Another MLB Opening Day | The 2:00am Crew | Ep. 39

Baseball is BACK and you already know we had to tap in! 🚨

Join Rick Hierro & Jason Enrique as they break down everything surrounding MLB Opening Day 2026 — from the biggest matchups to bold predictions, storylines, and everything in between.

We’re talking:
⚾ Opening Day hype & reactions
🔥 Yankees vs Mets expectations
🇩🇴 Team Dominican Republic energy after WBC
🇺🇸 Team USA outlook heading into the season
👀 Players to watch this year
💯 Early hot takes you won’t hear anywhere else

Plus, we’re bringing that real, unfiltered 2:00AM Crew energy you already know!

🔔 Don’t forget to LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE for more episodes of The 2:00AM Crew

#MLBOpeningDay #2AMCrew #BaseballIsBack #Yankees #Mets #TeamDR #TeamUSA #WBC #LivePodcast #MLB2026

Transcript

SPEAKER_08 0:53

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the 2 a.m. crew. I am one of your hosts. The always I I don't even know. Always opinionated, always uh mostly hated on the internet. Umly regurgitated. Mostly regurgitated Rick Hero. And I'm joined by uh my heterosexual life mate and my heterosexual partner in podcasting, the great Jason Enriquez.

SPEAKER_09 1:29

Yes, yes, indeed. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. We're glad to be back. We missed y'all. I missed you, Rick. I hope everything is going well over there on your end, man.

SPEAKER_08 1:37

I mean, everything is great on my end. Um, we had a couple weeks off. Uh, I really wanted to uh do a couple streams while the WBC was taking place. I felt like, first of all, our Instagram, um just a quick second to pull it up here. Uh, just off WBC content, uh, 366,000 views. Um, and I was looking at our professional dashboard, it took an uptick in everything: views, interactions, new follows, content shared, everything. Um, so I want to thank all our new followers. I want to thank Team Dominican Republic, uh, the Instagram page, Team Dominican who uh reposted a couple of our stuff. I want to thank uh the Uptown Collective, um, and just everybody who commented, shared, liked, and just enjoyed the the the entire tournament. I thought it was fantastic. Um, we're gonna lead off with that. Uh so I I really wished we could have got together and and discussed it in in lengths, but we're gonna do that now. So uh we're gonna play Monday night quarterback with it, uh Tuesday night quarterback with it.

SPEAKER_09 3:03

So of course, in typical Hispanic fashion, we're always a day late.

SPEAKER_08 3:08

Yeah, so what happened was I got sick with a really bad flu one week, and then the following week, Jason got sick with a really bad flu. Um, and I think I I did some watch parties in between. I did two. I think I did the DR Korea game, and I think I did DR USA. Um, but overall, what did you think of the tournament? Did you watch any games? What was your favorite games to watch? Um, and then there's a couple of underlining questions I want to have uh want to have discussions with you about. What did you think? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 3:48

So I got a chance to watch uh not all of it, not even the majority of it, but I'll I watched some. Uh I was actually severely disappointed in how poorly Colombia played. So that kind of took my uh my interest out of it just a little bit. But uh I actually thought that Team USA had a chance to really go for it all this year. Um, you know, congratulations to Venezuela. Uh the the bit the Puerto Rico in the Dominican game was actually pretty fire. And uh I know the Dominican uh USA was also a really good game as well. Venezuela, Venezuela DR. Not we didn't we didn't play Puerto Rico. I'm sorry, yeah, I apologize. Yeah, yeah. Uh but uh yeah, either way, it was a fantastic game. It was a lot of uh firepower. Um, but yeah, um, I actually, you know, going back to what we were talking about before with the WBC before it actually started, we were discussing it on this channel. Um, my interest was there, but I don't think it was cemented. And I think that this follow-in this past uh rather, I should say rather, but uh actually piqued my interest a lot more. And there's been a lot of talk about even getting rid of the all-star break and replacing it with the WBC, which I think is actually fantastic, and it's actually great for the NM MLB because you're not wearing out these players that the season hasn't even started and already their engines are burning. So I think it'll be a nice thing. And if you want to appeal to baseball, especially with this new generation, I don't I don't think it's such a bad idea at all.

SPEAKER_08 5:14

So um, here's my take on it, right? Yeah, a lot of people were like, Oh my god, this is how they play baseball in the land countries. Um, the energy, the vibe, the environment, the juice, the fire, the passion. Uh not just the land countries, because Team Italy brought it. Yes. Um USA was very underwhelming for me. Um and I I felt like Puerto Rico wasn't at full strength. Uh, so I felt like we kind of got robbed. There was there was a couple teams where we kind of got robbed of them being at full strength, Venezuela being one of them, even though they're the uh world baseball classic champs. Um the audience, if baseball wants to grow as a game globally and they want to compete, and this is this is the way to do it, right? You you you had viewerships at all-time high. Yeah. Uh you had the DR Venezuela game, I think it did around 6.8 or almost 7 million. The championship game did 10 million views. The championship game for the WBC against Venezuela USA did more views than the entire seven-game series of the NBA finals last year. Right. Um, so there was uh this kind of like, hey, this is this is fun. A lot of reporters, a lot of broadcasters, everyone was hey, why isn't baseball played this way? Why do we still with the suit and tie, you know, act like you've been there before, the unwritten rules of baseball, so to speak. Um this was much more fun to watch. Uh and it the engagement online showed there was a ton of people who aren't normal baseball everyday fans, and they were tuning in, they were posting, they were sharing, they were discussing what was going on. Um this is the key to grow the game. I feel like if you see a portion of what you saw at the WBC during the MLB season, it it won't be as as bored. Now, a couple players commented on and a couple players players said this WBC title means more than a World Series championship. So let me know how you feel about that, and I think Aaron Judge kind of shared that same sentiment. But let me know what your thoughts were and how you felt about that about specifically players saying that this matters because overall baseball is like all this is yeah, baseball, this is an exhibition, this is not right, right, this is not uh playoff atmosphere. This is um they they they tried to downplay the tournament, uh, and a lot of the players that were playing in it, and a lot of the fans were like, hey, this kind of feels like it's a October baseball, and these guys are playing for a world title. Some players even going as far as to saying that a WBC title would mean more to them than a World Series. Yes, yes. I think uh some of the players in Venezuela said it. Uh Judge alluded to that as well. Uh, what is your opinion on that?

SPEAKER_09 8:48

I mean, I agree because we've been talking uh nauseum, it seems like at this point, about how baseball is a backward ass uh organization and sport now. It's for the dinosaurs, it's America's pastime, and it's you know, we appreciate the history more than what the current and future of the sport uh holds. And they're constantly always trying to find ways to get the the sport more relevant, and they just can't seem to get ahead of basketball. You're never gonna get a football. Football's its own beats in itself. But there is, you know, it it it there is something there for the for the for even casual fans to get back into baseball as well. And due to the possible mounting of the salary cap happening, it's gonna make it more accessible for more uh teams to have a chance to actually win a World Series title. And but with everything that everybody was saying, players, fans, atmosphere about how it all played out, I absolutely 100% agree. And they sh and I think the MLB, uh, more importantly, uh Rob Efred should take a closer look at these things and making sure that they implement it because they're always constantly trying to find ways to appeal the sport to younger audiences and generations, and they keep on failing left and right. But now you actually have the people giving it to you on a silver platter, essentially, and saying how much they want a recipe. This is like getting the recipe to Coca-Cola, and now you can make your own. So now so grow with it, run with it. Listen, what do they always say in sales? The customer is always right. You want the sales, you want the customers, you want the fans, you want the gravitas, you want the respect. All of that comes into play when you actually listen to what the people want and you give what the people deserve.

SPEAKER_08 10:32

So you're in agreement that this this sport could be uh give me one second here, that this tournament could lead to something bigger for the sport. Um on an international stage, because the WBC was competing with not don't take this too far. World Cup type, and when MLB created this tournament, it was supposed to be like a World Cup type tournament. I think they've now precisely bless you gotten to this point.

