 37. We're signing him to a 10 year deal. He signed a one year deal. Give him some money. I'll take estimates.

[00:42:23] Yes. He might be the weakest of them, but, but I'll take the hunch about now fastball, take the pressure of not closing and put them at the eighth of the guy and roll the dice. Right? Right now season starts tomorrow. So, even if they sign Alonzo, I'm going to roll the dice on Budo and Nunez in my, I mean, I don't, that I don't see that. I don't understand. I just don't get it.

[00:42:47] Well, Budo, Nunez, Minter, Diaz, that, that, I mean, obviously I don't know your bullpen, but that's not a bad. Yeah. I agree. That could be one of the best bullpens. Yeah. That's pretty strong. Track record. Nunez was dominant last year. Nunez was dominant. Nunez was dominant. Nunez. 35 of these. Those are great 35 of these. Nunez was dominant. I think this is his whole career. He's 29 years old, 28, 35. Hold on. Nunez was dominant when he pitched last year.

[00:43:15] Budo was dominant until the end of the, until the playoffs. You could just tell he was burnt out. He just, like, retired. Yeah, he was gassed. Okay? But Budo and Nunez were dominant when they pitched in the regular season. Dominant. Absolutely. And now they had Minter. So, I'm not, it's their starting pitcher. If one of them goes down. What's going on? A career of 35 innings. That's what you're basing it on. 35 innings. Okay? I'm sorry. I'm basing it on the stuff. A lot of players that were dominant for 35 innings.

[00:43:45] Well, I'm basing it on the stuff. His stuff was outstanding. Yeah. And again, again, 35 innings. Okay? Budo, Budo was solid for 74 innings in his career. Three saves. Again, you know, it's like. I remember somebody saying.

[00:44:04] I remember somebody saying. See, here's the thing guys. I have to. See, if I had to. Then I have to. All right. So now you're touching on my. I put it aside Yates. And I put it aside Yates. And you know what? If one of these guys. Come six months into the season. June. They're lights out. Yeah.

[00:44:34] Yates becomes a seventh inning guy. I stretch out that bullpen. Now I have them in the. I know it's. I. The point is, I now have to. I now have to hope those 35 innings are the great. Are just the tip of the iceberg on this guy. And that he is absolutely 100% for real. But I didn't have to. So you're. So you're Steve Cohen. Right? And you want to be the hands off owner. And he is pretty much been the hands. Especially with Sterns. Hands off. The sort of things. A special thing. He had.

[00:45:03] You know, that's a special deal in of itself. In a lot of ways where owners do get involved. With so much money. But outside of that. Get your hands off. So you see, you hire this guy. Yeah. This guy that. That. That big. No refers to sarcastic as the boy genius. Because he wishes he had a 10th of his. Intellect. But. You see. You see. You see him doing. Great. Great work last year. And you know. They come from a small market. And his. One of his claims to fame is finding diamonds in a rough. Which he did last year. And now you see him going into this year. You want.

[00:45:33] You're expecting. Okay. Now we're going to make the playoffs. There's the. There's the future. We signed Soto. And now you see him doing nothing. Really. Okay. Outside of mentor. What do you do if you're Steve Cohen. When you've already promised to stay back. Well. Do you do nothing. Or do you like call him and say, listen. I know. I know what you're trying to do. I think you're doing a great job. But. But. But. But. But. But I got to be honest. I got to be. Why not?

[00:46:03] He knows as much about baseball as David Stearns. Then he shouldn't have hired David Stearns. I don't give a damn how smart. No. It's not a smart. It's not a smart thing. It's a philosophy thing. It's like. It's a philosophy thing. He just has to like. Let him listen. Listen. I just want you to know. I have no problem if you want to send Alonzo to 30. What's wrong I'm saying that? What's wrong I'm saying that? I have a hundred percent certainty. What are you afraid he's going to cave in? Cohen has said to Stearns. You do what you've got to do. It's a funny thing. We're going to go past that budget. You told me.

