Speaker 1: I mean, you slot this guy right into the two
Speaker 1: hole I think in this lineup, and you instantly have
Speaker 1: two of the best top of the order guys right
Speaker 1: now with Lindor and Sodo.
Speaker 2: All right, our buddy draftneck Mark, he's here, Mark Ueno,
Speaker 2: who is co host of Mets Up, part of the
Speaker 2: Ft Network the Ft fam Draft neck Mark.
Speaker 3: Mark.
Speaker 2: Great to see you, man. Appreciate the time, and I
Speaker 2: will just preface this. We will go right into storylines
Speaker 2: because we're tight on time. I know Kratz. Krats is concerned,
Speaker 2: he's concerned here. I want to include this Kratz. We'll
Speaker 2: do this within the storylines question. But the one thing
Speaker 2: I do want to bring up before we start, Mark
Speaker 2: is we got a couple comments yesterday from Mets fans saying,
Speaker 2: what is it you guys don't like the Mets. They're
Speaker 2: the only team you haven't know that. They're the last
Speaker 2: team we cover for storylines because we wanted to make
Speaker 2: sure that we got all the moves out of the way,
Speaker 2: because this team was wheeling and dealing a little bit.
Speaker 2: So that's a compliment. We're saving best for last.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, love it, love it. I mean, I'm happy
Speaker 1: to be on the show. Happy to be talking about
Speaker 1: the Mets. A lot of good things going on for
Speaker 1: the Origin Blue this year.
Speaker 4: I'm pumped.
Speaker 2: That's right. So let's hit storylines and you'll like this
Speaker 2: little animation we got. Okay, let's run through the game
Speaker 2: plan here as we preview the New York Mets this season.
Speaker 2: This seven hundred and sixty five million dollar man, what's
Speaker 2: it going to look like in year one? Polar Bear
Speaker 2: is back with the Metropolitan, so the lineups should be
Speaker 2: really cranking. What about the pitching lab magic that really
Speaker 2: struck last year? Can it strike again? Obviously Montas has
Speaker 2: hurt already, Mania's back Clay Holmes in the rotation, and
Speaker 2: then the bullpen. Is it better? It was definitely a
Speaker 2: question mark last year. I felt like they didn't think
Speaker 2: they were going to be in an LCS team, so
Speaker 2: if they were, they probably would have loaded up a
Speaker 2: little bit more. But they got Mentor, so we'll see
Speaker 2: if it looks better now. All right, let's start at
Speaker 2: the top here, draftneck Mark, Juan Soto. It's real. I
Speaker 2: know it still feels weird, but it's real. What's this
Speaker 2: going to look like in the lineup?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty insane that he's on this team. Like
Speaker 1: watching all the videos of him taking VP and interacting
Speaker 1: with the guys and just having Mets stuff on is
Speaker 1: still insane. I mean, you slot this guy right into
Speaker 1: the two hole, I think in this lineup, and you
Speaker 1: instantly have two of the best top of the order
Speaker 1: guys right now with Lindor and Soto, and then you
Speaker 1: have some power behind him with Fientos Alonso. Whichever way
Speaker 1: you want to go there, maybe even Nimo moves up
Speaker 1: in the lineup. Just adding one of the best players
Speaker 1: in Major League Baseball to a lineup that was good
Speaker 1: enough last year. They want to be better, and that's
Speaker 1: the way you do it. You grab a guy like
Speaker 1: Juan Soto who doesn't just help on the power department
Speaker 1: but gets on base, is one of the best offensive
Speaker 1: players in the entire league.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you got the polar Bear, Big Doli, this guy.
Speaker 3: We've been talking about him for a lot, whether he's
Speaker 3: going to go back with the Mets, whether or not
Speaker 3: he will finally made a decision to come back. There
Speaker 3: is this the right decision? Is Pete happy? Talk a
Speaker 3: little bit about the Mets and where they're moving forward.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I'm sure Pete's not as one hundred
Speaker 1: percent happy. I mean, you know that he wanted a
Speaker 1: big concent, wanted to get those years, he wanted to
Speaker 1: get that money, and obviously that's not what ended up happening.
Speaker 1: But I'm sure that Pete at a base level is
Speaker 1: pretty excited. Me he's getting paid like close to thirty
Speaker 1: million dollars this year to play first base for the Mets.
Speaker 1: I really don't think that he ever wanted to leave
Speaker 1: New York everything that I've heard, he loved the city,
Speaker 1: loved playing for the team, wanted to be a part
Speaker 1: of this team. It's just he wanted to get paid. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: he's coming off of one of his weaker seasons, which
Speaker 1: was still really good. I think a lot of people
Speaker 1: forget that he was a great player still last year,
Speaker 1: but money wise and maybe contract wise, not happy. But
Speaker 1: I think in terms of fit and feel and just
Speaker 1: kind of whole attitude atmosphere, I think Pete's super pumped
Speaker 1: to be able to hit behind two amazing players in
Speaker 1: Wan so Too and Francisco Lindor.