SPEAKER_09 11:04

Uh you actually stole my thunder. I was gonna say when we were watching these games. Share the thought. When I when I was watching these games, I felt like the atmosphere was kind of like watching a uh uh a very important soccer match. And you know, it it it it's the it's the most globally recognized sport in the in everywhere, it's global, and the atmosphere was infectious, and it felt like it was very energetic and very worldly and very high high voltage, and it's take it, and it's basically swiping away what everybody was always complaining about with baseball in general, where it's just a boring sport, it's it's it's it's golf ages in some ways, it's a little bit too for the old timers. No, you inject some life, you inject basically some B12 into MLB, and you got this. I mean, the atmosphere that was what I think that was one of the appealing things about the WVC was not just the games itself and the players and the plays, but also the atmosphere. Like you could be sitting in your own living room and you can actually feel the energy coming from the crowd.

SPEAKER_08 12:04

Yeah, yeah. Um, so for me, it's it's all these countries that are taking part in it, you know. Although the Netherlands lost, they they played hard. Uh, the Japan games and the Korea games were awesome. You see the guys from Chinese Taipei crying, like it just means so much to these other countries. Um, and in the beginning of the tournament, you get the message from Team USA like, hey, uh this is a tournament we're gonna go try to win. And then when they got a first uh couple wins, they were like, Yeah, this is America's pastime. We gotta go for it. We gotta we gotta win this game. Then they lost to Italy, and it was more like, yeah, this is kind of a uh uh give me one second, 9 p.m. Uh this is kind of a so they kind of were like, yeah, you know, this is an exhibition, we would and then they got into the next round, and that's when they again were they increased, like, hey, this is it. This is where this is America's pastime, we gotta win this tournament. Um and now they're downplaying it. So I I want to mellow just joined us real quick. I'm what's going on, Melo. I'm sorry, I just got into what the conversation is already. You you're kind of muffled, Melo. Okay, hear you too good. You you kind of sound a little muffled.

SPEAKER_06 13:43

Okay, hold on. Is that better? Much, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 13:49

Yeah. So the the conversation is the WBC, and is this a recipe to help fix baseball? Uh the way the WBC's played. Can we translate that into the season? And what can baseball do to grow the game globally? Uh, if you guys can hear me well, not sure. We hear you now, yeah. We're you on a small delay, but we can hear you well now.

SPEAKER_02 14:19

Okay, okay, okay. No, it definitely can't translate to MLB. MLB doesn't have the same fan base as the WBC. It comes from different cultures, it's just the way game is watched other places. The the America could never replicate that um just because of the differences in cultures. When you go to Yankee Stadium, it's all about the uh luxury experience and those types of people who aren't gonna rah-rah and bang their clans together when Juan Soto hits one out the ballpark or judge hits one out, it just doesn't have that work doesn't work like that.

SPEAKER_08 14:48

Uh well, let me ask you how'd you feel about players saying that this means more to them than a World Series title?

SPEAKER_02 14:57

Well, that that meant to me that their culture meant more than what baseball brings to them besides a check. I kind of saw that. We can read that, we saw the passion that the fans had and the players had, you know, everyone was saying, you know, I'm not gonna bring that topic back up, but Juan Soto was the happiest he's ever been since you know he was with the Nationals winning World Series or with the Yankees, uh losing to the Dodgers. So it's it's just a prime example of you know, when Aaron Judge walks on the field wearing Captain America and uh he wants to win it for his nation. Um, not the same as the Latin community, but even him uh kind of brought out a side of him that we haven't seen uh in a little bit. Patriotism.

SPEAKER_08 15:36

And and that leads to my next my next thing, right? So Michael K went in on Yankee fans that were booing uh Judge as training. I heard this as well. Yeah, it so they were booing him because of a few things. A, because of his performance in the final game, and B because of his statements about the WBC, where he was talking about how much it meant to him to represent America in this tournament. Um I I think it was stupid and it was gross to boo him in spring training. Yeah, like it yes, you didn't get the W. Um he's not downplaying what a World Series would mean to him as a Yankee. He's just talking about the importance of that moment. How do you guys, as Yankee fans, feel about fans booing Judge?

SPEAKER_09 16:23

I think it's ridiculous, man, because first and foremost, and Michael K said this on the show earlier today, that he spoke to um Reggie Jackson and he Derek Jeter got booed, he got booed, Mariano got booed, but he has never heard a player, more specifically Yankee, get booed in spring training. Uh, and I think it's I I think it's like really ridiculous and stupid. Uh, but at the same time, I think it goes to show that how frustrated this fan base has become due to the fact that we haven't won anything since 2009. We don't trust our front office, we don't trust our our scouts, we're not trusting our manager. And, you know, it seems like with everything that just seems to, everything, every time that we seem to try to do something, the only thing that we could really fall back on our insurance policy is Aaron Judge. And our best insurance policy hasn't been able to play play uh play great in the uh in the postseason. Uh he wasn't able to win it in the WBC, but he's the captain now. He's wearing the he's wearing the the bulletproof vest, so to speak. So he's gonna take all the slings and arrows and it comes with a job, and he's the perfect guy to take it with grace and so on and so forth. But I think it speaks to the fact that it's really tough to be in a New York market and we pride ourselves, Yankee fans, in being this team of winners and this history, and this, that, and the third. And due to the fact that we're getting basically ousted by teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Red Sox have looked a lot more relevant than we have. We haven't won anything in 2009. We want to make the fans want to make the moves that other teams are not making, that Brian Cashman won't do when the other teams are actually pulling it off and winning rigs and so on and so forth. So it's a sense of frustration that our if our our hero, our captain, our insurance policy, Aaron Judge, who's seeing a little bit of a slump right now and hasn't been able to really show Aaron Judge things until the the start of uh uh spring of opening day, uh, it's just frustration mounting up. And I think it's a part of not all not only Yankee Nation, but a part, a huge part of Yankee Nation showing that, hey, listen, we're not gonna take it anymore. Like we're frustrated, we're paying you guys, we pack out the stadiums and we're buying your gear, and we're doing this, we're holding the preservation of the history, and so on and so forth. What have you done for us lately? Sports is a sport is a results-oriented business and culture, and right now a lot of Yankee fans are going, what have you done for us lately? Yeah, we went to the World Series a couple of years ago, but we if anything, it just showed that we were the first loser. So that I think that's part of it. I think it's just the frustration that and you know, and we all kind of also do it to ourselves because we're so spoiled as fans that if we don't get perfection, then our captain who is not hitting in spring training is worth giving him booze, which I don't think is right, but I think that's the frustration of Yankee fans going above to Aaron Judge, to the scouts, to the manager, to the front office, to ownership, all the above. And they're letting me know.

SPEAKER_02 19:15

You took the words right out of my mouth.

SPEAKER_08 19:18

Go ahead, go ahead. No, no, no, no, go ahead, Melo, because I I'm gonna people are gonna be surprised on my take on this. But go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

The Yankee fan 100. It's spoiled, it's spoiled to the sense of what we remember for winners is not what we currently have and not what we've had for the past 13 years. We haven't had a winner in 13 years. The Yankee fan, especially, has always been a what have you done for me lately type of crowd. They don't care about past accomplishments, they want to know what you did today or yesterday. If it's not satisfactory to them, they will boo you. They booed Arod, they booed everybody, anybody who has produced for them or not. It doesn't matter. The Yankee fan just wants you to produce, produce, produce, and if you don't, they'll boo Garrett Cole off the mountain. That's not fair. I'm not one of those fans, but that's the way it is.