[00:46:33] We'll talk about it. I have no doubt. I think. Stearns is not signing Alonzo. Because he's not an Alonzo fan. He doesn't think the content. Okay. I believe Stearns has a plan. Don't get me wrong. But what. I don't have to be happy with. Now. I could be sitting here next year with you guys. And say. Holy crap. He was. He was spot on on everything. And I was wrong. Or he was spot on. He has been. He's been spot on for the past five or six years. So. Okay. But you know what? I don't care.

[00:47:02] I wasn't paying attention to the Brewers. I care about this one right now. All I know is. Right now. Going into today. I've got. A 29 year old guy who's pitched 34 innings. In his entire career as my eighth inning guy. I. And I didn't have to do that. Well you say you don't care. But you know. Let's take. Let's take. Let's take. Well let's take the names of the teams off. And just say. Let's just look at his track rate. Right. Exactly. Whether it's the Mets or the Brewers. He's done what he's done. His way. And it's work.

[00:47:32] Okay. I said. I have faith that I'm going to be wrong. Well. You said you didn't care what he did in the Brewers. Hey guys. I got news just came through from the Mets. Whatever the heck's going on at city field today. Here we go. Mets. No. It's it's Steve Cohen actually said he acknowledged. This is a quote. I don't like the negotiations. I don't like what's been presented to us. Maybe that changes. If it stays this way. I think we have to get used to the fact that we may have to go forward with existing players. That's related to Alonzo.

[00:48:01] So this was said today. So he's now. I don't think it Ray. It sounds like Pete. It's not what they presented. It seems like what's coming to them. Right. 35. Whatever it is. And he's Cohen's base. That's that's shot fired to Boris. He's basically saying you don't change. Adios. Well, he's calling Boris his blood. Again. Well, if Alonzo had the contract in Toronto. He would assign it. And they were getting close. All of a sudden, magic.

[00:48:29] He's in Los Angeles talking to the angels. So they weren't close. That's garbage. Not even close. It's all BS. Yeah. Yeah. This just in also. Soto says he wants to be traded. No. At least I give you actual news. You come with crap. What are you doing? It's all the time. But guys, do you see though, whether you think it's the bullpen, the rotation, the starting line up there is something missing from this Met team. Are they going to win the NL East as they're currently configured?

[00:49:00] You know, it's like, I have to miss it. And this was the. They don't have to win the NL East. They just have to make. Let me ask you guys. Do you. You were expecting what happened last year. They can make the playoffs. Ray. Pete. Were you guys. Happened last year. With the president. No injuries. Yes. No. Were you expecting Ray what happened last year. And the reason. I'll tell you why I'm asking that in a second. Ray was more. Ray was more optimistic. And I felt that team was not a playoff team.

[00:49:28] Ray thought if everything worked out, there could be a playoff team. I guess we're both right. This took to the last game of the season. Well, and they make the playoffs. They push the Dodgers. We only said once they make the play, that's a rough. But I think you had enough. Yeah. Here's why I say that right. Yeah. Because if you, maybe you were. Nicely ahead of schedule, but sometimes when teams do that, you see that a lot. They have that year where they, they were better than you anticipated, but still people

[00:49:55] then forget you was still in a, in a rebuild or in a building mode. Right. So. It could be that that's where that might be what Sterns is saying. Sterns may be thinking. If Flaherty wants four years, five years, I don't want to give him five years. But that's the problem. See, Sterns has this plan, right? That's the, he has this plan and he felt, he didn't think he was going to make the playoffs. In fact, I'm willing to bet that he was going to pray trade. Oh, I bet nobody thought it. Minaya, Minaya and Sabrina at the trading deadline.

[00:50:24] But now here they are ready to, you know, chance for the playoffs. And he's like, okay, well, let's go with it. Okay. Well, he's, he's in this mode. And this is, I talked to Pete about this all the time. John, plans have to constantly be reevaluated. You don't stick with a plan, regardless of what happens around you. I'm sorry. That's my philosophy. You always have to reevaluate the plan. If the, if you just made the playoffs and you have an owner that now has an expectation

[00:50:53] to make the playoffs, then you've got to damn well, make sure you have a team that's going to make the playoffs. And this thing where you're not going to, I mean, again, it is not the Brewers. And this is where the difference does come. The Brewers won't sign John Flaherty if this is the Brewers, because they probably can't afford to sign John Flaherty. Right? The Mets. The Mets. Yeah. Nice try call. But, but, but, but they, but they will sign John Flaherty. The Mets can, but he doesn't want to.