Speaker 4: Big year from Pete, But the biggest year that the
Speaker 4: Mets are gonna need is that pitching lab Magic. Are
Speaker 4: they going to be able to re redo what they
Speaker 4: did with Severarno how they helped Sean Manaia because Sean
Speaker 4: and I is gonna have to replicate what he did.
Speaker 4: And they were hoping Frankie mount Toss was going too,
Speaker 4: but he's already starting the season late and Clay Holmes
Speaker 4: hasn't really been that great of a starter. So is
Speaker 4: this really where the Mets are leaning on? And is
Speaker 4: it too big of a crutch to lean on with
Speaker 4: such a great lineup.
Speaker 1: I think it's definitely going to be really scary at first,
Speaker 1: But this is kind of the chaos David Searns experience.
Speaker 1: I mean, even look at the teams that he had
Speaker 1: in Milwaukee with the Brewers, it felt like every single
Speaker 1: year going into the season, you would say, we need
Speaker 1: more pitching. That Brewers team needs to go get a
Speaker 1: big arm, they need to go get a front line starter.
Speaker 1: And that's kind of where the Mets lie. But a
Speaker 1: couple big things that are going to really help this
Speaker 1: team out.
Speaker 4: As one.
Speaker 1: Having Code I sang A back and healthy for the
Speaker 1: entire year is so massive for this team. He was
Speaker 1: incredible for them in twenty twenty three In his first season,
Speaker 1: and while he got to pitched towards the end of
Speaker 1: the year, that wasn't a fully healthy code. I that
Speaker 1: was a rush code. I I think we're gonna see
Speaker 1: big things from him. Manaia just keep doing what he's
Speaker 1: been doing. The changes that Jeremy Hefner was able to
Speaker 1: make with him in terms of his repertoire and armslot
Speaker 1: and release were incredible, and I really hope that that
Speaker 1: continues this upcoming season. I'm really excited about David Peterson.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people are sleeping on him.
Speaker 1: He had a hip injury he got to fix, had
Speaker 1: a surgery last year, and from then on out he
Speaker 1: was one of the most consistent pitchers in the Mets rotation. Now,
Speaker 1: I don't think Peterson's gonna be this ace Cy young
Speaker 1: caliber guy in this rotation by any means, but as
Speaker 1: someone who goes out there every five days gives you
Speaker 1: five to six even sometimes seven innings. The Mets won
Speaker 1: almost every start he was on the mound last year,
Speaker 1: and I know wins and losses kind of get lost
Speaker 1: in the shuffle now in Major League Baseball and how
Speaker 1: we talk about pitching, But a guy like David Peterson
Speaker 1: every five days gives him a chance to win. I
Speaker 1: really like how crazy and scary that this rotation is.
Speaker 1: I think it's not as scary as it was last
Speaker 1: year where Severino and Manaia. Let's be honest, coming into
Speaker 1: the year where two of the worst pitchers in baseball
Speaker 1: the prior season. So I think there's a little more stability.
Speaker 1: But it's definitely going to drive a lot of Mets
Speaker 1: fans insane when you see guys like Griffin Canning pitching
Speaker 1: and maybe he gets lit up for one game every
Speaker 1: once in a while.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that might happen. That's just part of baseball
Speaker 3: and part of being a big leagues Now you talk
Speaker 3: about the pitching staff, we haven't talked about the bullpen
Speaker 3: here because nowadays the bullpen is one of the biggest
Speaker 3: pieces for championship teams to cruise along and dominate because
Speaker 3: once that pitcher goes away, next thing, you know, you
Speaker 3: need your bullpen. You had a J Menneri's just coming
Speaker 3: off hip surgery. Talk a little bit about the bullpen.
Speaker 3: Are they ready to make a championship run here?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think the bullpen is a lot of fun because
Speaker 1: you have a guy like Edwin Diaz at the end,
Speaker 1: who's one of the best closers in baseball. Even coming
Speaker 1: off of a major injury last season, he was still
Speaker 1: really good despite some scuffles here and there. But you
Speaker 1: have a guy like Reid Garrett and Dad Neil Nunyaz,
Speaker 1: who are two guys that on the Mess Up podcast
Speaker 1: we talk about a ton. They have a lot of
Speaker 1: really fun stuff. Dad Neil Nunyaz, when he pitched last year,
Speaker 1: was a huge part, a huge stopper for this team
Speaker 1: and really gave us some beginnings. And then you adding
Speaker 1: guys like Bryan Stanick, aj Minter Jose Budo, who was
Speaker 1: a really surprising bullpen change, I guess in the previous
Speaker 1: year because he was supposed to be a starter, but
Speaker 1: moving him to the bullpen, he got some huge outs.