SPEAKER_08 20:09

Uh, I agree with you both, but here's my take on it, right? Good in an off-season where Aaron Judge voiced his frustration with the front office and kind of forced their hand, like, hey, you know, they were playing around with Bellinger. Belly doesn't get done if Judgy doesn't speak up about it. Uh, he's being a lot more vocal now. The guy's back is practically broken from carrying this franchise by himself. Um, the year you go to the World Series, you finally give him like a co-pilot to fly this plane with uh that he can rely on. Uh, he hit three home runs in this postseason. If you look at his history overall in the postseason, Judge doesn't have really bad numbers, right? It's just it it's kind of it's kind of exaggerated because of the market that he's in and because of the team he's on, and because of the time that they haven't won. I mean, you got a three-time MVP, possible four or five-time MVP, that carries you to the playoffs in and out. If Judge gets hurt, look at that lineup without him. So when they say most valuable player, to me, that's what a most valuable player is. If you take Aaron Judge out of the Yankees, completely different ball game. They have to score at least four or five runs and make sure their pitching is perfect to win games. Judgy there, different look, right? Um, he gunned down Tatis at their base, right? He he's showing you the arm is healthy. It's it's it's kind of like spring training. This is the only thing the thing with the WBC is it you're playing it in a time where these guys are trying to fire it up. Team DR was already fired up because they started out in December, right? Some of these Latin American teams prep. For this specifically, right? And I just think your team USA was not prepared for this tournament. They had all the right pieces in play. The rotation wasn't set perfectly. It was only set perfectly for Team DR. De Rosa not knowing that he could possibly not make it to the next round is absurd. And not going for it in that game against uh who they lose to Italy? Yeah, it was Italy.

SPEAKER_09 22:29

Yeah, Italy.

SPEAKER_08 22:31

So I I just feel like I don't know, man. I'm still to this day, and I'm a meth fan. Just the way the man carries himself off the field, on the field, and the way he performs, no matter what, you gotta give the guy he's the captain that type of treatment. It's not his fault, Brian Cashman isn't putting people around him. Is it is he took less money to come back to New York. He could have gotten more money with San Francisco. So I understand the frustration, but you're voicing it at the wrong target. And I understand because you there was a lot of memes. Aaron Judge, whatever his stats were in the final game, he's in playoff form already. And that's already it's it's funny, but it's it's spring training for him specifically. And team USA was not fired up all the way. You could tell some of these guys didn't take this as serious as the Latin players, as the Italian players, as the Japanese players, as the Korean players. That's why this tournament, Team USA barely scratched to the final. That they barely got there, right?

SPEAKER_09 23:41

I I think that part of it is also due to the fact that because Edwin Diaz got injured at the final game in the in the WBC a while back, that no player in the MLB wants to risk them getting hurt before the beginning of the season, which is why we were discussing another possibility of why.

SPEAKER_08 23:59

So uh there's two ways a player could participate in the WPC. The team could uh opt to cover the contract, or there's a private insurance company that will cover the contract, right? If you're over the age of 36, 37, the insurance company automatically says no, right? Lindor had an issue on his uh not even his throwing hand, on his catching hand, and he's the captain of Team Puerto Rico, right? Puerto Rico was their three biggest studs got removed. No Baez, no Korea, no Lindor. Like I I felt like we were robbed of a moment there, right? Um, and this insurance thing, they gotta figure that out, they gotta figure out a better timing for this tournament. But I 100% believe what this tournament provides is what MOB needs, right? They don't they they need to get rid of the unwritten rules, the it needs to be fun, it needs to be enjoyable, you need to see passion, and I'm not knocking the players that play on teams because I've seen it, and the reason why I love the jazz chisholm move for the Yankees was he he brought that he brings that to that clubhouse, right? That swag, that energy, yeah. That energy, that swag, and and there's guys like that that bring it to the regular MLB season. Um, but it's not again to go back, it's not Judge's fault. And you're talking this is a Mint fan talking, right?

SPEAKER_09 25:29

No, I get it.

SPEAKER_08 25:30

I respect Aaron Judge a million times more than I respect Shohei Otani.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

That's just that's just like what's a better placement for the WBC because it's not like we could stop the middle of the season and then risk player injury in the middle of the season, like where the playoff push is happening. What would be a better time frame? I I think it should end the the the um the preseason uh spring training, but I don't think you can move it anywhere else unless you're gonna do it around the holidays, but then one of the players get breaks.

SPEAKER_08 26:03

What about the all-star break? I heard an option where let's have the uh so you know they have to do the pool play. I heard uh uh option where let's do the pool play at spring training, and then let's have those quarter, semi, and final during the all-star break, which is almost a week long. Uh, I like that idea, but it might take away from the tournament. But I I like that idea. I think in the heat of the season, middle of the season, where the players are already ready to go, um would be ideal. I I'm not sure where an ABS has to play. There's a couple things that have to change. The insurance thing has to be changed, MOB has to cover some of these contracts. Like, we can't, we there's no way, and I'm gonna say this again there's no way Francisco Landor cannot play for Team Puerto Rico if he's fully healthy. There is no, I don't care, and I'm a Met fan, and Edwin Diaz got hurt playing against DR, and they won and they were celebrating, and it was a beautiful game, and it was a beautiful moment in that W. If you watch that game, everybody was talking about Team Puerto Rico DR. This was crazy in Miami, right?

SPEAKER_02 27:10

Well, and it's deeper than this because uh there was a rumor down the pipeline. I think Lindor confirmed it that out of all people, Bad Bunny said he would pay for the insurance, and they still not just for him for Korea and Baez. And they still said no, so there's something behind this, it has to be more than insurance.

SPEAKER_08 27:29

You you can't it well. The Mets have to sign off on it, you know. He did have surgery, but they have to figure something out where you can't block certain like Altuve didn't play, although Venezuela would have been fine with or without Altuve. Um, but Puerto Rico to have their three big like if DR wouldn't have had Vladdy or Tatis or something, that would have been a big deal. Like, hey, although we had a lot of players that didn't go, but our main horses like are you serious? And and the next time the the tournament rolls around, these guys, these guys are gonna be 35, 36, 37. They're not gonna be where they are right now in the middle of their prime. Um, and and Lindor, he's the captain of that. That's what bothered me so much. Like, he is the engine of that team, and the last two performances that Puerto Rico has done has been because of him, because of Yaddy, because of all the guys that are involved. And and it just the Edwin Diaz injury. Like, come on, man. The Mets he got hurt, the Mets fans were a little upset, but whatever. They understood what was going on here. And I think the baseball fans are okay with if a player gets hurt from their team, they just want to see a great because they know the chest. What's on the chest? Everybody kept talking about it. Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Cuba, right? That that really it hits differently. Like when DR got eliminated, I was like, I'm American, but my brothers in Venezuela, like, I really appreciate you know how they played the game. I was really upset that Randy O Rosarena apologized to Kyle Rowling. I didn't think he needed to, um, because of the whole handshake thing. But just from the beginning, my favorite game was Venezuela DR, right? And not because DR won or anything, it's just the way that game played. It was like back and forth, back and forth. Everybody was into it, right? Before the game even started, Contreras goes up to Tatis, they give each other a pound, they hug each other, and they're like, yo, let's do this. And they both pounded each other's hearts, right? Like, let's go. And you could tell there was mutual respect before between both teammates. And it's not just Venezuela DR, it's Venezuela, DR, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Japan, Korea. Korea was so the Korea DR game was so. I mean, we we blew them up, but the Korean players were so respectful and so appreciative of that moment. Like you want to see that you want to see, you don't want to see a guy that's making so much money that they don't care if they're playing or not, they're they're fine, they're set for life. You you want to see passion, right? You want to see the players that wear the pinstripes. If you would have had Jorge Posado wearing pinstripes right now, and he saw some of the stuff that goes on in the organization, Jorge would be pulling ears. Jeter was the captain, but Pesado was the vocal leader, just like Stanton is. And I'm I'm glad to see Judgy taking steps to being more vocal because I believe his word carries a lot, not just within the Yankees, within baseball.

SPEAKER_02 30:30

You gotta remember that the WBC is a one-off situation. Half of Yankee Stadium and City Field is corporate seats. Those those people do not get into it the way somebody who scraped together 10 bucks to root to root the to root along their nation. It just will never be like that. Never, never, never. It'll be crackets until the playoffs. Yankee Stadium and City Field do not rock. They do not rock. I've been to both, I've been to Phillies Mets, I've been to Red Sox Yankees, they do not rock. They will, I've been to one WBC, luckily, in my life in 2016, and I've never been in an atmosphere like that.

SPEAKER_08 31:06

Well, I've been to several games in the Dominican Republic. I'm an Aguilas fan. I've watched Aguilas versus Lyce, I've watched Aguilas versus Gigantes. The atmosphere in those small ballparks, when you have grandmothers yelling at the opposing players and yelling and pushing, cheering their guys on. I'm talking about like 85.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

Oh, you know, they're all selling Brugales in the stands.