[00:51:21] This is a different situation from Alonzo, which I agree with Pete. He doesn't want Alonzo, I think, but you can sign Flaherty. Who, you're not, what are you doing? Just sign Flaherty. You're not blocking anybody at this point in the rotation. You're not. He's just. Maybe he did adjust on the fly rate last year. Like you said, maybe his plan was okay. We got Severino. We got him. Just get rid of him at the deadline. We don't think we'll be competing. We'll try to get more young prospects, but he adjusted when the team was, they were the best team. I think after.

[00:51:51] Yeah. Just by making one trade for Jesse. But I'm saying he adjusted by not. Well, sometimes it's the moves you don't make that are your benefit. Okay. Just stay with the team you have. Let it ride. And it took him to what? Within two games of the World Series. I mean, so he did adjust, but then now the season's over. They go Pete to their plan. He goes back to his, whatever his plan was. Okay. We had a great run. Season's over. Look. The plan continues. I just don't know what it is.

[00:52:20] What Pete, you said it. What is it? Well, that's. There's no transparency. In all fairness. Right. In all fairness. It could be. Flaherty has made it clear. He does not want to play in New York. You know what I mean? It could be. Why are we giving the benefit of the doubt? Is the Jets the benefit of the doubt to Woody with them? Well, there's still three weeks before pitches and catches, right? Is it three weeks? Every single time they don't get, we're going to give that player the benefit of the doubt. No, no.

[00:52:44] What I'm saying is that, no, the benefit of the doubt goes to Stearns to say that he knows what he's doing and we're just not aware of it. So maybe when the season, but you know when spring training starts and he does a little press conference and someone says, why didn't you sign someone like Flaherty? And he says, we reached out. It wasn't there. Or he says, you know, we have a philosophy right now that go X, Y, and Z to Vinny's point where we're a year maybe ahead of schedule. You know that there's a, there's a, there's a large event.

[00:53:12] I'm willing to, I'm willing to, to see how it evolves. And I'm willing to say one year from today that they were right. That 29 year old with 34 innings was outstanding. We didn't need estimates. We didn't need Yates. We didn't. I could be entirely wrong. There's a master plan here. All I'm saying is, I hope I see it. You know, I might even be upset if we don't make the playoffs. Yeah.

[00:53:37] I'm going to be upset if we're sitting around here and you know, our bullpen implodes, you know, that there's, we're running around looking for guys, you know, scuffling over here that we didn't have to, we didn't have to do that. You know what I mean? I'm saying something slightly different for you in that it's not the whole team. It's the, it's the starting rotation.

[00:54:01] And right now, first base or third base, whichever we're going to look at it, that he's got this plan to go what he has. And if you have an injury and either in any one of those places, it's there's nothing. There's nothing. There's nothing there. There's nothing there to show you that they have someone to step in that role, which means that they would have to go out and trade for somebody. That's not if they're playing well. That's all I'm saying. And, and, you know, you don't need to be a genius to see that.

[00:54:29] I mean, we're pretty sophisticated baseball fans. It's like when we're watching the game, I can tell you how many times I told Vinny, you know, I see there's this guy's tipping his pictures or there's something is, and then, and then nobody's doing anything about it. And then all of a sudden, oh yeah, that you find out two weeks later that he's tipping his pictures. Well, you know, if you could see it in front of your face, you know, sometimes things are in front of your face from the dugout. You don't see, but you can see it on TV. I don't know what the reasons are. So I'm just saying, I see what I see is a lack of depth in the rotation.