Speaker 1: I love what David Stearns does with the bullpen and
Speaker 1: even said it last year going into the year, just
Speaker 1: because our bullpen looks one way on opening day doesn't
Speaker 1: mean it will look that way by the end of
Speaker 1: the season. He's willing to tinker, he's willing to change guys.
Speaker 1: Jeremy Hefner, Eric Gegers are always working with these guys
Speaker 1: to try out new things to make them better. There's
Speaker 1: gonna be again some chaos for sure with this Mets bullpen,
Speaker 1: just like it will be with the starting rotation. But
Speaker 1: I think the process and what they look for in
Speaker 1: their pitchers allows them to be a little bit more
Speaker 1: I guess crazy in their approach of guys that they
Speaker 1: go after.
Speaker 2: Wait, let's finish with this. What did you give them
Speaker 2: for their offseason grade? Oh?
Speaker 1: I give them Mets anay. I mean I'm a biased
Speaker 1: Mets fan, so of course I'm gonna give them a nay.
Speaker 1: But also at the same time, when you sign Juan Soto,
Speaker 1: when you signed the best player of the entire offseason,
Speaker 1: I think it starts and ends at A.
Speaker 4: It would have.
Speaker 1: I don't even think if they didn't get Pete they
Speaker 1: wouldn't get an A. I still think that they would
Speaker 1: have been a better team than they were in the
Speaker 1: previous year. So definitely an a agreed.
Speaker 2: Great call. Cratsy Okay, okay, if you want to let.
Speaker 4: I just want I just want to know because I
Speaker 4: was attacked on Twitter by the Mets community, which clearly
Speaker 4: doesn't allow anybody else in because I tried to reply
Speaker 4: to some of them and they said, you have to
Speaker 4: be invited. So I would love to be invited into
Speaker 4: the Mets community to conversate about your Mets team. And
Speaker 4: they said, hey, Giraffneckmark is about to cook this fool,
Speaker 4: So if you haven't, go ahead and cook me for
Speaker 4: calling the Mets team still a playoff team, but just
Speaker 4: the third place playoff team.
Speaker 1: I mean, listen, I'm totally okay with you doubting them.
Speaker 1: They were doubted last year. I even doubted them last year.
Speaker 1: I didn't think they were necessarily going to be a
Speaker 1: playoff team. So I'm cool with people kind of sleeping
Speaker 1: on the team a little bit. We don't need to
Speaker 1: target on our back. The targets on the Dodgers back,
Speaker 1: the targets on the Phillies and the Braves back. Keep
Speaker 1: sleeping on the Mets. Will take a look what it
Speaker 1: looks like at the end of the season and will win.
Speaker 1: They're towards the top of the division, probably even in
Speaker 1: first place. Then they can let the talking do for themselves.
Speaker 1: But you know, they made a good run last year,
Speaker 1: they got even better. I've got all the faith in
Speaker 1: this team, and especially with the decision making at the top.
Speaker 2: To win a wild card. Are they a first place team?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Are they the first place team in the East?
Speaker 4: Say it with your chest.
Speaker 1: They're not the first place team in the East right now.
Speaker 1: I I do not think that they are. But I
Speaker 1: think right now that they have a possibility to become
Speaker 1: the first place season the team of the East. But
Speaker 1: I think on paper, they are not the best team
Speaker 1: right now in the East by any means. Right now,
Speaker 1: I think they could be a third place team. I
Speaker 1: think they're a second place team. Honestly, that's where I
Speaker 1: would put them right now. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Okay, but here's the thing. I love that the Grades
Speaker 2: and the Phillies are good. So it's not like Crat
Speaker 2: was saying, oh, too crappy teams are both gonna come
Speaker 2: out of the woodwork and be really good, Like these
Speaker 2: are two good teams. So it's people twisted, like chance
Speaker 2: to win ninety games, finishing third and win a World
Speaker 2: Series or you know, upset the Dodgers in the NLCS.
Speaker 4: Whatever messed up? Everybody, Click on the link, hit a
Speaker 4: subscribe button, right, yes, hit the subscribe buttonsubscribe to the podcast.
Speaker 4: Thanks for having me on, guys, appreciate it. Let's go Mets.
Speaker 4: Appreciate just some mess up podcast there. This is, I mean,
Speaker 4: what a great year to come on board the Foul
Speaker 4: territory with a mets up, all the Blake breaking news.
Speaker 4: They're always on doing it right