SPEAKER_08 31:32

It's just and we do sell Brugas instead of beer and pizza, full pies of pizza. It's just, I feel like the game. So I guess my whole point is this, right? Americans, right? Team America, this is America's past time. We got to win the tournament. That was their message going into the tournament. They lost to Italy, they were like, Oh, it's an exhibition, right? They downplayed it, right? They got in, uh, they played the monster of DR. DR did not win that game. I believe we lost that game. Then USA won that game. Um, and they they they felt that they pumped their chest, they were like, Yeah, we're gonna win this title. Then they played Venezuela, who had just knocked off Japan. I was like, once Venezuela knocked off Japan, I was like, Yeah, it's crickets for USA right now. Um, just because the way those teams take these games and they and they plan for them and they play the way they play for them. I knew Venezuela was gonna win that game.

SPEAKER_09 32:32

Yeah, wholeheartedly. Now, going back to what we were saying about where we would fit these games, uh the WBC rather, uh, during the season of baseball. I mean, is is it hypocritical for me to say that maybe it's time for us to actually shorten the schedules, like maybe not have it 162 games, maybe cut it down 20 games less or something like that?

SPEAKER_08 32:54

It would be nice to bring the season down because um once there's a lot of meaningless games in this in in baseball. Um I'm not for battery.

SPEAKER_09 33:05

There's a lot of them, there's a lot of them where kids can't even go because they got to cut school or something when games are going on.

SPEAKER_02 33:12

The baseball purists were playing with records at this point, though. If you start shortening up the season, you're starting to play with records.

SPEAKER_09 33:18

No, no, no. And and those purists are those purists are also dinosaurs. They're they're in Jurassic Park right now.

SPEAKER_08 33:23

No, no, well, uh, I'm I'm gonna say this. I'm I'm a baseball purist, right? I I believe the grueling 162 schedule is what makes the game beautiful, but I'm not saying hey, let's make this 120. I'm just saying maybe 150, maybe 148, maybe you know, 10. This there's at least 10, 15 minus games in this season. If if you cut it down, it would just make the games matter much more. I think Interleague has brought some spice into it.

SPEAKER_02 33:51

Will the WBC stats count? That's the only way it would be fair. Uh, as far as individual stats, at least for me, that's the only way it would be have to be fair. Because there's a lot of records, there's a lot of records that that depend on the length of the schedule at MLB. The hit record, the RBI record, the home run record, it's all about the it's all about the distance, it's all about the games, you know.

SPEAKER_08 34:14

Yeah, I can I get that. And and you know, as like if Miles Garrett just broke the sack record. Uh to me, that's an asterisk because he did it in 17 games, straight hand did it in 16. Um I I just feel we can't move the WBC. Where I think right now, where it is, it just is where it is. And maybe we should just think about um how to take some of the energy from the tournament and try to infuse it into the MLB season. And I think the MOB should concentrate on how to improve the tournament, you know, better seating, ensuring the players' contracts, um, figuring out a better travel schedule. Because if you're in that Tokyo pool, you win the pool, then you gotta travel to Miami, and the next day you're already playing. Like, um, there's just a lot of things you making abs available. I know the DR team would have loved that uh for the the tournament. Um, but I I feel like this is MOB's opportunity to study what happens in this tournament, and it's been like this for the last three WBCs. Let's just be honest. Um, yeah, it's just MOB never really like let the kids play. That's always been the message. Like the way Tatis plays, that's how players should play all around the league. But I I I want to move on from the WBC. Let's let's have your final thoughts on it.

SPEAKER_09 35:46

I mean, I I I thought it was very refreshing to see. I love the energy. It was like uh having a soccer audience in a baseball game, and I thought that something like this, some kind of energy, whatever we can do to implement whatever the WBC was able to do and insert it into MLB. I think that that is the juice that the that the league has been looking for, that the convention has been looking for, and the younger generation will be more gratified to pay attention more to what's going on in baseball, as opposed to just because you know what? It's almost kind of like you have a plan right there where you have the NFL that is trying to expand throughout the world. They're trying to do games in Brazil and Germany and all these other stuff when they're still trying to figure it out how to make it a global sensation when baseball already has it right then and there, it's just working around it and making sure that you can implement it. So they got it all figured out. You just got to implement on how they can do it.

SPEAKER_07 36:41

I love that.

SPEAKER_08 36:42

I want to clarify the numbers. So it was 10.78 million viewers that watched Venezuela versus USA. Uh, and that was more than the NBA finals last year.

SPEAKER_02 36:55

Well, the one thing one thing that I think we missed, but and then we'll move on. The the WBC was really exciting this year because the World Cup is in America this year. So that audience is already tuned in. Fox was promoting who their announcers will be for the World Cup. It was sort of the whole world was watching because they're anticipating what's coming in the summer, and they had this as like an appetizer. So, and because it's in America, it was even more amplified because when it's in Spain, or let's say when it's in Japan, that's over there. But this year it's everything's here, so everything was concentrated here. The WBC and now the World Cup. So that energy was there because of the anticipation to me. So I think that's why the numbers were so high. They capitalized on the anticipation for the World Cup as like this is the World Cup of baseball. It wasn't this is the WBC of the World Cup, it was this is the World Cup of baseball, you know.

SPEAKER_08 37:49

We they I think they've uh when they did the tournament, that was the goal, and I think they've accomplished that so far.

SPEAKER_01 37:54

Right, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_08 37:56

And also the Olympics in 2028 is in this year. So I I don't think you want to compete with the NFL in the US, I think you just want to be a global game, which you already are, because your stars come from so many different countries. So um I want to ask you guys America's the hottest it's ever been. I want to ask you guys uh how do you feel about the um the broadcasters' opinions about um act like you've been there before, uh unwritten rules of baseball, the dinosaur view of major league baseball. Um Jason, I'm gonna let you start off. I'm I'm gonna mute my mic real quick. I gotta go upstairs real quick, but I'm gonna let you start off.

SPEAKER_09 38:50

I mean, at the end of the day, it's media. What are they supposed to say? They're ha they basically have a script written in front of them most of the time that we probably don't know about, that that's what they're supposed to be talking about. They want to talk about how they're opinionated and nobody uh you know tells them what to say or do whatever the case may be. But it's all about ratings, it's all about traction. They know how to get viewers, they know how to get listeners, and what are they supposed to say, you know, especially at a time when baseball hasn't started yet and basketball is still not on the playoff route, yeah, and hockey's about to be in the in the playoff series, but nobody's really talking about hockey right now. Football is still miles away from the draft and so on and so forth. Free agency already passed. So it's all about finding time finding things to talk about. And also with baseball being America's pastime, as we always allude to, uh, a lot of these baseball purists and all these people that really love baseball and the old school fans and everything, they're gonna gravitate to that kind of talk. They're gonna gravitate to that kind of banner. And that's what that's that's what their audience is. It's been that way for a long time, and it doesn't, and I just seem like it's not going anywhere. And as long as they have that audience in place, the dinosaur uh broadcasters are gonna keep on uh catering to the dinosaur audience, as far as I'm concerned.

SPEAKER_02 40:04

They talk out of both sides of their mouth, in my in my um, in my opinion. Um, because back in the day when you would uh showboat, it was to pimp a home run, right? And now it's all about the bat flip. They they they exemplify and they and they put the bat flip up in the air, where it's like the moment someone hits a home run, they're looking for the bat and where it went. So if they can do that, what's what's a purist anymore? If that's what you're promoting and that's what you're saying is the truth, for me, for me, let whoever wants to celebrate. If you don't want to give up a home run and let someone throw the bat up in the air, don't throw the ball down the middle, don't give it up. That's not every not everybody's Barry Sanders.

SPEAKER_08 40:42

Well, I love the celebrations, right? I think uh Tatis's grand slam back flip was beautiful, but I I also love like the mentality of Pedro Martinez. If you're gonna do too much, then no, you're gonna you might end up in an ambulance. You and Alfonso Sorriano, Derek Jeter and Alfonso Soriano.

SPEAKER_02 41:06

Uh well that's cheating. He's he's got the ball in his hands, that's a dangerous weapon. That's cheating.