[00:54:59] And that is a problem to me because pictures get injured all the time, all the time. Yeah. But here, but I'll take it. If we don't sign Alonzo. We're where. That's true. No, that's true. I said, first, we're at best the same as what we were on last year. I agree. That's it. And I had this. I assume Alonzo is going to be the Alonzo of two years ago and not the Alonzo. So I declined. Right. We're not much better than last year. So basically what did they improve?

[00:55:29] Yeah. And then this is projections are like Alonzo's numbers from last year. That if you look at his projections, it's like 30 horns, 80 are beds. It's pretty much what Alonzo did. Well, but he only had one year checked. He hasn't done anything. No, I'm just saying. I'm just saying, even if you gave them the benefit of the doubt, then who's playing third If the Entos maintains that kind of pace, if it turns out that Alvarez is the Alvarez of two years ago, not the Alvarez of last year. And yeah, we're better. Okay. But that's a lot of if, if, if, if, if, if.

[00:55:57] You know, it's like, I thought the whole point is we didn't have to have as many ifs. I just said some ifs. Look at the Yankee fans shaking his head about the ifs. It is. It is. Let me tell you something about ifs. The Yankees have the ifs. The Yankees have the best offseason this year, sir. The best offseason. The best offseason. The best. Tell me who had a better one. The desperate offseason. Who had a better offseason? The desperate offseason. Go ahead. What team had a better offseason in there? Los Angeles?

[00:56:26] Los Angeles. The Divers? Please. All right. There you go. One. I named one. Name me two. Name another. I need another diamond to the ring. It's no big deal. That's not an improvement. He just made it more expensive. You know, I said no skill in adding the best players. I subscribe to Evan Robertson. F.A.M. I'm not going to take credit for this.

[00:56:53] He's the one that said that it's it's great that the Dodgers that you rather have the Dodgers are the ones that are loading up all these stars and not have these stars spread to other teams that are going to compete with the Mets or the players. Let them all go to this one team. Right? Then, you know, roll the dice facing them in the playoffs. There's the Dodgers are not a threat to the Mets because they have their own division. They're going to run away with that division and that's it. It's the other team.

[00:57:17] So when you see Scott sign with them and the Japanese pitchers sign with them and all this, go, go to the Dodgers, go, you know, go to the Dodgers and be the super team and give a chance for the Mets to make the playoffs. Because once the playoffs start and this is true as the as the day is long, once you make the playoffs, anything can happen, especially in the short series. Anything can happen. So I'll take my chances with the with the mighty Dodgers. And I don't think you feel that great.

[00:57:47] They're going to get it. Yeah, I don't know why you're all who's going to get you guys. You guys, you guys, I'm serious. Ray, you're trying. You're just trying to create. You're just trying to beat beating Ray. Who are you? Like you're going into a series with the Dodgers. Who's better than the Mets for the three playoffs? Who's the top three? Is there three wild card spots or two? Right. No, no, no. I look, I can see. I don't I don't. I'm not giving up the division if I'm the Mets. I don't think the Braves are far.

[00:58:14] I'm just saying, Ray, if you face the Mets, they're throwing, you know, Glasnow, Yamamoto, Sasaki. Who are you? What is it? Senga, Manea and. Clay Holmes. You're saying. You're saying. No, Clay Holmes. You're saying. Wait, you're saying in the playoffs. Yeah. I'm saying when you're, you're matching up against them. Yeah. Who's your three going again? Like, where are your top three? It's Senga, Manea. Who's three? But what's, what's your point there?

[00:58:43] I'm saying you say anything goes. Yeah. Anything goes. You know, it's not always anything goes. It was someone has horses. Who are yours? Who are you going to battle? Well, I'm assuming that if you make the playoffs, the Mets, those horses will work well. Right? Not if you get in as a wild card. Yeah, of course. You're a wild card. You're better than the. Come on. If you're a wild card, your pitching didn't fall apart. So your pitching is pretty solid if you're in a wild card as well. It's okay. Who are you throwing against? Yeah.