SPEAKER_08 41:12

I I get that, but just know that you might get brushed back by the pitcher, right? So I I like that. I like a pitcher protecting their hitter, and I like the celebration and the passion of it.

SPEAKER_09 41:24

Listen, I hate it when I hate it Bautista, and but I love the bat flip. I just hated it when it was against the Yankees.

SPEAKER_01 41:31

Yeah, what do you guys want to do it's against you?

SPEAKER_08 41:35

How do you how do you feel about it?

SPEAKER_02 41:37

Like I hated, I hated the Soto shuffle, but when he was wearing those pit shots, boy, I was moving my hips in a way to before.

SPEAKER_08 41:47

I think there was nothing. So, what was the game against uh I think it was against the Guardians, where um that home run still gives me chills. And I was watching that as a Met fan, watching Soto back as a Yankee. Um, the way he dominated that pitcher and outsmarted him. Um, did the shuffle and just intimidated him, looked at him, shook his head on. I forgot what pitch it was. He already knew which one he wanted.

SPEAKER_02 42:14

He said on the curve and then fouled one off, and then he said, Yeah, I got you. And then he went up and he went.

SPEAKER_08 42:18

I know I'm in your head. Yeah, yeah. I know I'm in your head. And and uh it who was that Soto hit the home run off of was it Skeens? No, it wasn't the skins game, it was against uh Rodriguez in the Venezuela game where he fooled him, like, okay, you got me. And he looked at him, did the shuffle, waited off speed, and then Rodriguez got confident, like, oh, I got you next time, let me bring that again. And Soto just hit it out the park. And in Miami, that's a huge ballpark. I do you guys so if someone hits that in Yankee Stadium and then let's say Schlittler throws one inside, moves the guy off. How do you feel about the game at that point? Do you want the guys to the hardest thing to do in sports to hit a 90 mile a 90 mile per hour fastball? I I think if you hit a bomb, you should be able to show a small inclinative of emotion.

SPEAKER_02 43:17

If you pimp it, if you if you pimp it, you know what that's old school rules, though. If you pimp it, you know what's coming next. So I mean, if you if you if you if you walk it this are things or one of your best players.

SPEAKER_08 43:30

So this is the thing to me, right? If you do a bat flip and you go around the bases in an adequate time, I'm okay with it. If you fucking walk around the bases and you take your sweet, or or you admire it way too long, because you can admire like Vladdy admired a shot, but he just looked at it to make sure it went out. Once it was out, he did his trot. I'm okay with it. But once it's out and you're still looking and you're doing some other shit, then that's a different you you're crossing a very Thing not in there.

SPEAKER_02 44:01

Are you guys tell John Carlo to stop doing that, please?

SPEAKER_08 44:07

I would love. I would listen. If John Carlo Stanton could do backflips and have that swagger he had in Miami, Yankee Stadium would be rocky.

SPEAKER_02 44:20

That's the only time he comes alive. Talk to me. Talk to me in October.

SPEAKER_08 44:24

If I'm the Yankees, I would put that man in uh good. You guys seen that militia man with uh Stallone and uh yeah, yeah. We we we put Stan a cryo freeze until September, till September, and then you bring him out. So, uh, how'd you feel about the Yankees offseason? And were you satisfied with the job that Cashman did? No, was there a move that needs to be done that you feel can be done? Um, and how do you feel about the team?

SPEAKER_09 44:57

Uh well, I mean, we alluded to this a couple of episodes before where I feel like they feel so confident that they had the team to beat last year, that they essentially brought them back, but then you also have things that I I I still well I kind of understand why you kind of gave Trent Grishom the contract that he did because the whole Cody Bellinger thing, but it's still a situation where it can still bite you in the ass in the long run. It's taking playing time from Dominguez, but it's kind of here and there. But but you know, but you know, the thing about Dominguez also is that is he really as good as we make him out to be, you know, like they they said this on the radio already, where it was the fans that gave him that nickname, the Martian, and now he has to live up to that, and he hasn't. And also, it this is actually perfect to bring up with you, Rick, because we all know how you've been very critical about uh the Yankees staff and how their inability to um develop players. Do you feel like if he was on the Boston Red Sox or the Tampa Bay Reds or the Cincinnati Reds that you'll be further along in this development now with than he would be with the Yankees?

SPEAKER_08 45:59

I'm just gonna say if the Yankees would have shown the same amount of support they've shown Anthony Volpe to the Martian, it would be a different story. I think the Martian, the problem is the Yankees organization has an issue developing stars and developing players. And I think that Trent Grisham being in center, where you could have uh Dominguez at center and give him as much playing time as possible, but have a uh you know, like a Curtis Granderson or someone who's play center field on the staff, coaching him day to day and walking him through things. Like when A Rod switched their base, I I mean he's A-Rod, he can play third, but Greg Nettles worked with him for a while, right? Um, he they don't invest in that, right? Um I I think that it was a mistake to give Grisham that money. I think that this is yes, he's not ready. He he dropped a pop-up in left field. Left field is a different animal than center. Um, I think he feels more comfortable in center. Um Dominguez, you cannot have that bat in the lineup. I I think the kid is if if he's properly coached and properly developed, is a great hitter, and he's something you're looking for. Like you need someone behind judge. And I'm worried about Spencer Jones, I'm worried about Lombard Jr. Um, but again, if Dominguez is not he's not Italian, he's not so the I I don't know how invested the front office is on him, uh, but there's a lot of raw talent there to be developed, and he's super young. How old is Jason?

SPEAKER_02 47:51

I gotta I think you gotta be like 25 now. He's 23, he's 23. Okay, so I got a pretty unique perspective on the game. So I got a unique perspective on the main game because I live upstate, I live like about 20 minutes from the Yankees high affiliate with the renegades, right? Because he's a small guy, he is not big, you know, and not to say that a small guy can't produce in the major leagues like Altuve, but he's no Altuve. And on top of that, when you big him up to be the Martian, I expected to see this otherworldly figure. Like when I first saw LeBron James in person, I thought he was a human. Oh shit, I lost my lost, I'm losing my path. Sorry. Why am I not charging? We got you.

SPEAKER_08 48:38

He's 5'9, by the way, 218. Uh, and he is 23 years old. But he was mostly he he he was brought up in center field. I think is it it doesn't say about him, it says more about the Yankees' development. And I think the kid offensively could be something very special. Um just like Gary Sanchez, but just defensively, you gotta find positions for these guys. That that's the whole thing with the uh metal's not here. Hold on one second. Let me just what's going on here? Jason, are we good? I'm I'm good on this side, yeah. Do you see the three screens or the three screens or the no, he's gone.

SPEAKER_09 49:24

It's just you and me now.

SPEAKER_08 49:25

Okay. Um that's my whole thought on Dominguez. I feel like the organization has failed him development. And I feel like the same thing when they got Glaber. Like Glaber could have been much more than what he is and what he became. Um, the Yankees don't invest in defense, they invest in offense. And they want power and they want home runs. And I think that if they go back to a different type of mentality developmental-wise, try to like do a guy that gets on base on average, home runs, RBIs, runs like you gotta look for more in a player than just power and RBIs. Your analytics is great for 162 seasons, 162 games, but it's not built for the playoffs. And I don't think you build stars that way. I think you take Dominguez and you put him in a team that has a great developmental, you'll see a lot more from him. The the raw talent is there, it just hasn't been developed. Now, Camp Slittler this year we'll see if the Yankees could develop pitching, because that's always been a knock on them. Maybe they shifted and they invested more in developing the pitchers, but you know, there's no excuse for Dominguez batting 257, 10 home runs, 47 RBIs, and and not having great defense. There's no excuse for uh you feeling like Spencer Jones isn't ready, you feeling like Lombaro Jr. is not ready, and the overall performance of Volpe. Um it just they have to redo their entire development sister system, their scouts, and what they want to get out of these players.

unknown 51:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_08 51:18

And I think that Trent Grisham thing was a mistake, man. You yeah, I think you you should have moved on, you could have used that 22 million somewhere else.

SPEAKER_09 51:26

Yeah, now they they explained why they did it initially, because if Cody Bellinger didn't sign, then you would have to get two outfielders. But at the end of the day, I think that that's uh that's a deal that's gonna come into butting up butting them in the ass.

SPEAKER_08 51:42

I I think that was a load of crock. I think Cody was gonna sign no matter what. I think Cody is built perfectly for that organization. I think the fact that he plays the outfield in first base and he's a left-handed bat. Um, and his relationship with Judge, Judge would wanted Cody to get re-signed immediately. He was very vocal about that, and they should have done that first. That should have been priority. Um, but he signed him as insurance, so that wasn't a great move. Now you're you have Bellinger and you have flexibility, and you also have Richard, which now you're paying 22 million, so you're gonna have to pay to play him. And now the Martian starts in triple A, so we'll see.

SPEAKER_06 52:27

We'll see.

SPEAKER_08 52:30

So what's something you wanted the the Yankees to do this offseason that they failed to accomplish?

SPEAKER_09 52:38

Oh, I mean, I wouldn't have minded uh getting Pete Alonso as opposed to Cody Bellinger, even though I do like Cody. I think uh I think there could have been a move made there with uh the Yankees getting uh uh Pete Alonso, but it didn't happen. So now we have to face him, now we have to face him against Baltimore.

SPEAKER_08 52:59

I I I thought that that was something that would have happened. I thought the Yankees would have ended up with Bellinger and Alonzo, but um they missed an opportunity there, so yeah.

SPEAKER_09 53:11

I mean, if you get Alonzo, that's one of those moves that made the Yankees the Yankees in their heyday.

SPEAKER_08 53:19

So now I'm gonna say this, right? I I want to inject some positivity for the Yankee fans. I think that if the pitching uh lives up to its expectations, uh and just I'm just saying expectations. Uh and you can score six runs a game, you're gonna win a lot of games, and you might go deep into the playoffs.

SPEAKER_09 53:46

Well, barring any injuries, barring any injuries. We'll see what happens with Garrett Hole. Hopefully, he stays healthy, Cam Schlittler, uh the uh the bullpen, everything else. Um, and then uh the closing situation, we don't have Devin Williams anymore, so hopefully our closer steps out.

SPEAKER_08 54:04

I think you're in a much better situation, and I think starting pitching wise, you're in a much better situation. I think you also have young guys you could bring up at uh the middle of the season, and then there's trades to be made. And uh Cashman knows how to have a good uh what do they call it again? That uh midseason no no no the midseason trades where um oh like uh we uh he knows how to have a good trade deadline, yeah. But if the pitching is healthy and performs to their capacity, and the Yankees can average six runs, again, just six runs, they'll be in very good shape. That's what I have to say about the Yankees. Yeah, I have more question marks about my New York Mets than I do about the Yankees.

SPEAKER_09 54:56

Yeah, I mean that bullpen, I don't know what's gonna happen with the Mets.

SPEAKER_08 55:01

I mean, they are there is a lot of potential on this team. The rotation is a lot better, the bullpen is not as good as last year, and the lineup is better. Defensively, there's some question marks. There's no real first baseman, there's no real third baseman. Um but there's potential, right? Like Bo Bush can give you a great season, Polanco could give you a great season. Uh, we're hoping Luis Roberts Jr. is Luis Roberts Jr. of a couple years ago. So but I'm being optimistic. Um, yeah, if the Mets can play great the first half and then play phenomenal the second half, I'll be happy.

SPEAKER_09 55:43

Right.

SPEAKER_08 55:44

Because last year, before the All-Star game, we were the best team in baseball, and then it all fell apart. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 55:52

I and I also hope because I like Mendy, I hope that this is not a lame duck coach year for him as well.

SPEAKER_08 55:58

And they've already set him up because he has an assistant now that I think that that's the David Stearns guy. So um, if Mendy's gone, they already have their manager in the waiting there. Um, but I think Roberts has a good I think Robert Lindor and Soto a year under their belt. Um, their interactions in spring training seem a lot better this year. Uh Roberts is completely sold on Soto. Um, and Polanco's been with Soto up and down. I think Soto will dictate how great the Mets are. Um, and he set the tone already by stating hey, Otani, don't get comfortable with the MVPs. Um, if if Lindor shows up and he plays Lindor level, and Soto plays second half Mets Soto last year, then I think the Mets will be in good shape because those two guys can inspire the rest of the team to play a lot better. And there's, I mean, Luis Robert Jr. is the wild card on the New York Mets.

SPEAKER_09 57:04

Well, what about if there was an opportunity to get Carlos Beltran?

SPEAKER_08 57:10

As a manager, I think Carlos deserves a shot. I think uh Francisco Savelli deserves a shot. I think Boole should get a look. Um, but I I think Davis Stearns is stuck in his ways, and he hired the guy from Cleveland, I don't even know his name. Um for a reason. No, no, no, no, no. It's a young kid, it's Steve something, Mets coaching staff. I I think they did a great job rebuilding the coaching staff, although I I would have liked to seen Jeremy Hefner one more year. Kai Correa is the bench coach of the Mets. Oh Correa. That's I think that's the guy waiting in the wings for uh I think that's Stearns' guy. Um I would have loved to see a you know, you you they should have brought Hefner back. I think um we could have done with the hitting coach, we could have did better with a couple spots. I would have loved to have seen um what's the guy? He's in Atlanta now, our first base coach from last year.

SPEAKER_09 58:16

Um the new the new manager for the Braves.

SPEAKER_08 58:20

He he he's on the Braves. No, he's not he's not a man's game. He um or Walt Weiss? No, no, no, no, no, no. He's uh Jesus Christ. He was the reason why we had such a good run game. Anton Richardson. Okay. I I think they should have brought him back as the first base coach. Okay. And he's in Atlanta now. He's in Atlanta with Hefner. Oh, oh okay. So um we'll wait and see. But give me your predictions. Where do Yankees go? Oh, uh Melo's back. Oh, okay. Here we go. Melo, where were you? I'm sorry. Let's just pick up where you uh because you were in the middle of making a point.

SPEAKER_01 59:19

I think it was Jason Demakes.

SPEAKER_02 59:20

I forgot what I was saying, to be honest. Sorry, I was just sorry. I thought I was charging the oh the Megan's. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, I was just stunned how how how small in stature he is. I don't think that uh I don't think that he has the makeup physically um to be what the Yankee fan wants him to be since that nickname was given to him. Um that's a lot of pressure to put on a kid. It's like something we've never seen before, but so far what we've seen, we've seen a bench player. So it it you know, it just is what it is with him right now. I don't know if the development will help that. I don't know exactly what he needs. I think his bat could be okay. He doesn't play well in left field, so where are we putting him? And if his bat isn't good enough, what's that say about him? I mean, I really don't know where to go with him, honestly, because because he has done some runtime in the major leagues, um, and he just has not produced the way that the Yankee fan or the manage or the coaching staff would have wanted, or anyone in the Yankee organization.

SPEAKER_08 1:00:16

I uh like I said, I think the Yankees should invest in him like they did in Volpe. I think they should have got uh development people with him. I think he's more comfortable in center field. They made a choice to give Trent Grissom 22 million. It's fine. Uh, I think the way the roster's constructed now, having him in triple A at this point makes a ton of sense. But I I I feel kind of feel like this might stunt the kids' growth. I feel like that there is raw talent there. Um, they just haven't got it out of him.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:47

Uh, a question I asked Jason stunted him two years before they didn't play him in the playoffs. When Juan Soto was 19, he's no Juan Soto, he was in the World Series banging homers off and playing Kershaw. So, I mean, you you know, it's like it's it's crazy, it's just different with the way the Yankees perceive him as if he's supposed to be so great, one of the top young talents in their organization, why not have believed him from the beginning? You stunted him back then when the Yankee fan was clamoring, hoping for a spark in the playoffs to give the Yankees some bit of a Juan Soto West run, and they left him right on the bench to watch. That didn't make sense to me. And ever since then, he just has not lived up to it.