[00:59:13] Now you got the Mets losing the division and now you're barely making a wild card. Actually, Pete five minutes ago said he'd be okay if they didn't make the playoffs. Again. I'll say it again. If you think. I mean, if that's what I'm going to say about the Yankees. If the Yankees face the mighty Dodgers. Yeah. I guess what? I can put my top three up against it. The Garrett Cole to spit the bit. In the playoffs. In the World Series. I'll put Cole, Freed, Radon. You guys don't have three to touch that. Really? Not even close. Really?

[00:59:43] Not even close. I don't care. You're three. Who's your third? Senga? Which sounds like, isn't that the game with the things where you pull the blocks out and they might fall over? Is that what it is? Who's that? Jenga? Senga? Senga? Manaya? Who's the third? No, Pete, I'm actually asking. Who was your third? You're not answering me. Carlos, who's there? You know, here's the thing. As Yankee fans, you have the audacity just to think that you're just going to automatically make it to the World Series. And look where they're doing.

[01:00:12] As we're supposed to build this team to beat the Dodgers. You got to build a team. We have the audacity. You have the audacity. You have the audacity. Well, you said you want to take it. By the way, when I was in the Bronx this morning, two of the Yankee fans I was talking was saying, I can't believe he didn't sign back with the pinstripes. Who? What are you kidding? What age? The reason you got out of the Bronx is I made a phone call. And I told them, let him travel safely. The Mets have pinstripes. You should have pinstripes. I gave them your license plate. I said, let him travel safely.

[01:00:41] He gets safe passage. We got a podcast later. I told them I'm out of the Bronx too. Pete, can you answer that question? Who the hell's you talking about? Our third would be either Frank Potos. It would be David Peterson, depending on who has the better years. Look, I'm not saying that we match up. I think it's Peterson. I think Peterson's going to, I personally think he'll be a third. I think he turned it on. But the point, but listen, to Ray's point, once you get into the, nobody would have picked

[01:01:10] us to beat the Phillies on paper. Nobody picked us, you know, would have picked us to play the Dodgers better than the Yankees played the Dodgers on paper. Okay. You catch lightning and things happen. They are what they are. You know, the, the, so to Ray's point, you were good enough to get there. You must have something going for you. And hopefully again, you're catching lightning in the, lightning, lightning in a bottle. I would prefer to have aces and you know, that kind of stuff.

[01:01:38] I'd rather be, I'd rather be the Dodgers, but Yamamoto, Sasaki, Otani. And I mean, last now you're going four deep on that team. I mean, it's like no one's going to match up with them. Nobody can match up with them. And that's, you know, last year, Evan Roberts. You're right. Let them all sign there. But if we can't get out of the playoffs, cause we have to play them. Well, then what's the damn point? You know? So that's cute. We're a playoff team. I mean, you can slide again.

[01:02:07] So, and plus look, we're also still, we've acknowledged this in many of our pods. It's not, nobody's done yet. The Mets are not done. There's still three weeks before. I mean, I know we keep saying it keeps getting closer, but eventually just like last year with Montgomery and Chapman, these guys will wind up somewhere. They're not going to not play. So where are they going to wind up? Some Mets are going to get some of these guys. I don't know who they'll get. They'll get somebody.

[01:02:31] So, so with that, with that, I, I, I've accomplished my goal today was to take the opposite position I've taken on the past few weeks to hear you say what I've been saying. Thank you very much. Well, we've come once again to the end of another, uh, fun filled and happy episode. Uh, among the Simon geezers. Many thanks again, uh, to our viewers and listeners for putting up with us through it all.

[01:03:00] Of course, uh, if you enjoyed today's episode, please like, and subscribe gentlemen where yes, the costs costs, costs, losses, enthusiasm already cause. He's disgusted with you. It's been pretty much. Uh, you can also visit our website at, uh, D geezers.com. That's D G E E Z E R S. You can listen to us on, uh, on, uh, also Spotify, uh, Apple podcasts

[01:03:30] and I heart radio, uh, or I have podcasts. So, uh, until next time gentlemen, you want to say it together. Let's do it. Let's do it together to end this episode. Since it's an episode of everything and nothing about nothing until next time. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Until next time. We are the time and geezers and you. Are. Are. Not. Not.

[01:04:00] Hanging up.