SPEAKER_08 1:01:26

I think he's 20, he's 23 years old, so the kid is fairly young. And I think this might be the season make a break for him, and they just have to invest in him and fully make him feel like he's a priority to them. I asked Jason this question: what's an off-season move you felt the Yankees should have made uh that would have made you feel more comfortable about the 2026 season? And before you say that, I said if the pitching lives up to just expectations, doesn't exceed it, and the Yankees average six runs a game, I think they'll be very good because I think the strength of the Yankees now will be the strong pitching that they have. Um, and I think they can produce five, six runs a game. Um, it's just about keeping the offense healthy.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:14

The way that I looked at the Yankees looked at this offseason was very simple. It was whatever pieces we got back, those are our moves. We didn't have Garrett Cole last year. He's coming back this year. He's our big offseason signing. That's basically the way they looked at it. The move that I wanted them to make, he's playing for your team. I wanted Bo. I wanted Bo so badly. I thought that that was a great bat for our lineup. I thought it would have fit in well in the clubhouse. His he has a little bit of a swag too, would have gone well with Jazz. Just changed the dynamic of the Yankees a little bit. And again, just a guy who was producing in the playoffs, like somebody who can ice in his veins. That's what the Yankees need. They don't need anyone who needs any pretentious stuff, anyone who's caring about what the fans boo, they don't anything just go produce, go play, play with play as play with swag, play, play, play like yourself, and that's it. That's it. The Yankees didn't need much because we saw Slitler last year at the end. I don't know where he came from, but if he's even 75% of that, that's way better than anything we could have gotten in the offseason. Who was the big picture this offseason?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:14

Who was it?

SPEAKER_08 1:03:16

I mean, it it was Google, but he didn't open up to negotiations and the tigers weren't open to moving him. And then the other big picture was um uh Valdez, who ended up going to Detroit.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:29

So yeah, I think the Yankees lineup is more than good enough. That's the only thing they could have done. The bullpen's pretty good. They ran it back because they know wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_08 1:03:37

They're getting you didn't want to see a Luis Arries type guy in that lineup, of course, but it just didn't happen. Fully feel they need, uh they don't need a star, they need a hitter.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:48

But the thing is, the way they looked at it was we're getting our we're getting the ace of the league back, and that's enough to push us the last year. We thought we were good enough, but we didn't have our ace. We were we were we didn't make it as far as we did the year before that, but we also didn't have our ace. That's it, that's the way the Yankees looked at it. That team was good enough to get us where it got us last year, but we're adding back the best pitcher in the game.

SPEAKER_08 1:04:18

I think Jason said Peter Alzo Pete Peter he said Peter Lonzo. He he felt like that was a move the Yankees could have made this offseason.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:28

He makes sense in that lineup. I couldn't I couldn't, I couldn't see that happening. The Yankees don't sign X Mets, they just don't do it. It's like one of those things where they don't make trades, they've made like two over the past 20 years. It's just not something that I wanted it as much as I wanted it, it just was not in the cards. As dumb as it sounds, that's just how the Yankees do business. They don't really do much business with the Mets. It's like that cross-town thing. I don't know why they think that's just so much sense in this lineup. It did, it did, it did, and and if sort of maybe may maybe only because Coban has a little bit of Pete, Ballinger, and Judge, those three names. You telling me in that ballpark for the price that he went to Baltimore for, I don't know why they wouldn't have at least reached out, but there's some there's something that we're missing there too, because it did make a lot of sense. If it makes sense to us, and we're just here just chatting it up. There's people who get paid to read at analytics and go down deep into stats and all that stuff, and they decided that they weren't gonna go after him. I don't know why. I guess it's that Met thing, they just don't do business with the Mets or after that.

SPEAKER_08 1:05:38

I think Schwarber and Pete had the most friendly contracts this offseason. I think either of the two made sense for either organization. Um, and I don't understand, like the Mets made it seem like oh, Pete left, but they were all in on Schwarber. Well, it the the money was very similar. You just didn't want Pete here. Just That's right. And and business wise, you need a guy like Alonzo to create an atmosphere on this team. But they got rid of the energy that's not a Davis turn energy, like I just said. I have more question marks about the Mets than I do about the Yankees. Uh the Yankees, I feel like the bullpen is a little bit of a question, and I feel like they need one more bat. But if the bull if the rotation plays like they're supposed to, the lineup plays like they're supposed to, and Cashman does his thing during the all-star break or the trade deadline, which he always does. I feel like he always gets one or two good pieces during the trade deadlines. I think they should be fine. We don't have a third baseman, we don't have a first baseman, we do not have Edwin Diaz no more. So it it's weird to me, right? There's a lot of potential in that Mets team. There's Reese Roberts, which I I think is the X factor for us. Uh we don't know what Bolt's gonna be, we don't know what Polanco's gonna be, and there's a lot of question marks. The only thing I was very happy about was Freddie Peralta, and we didn't even extend him. So we shall see how this season plays.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:19

What is your opinion on that? Listen, as much as you want to say it was well worth it. First of all, as much as much as you want to say there's no salary cap in baseball, there is because it's dollar for dollar over the tax, so it's not a 20 million dollar pay. I know it becomes a 40 million dollar play. You know, come on, let's not do it.

SPEAKER_08 1:07:45

I I know, and it's named after my owner, but guess what? It was dollar for dollar, and it makes it makes a lot of sense for us. You know why? Because you know what Soto's first comments when he got to spring training. He said, Yo, Otani, don't get too comfortable with them MVP. And I think Soto not being in the all-star game. Hold on a second, and you know baseball, and you know Soto. I think him not making the All-Star game last year because of his money, he's like, Oh, word, y'all gonna deny me like that? I'm gonna steal these bags for y'all. I'm gonna show you what else I got in my revertoire. I'm gonna show you what else I I can actually do. He's like, I'm him, it's just yeah, I forgot. And I think this season he's coming with that mentality, and I think he also injected that in team DR.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:27

So I hope I hope for your team's sake, I hope for your team's sake that's what's gonna happen. I really hope so. Because if he doesn't go nuclear Otani style and hits 35 homers with 110 RBIs, that ain't gonna cut it for your match. You're gonna win 81 games.

SPEAKER_08 1:08:42

I think he's batting, I think this year Soto's batting over 300. He's doing 40 40. You think he's stealing 40 bags? I think he's doing 40 bags.

SPEAKER_07 1:08:54

Nah, no way.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:56

That man is always mellow, mellow. It's not happening, it's not happening.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:02

Mellow, it it was light work for him last year. Did you see how with ease he stole these bags?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:12

You know, fortunately for me, I don't want to, I don't watch a lot of Mets game. I don't I don't want to torture myself.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:16

Mellow. So he was he was batting 263. And remember, he had the first three seasons. The first month, the first two months, he was awful. 263, 43 home runs, 105 rupees, and 38 stolen bags.

SPEAKER_07 1:09:30

He can't swipe two more next this year.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:33

Uh I I didn't know he had that many stolen bases, to be honest. I did not know that. 38. Okay, okay. So maybe I'm wrong. So maybe he will. Maybe he will. Maybe he pushes 50. Maybe maybe if he wants to do Otani, whatever he got to do 50-50. He can't talk all that smack and not do what Otani has done already.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:49

I think he's going into his back this year. I think he's gonna do um, and by the way, Soto season, look at it last year. It was compared to like a Bonds and Bagwell type season. Bonds did it twice, bagwall did it twice, and bagwall we know is the Royce. Anytime you bring a Barry Bonds to me, it's like, ooh, okay, he took that personal, the all-star game shit. And I think him saying that like publicly, like, old Tani, don't get too comfortable with them MVPs. I'm coming, set the tone for this roster.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:21

We'll see.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:22

What's what when's the first game for you guys? Uh Thursday? Thursday Thursday. It's schemes versus Peralta at one o'clock.

SPEAKER_08 1:10:29

It's a good game, it's a good that's a good series, but that game, that first game is gonna be a good game.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:35

Okay, quick thing. How do you feel about MLB starting on Netflix?

SPEAKER_08 1:10:39

I hate that. You you're you're having well, as much as I hate Michael K, but you're doing K's not gonna do opening day for the Yankees on Yes. I don't like Apple, I don't like Netflix. I really don't like the Apple broadcast, I don't like the Netflix broadcast.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:02

Yeah, they gotta spread it out because everyone's got the cable. That's all that is.

SPEAKER_09 1:11:07

By the way, I'm not a I'm not a Meth fan by any stretch of the imagination, but uh shout out to Howie Rose as this is gonna be his final doing a broadcast for the Methods.

SPEAKER_08 1:11:16

So as much as John Sterling's meant to the Yankees, Howie Rose. Well, I feel like his voice is a little bit more unique and the way he calls the games. Um, for him to he said if we win a World Series, he'll come back for one more. But I'm gonna listen to uh more how he calls on the radio. I'm like an old school radio person, so is Jason. So uh I'm gonna cherish this a little more. I think that you know, like even the voice of the stadium where it was Bob Shepard, like hearing Jeter go up, like that gives you goosebumps. Like people number two. This this stadium that they say is called Yankee Stadium ain't the stadium I went to see games. I was across the street where Bob Shepard was alive, and you got goosebumps every time that man called somebody up batting up. And I like the fact that Derek kept his voice only, and he brought that over to that new stadium. But you need like these type of like historical pieces in organizations like that. So by the way, and by the way, the best broadcasting booth is SY, is my boy Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling. I don't want to hear nothing about that.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:32

That's a one of them it's good, it's good.

SPEAKER_08 1:12:35

I I used to love Ken Sigleton and Michael K, and I used to love Michael K and Jim Cott as well, but I don't think Michael got a dance partner that works with him that well.

SPEAKER_09 1:12:46

By the way, I just want to say this real quick. So Joe Boningo had David Sims on his podcast recently, and they're both 72 years old, and David Sims looks like he's in his mid-40s. So it goes to show the continuation that blacks just don't crack.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:02

That's too good. That's too good.

SPEAKER_09 1:13:05

Meanwhile, Joe Boningo looks like he's on knocking on death's door.

SPEAKER_08 1:13:08

Let me ask you guys rock card. Like, yeah, so Jason brought this up about uh Francisco Cerveli. I mentioned Al Rapujos. I've also said Yadia Mardina, who's a guy you feel should deserve a managing job in baseball uh that has some Yankee ties to him.

SPEAKER_09 1:13:24

Well, uh before I said Carlos Beltran, if uh if the Mets get rid of uh Mendoza, but we'll see.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:32

If we go Beltran, I agree Beltran, but another really good baseball mind, and it's kind of a wild card, is Curtis Granderson. I think he deserves a shot. He's a really good baseball mind.

SPEAKER_08 1:13:42

Let me ask you guys, would you be upset if Derek Jeter became the president of baseball operations and general manager of the New York Yankees and his manager was Alex Rodriguez?

SPEAKER_02 1:13:54

I don't think that'll ever happen, but I would love that.

SPEAKER_09 1:13:56

I would love that I mean I mean I think I would only like it for nostalgic purposes and for Yankee pride, but seeing how Derek Jeter was in the Marlins.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:09

Nobody knows what they put in Aaron, though. That's the thing. I don't know how.

SPEAKER_08 1:14:16

Hold on. Uh let's just let's put things into perspective. One, you're saying the Marlins against New York Yankees. I I feel like the Steinbrenners will be like, Derek, the same thing they do with Cashman, do what you need to do. This is your budget. And I feel like where him and Alex are right now, and and they've they talked about this a lot. And Alex even went on his Instagram and built a roster for 130 million dollars that he believes is better than the Metch roster, than the current roster for the Yankees. A-Rod as a manager, I I feel like him, Pooh's, uh, Cervelli, I'll give him credit. Uh, and I think Posada. That's the wild card in there. I like Posada. And I feel like he would hold people accountable. And I Deregino will not play that, he will not play that analytic shit with the front office.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:17

Patato also said that he doesn't want to do all the traveling and that baseball takes a lot on you. So I don't know if he'd be willing to do that again. Because remember, it's all that stuff away from the family, all that stuff. He's got a family, a kid with a disability, that's a lot on the hand, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_08 1:15:32

Yeah, but I I just I'm I'm just throwing that name out there as a baseball mind, and then I a hundred percent I'm very biased. A Ron's my favorite. I think Bonds would make a terrific baseball coach, some form of fashion.

SPEAKER_09 1:15:45

I mean, if you want to go with a warrior mentality, why not get Paul O'Neill?

SPEAKER_08 1:15:49

I it did the the the X's and O's, baseball wise, it nothing makes more sense than Alex. It's just do you understand that Jeter had to tell him, bro, we not watching baseball. We in the crib, we just chilling, dog. And Aaron's like, he's like, dude, no, no, no, no. I gotta know. I'm watching these games to enjoy it, but I'm also scouting these dudes. Like, he don't turn it off. You're talking about from the documentary, right? No, the Alex has always been like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:27

It was in the dock, like that, though.

SPEAKER_08 1:16:29

It was in the dock, but Michael K, when he got traded to the Yankees, he said it like I've never seen a guy's work ethic like A Ron. So imagine that as your manager, as opposed to what you have now.

SPEAKER_09 1:16:43

Yeah, between Alex Rodriguez being the New York Yankees manager and Carl Anthony Towns, New York will be very zesty.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:51

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_08 1:16:52

Listen, I don't care, but I guarantee first of all, what would would you get results? Yes, yes, you would in in your purest baseball mind, would you get results? 100%, yes. Don't you want Aaron Judge speaking to A Rod after an bat? Yeah and him picking Alex's mind, like hey, what did you see at that?

SPEAKER_02 1:17:20

I uh shoot, I absolutely agree on this. First of all, I don't think he's a winner. You're talking to somebody who would kick him out for a for a bag of bat for a bag of rocks.

SPEAKER_08 1:17:31

Look at look at the way Alex took on Robbie and Melkie and most of the guys in the in the clubhouse. Like it just watch a a Robinson Canoe interview talking about A Rod. Yeah, that's all I have to say to you.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:46

I've seen that, I've seen that, I've seen that.

SPEAKER_08 1:17:48

Um and Robbie was like, yeah, he was my he's my vet, but he he would pay me for stuff, but the pieces of advice like he would tell me things, and like I I but I again I'm gonna say this statement one last time. If Alex and Derek would have been on good terms when A Raw got traded to the Yanks, multiple World Series titles, yeah, especially after they got Tex and Kano in that infield.

SPEAKER_07 1:18:20

Yeah, at least they got one. I'm happy they got one. I need another one. And imagine if they would imagine if they wouldn't have gotten that one. Where would we be in the cashman era? I don't know. He'd be he would have been gone. He definitely would have been gone by now. There's no way he's still here.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:34

I don't think so. I don't know if it doesn't break it up right there, because I'm telling you, he's not going 30 years without still 30 years without a championship. No way.

SPEAKER_08 1:18:45

Hal would have still ride with him. Like how's not interested in making baseball decisions? Oh wow, that's crazy. I want to say Melo. Uh I'm so happy baseball's back. Melo will be on the show numerous times throughout the season. Uh we'll break down not just the Yankees, not the game as well. Carlos will be on. We'll have the baseball aficionado on the podcast again. Uh, well, for the first time. Uh he and I have some stuff to settle. He was really against, he said MLB invested in DR to make DR better than Puerto Rico. That was the statement he originally made, and then I sent him like, yo, it wasn't DR, MLB, it was more of an insurers thing. And bro, uh the baseball aficionado, he knows his stuff though. Um, he he he's just he's Puerto Rican. He wanted to see his Puerto Rican team at full strength. I can't blame the brother. I wanted to see it too. I I love seeing PR versus DR. That is the WBC matchup must-watch. It's not us versus Venezuela because we own them. It's PR versus DR. And if you watch the matchup, I think that we're three and three or four and three against each other. So and the US robbed us because they put Puerto Rico in a different pool from us this year. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 1:20:07

I'm just glad that the president didn't want their prize piece as well. No, whatever.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:14

We'll see you guys Tuesday, next Tuesday at nine. Melo, thank you for joining us. Thank you for nine. Baseball season is here. Enjoy this weekend, enjoy opening day. Let's go next.

SPEAKER_09 1:20:26

Let's go, Yankees.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:39

See me and all my family. No matter bullshit you talk about.

SPEAKER_05 1:21:05

Wait till I hate man, it's bitches love me like