WEBVTT - How the Mets FAILED Freddy Peralta | 629 0:00:00.030 --> 0:00:01.850 As the World Series is upon us, we've got some 0:00:02.130 --> 0:00:06.080 off-season rumors. We're hearing some stuff about coaches, about players, 0:00:06.140 --> 0:00:09.160 about Tarek Skubal, about Steve Cohen, David Stearns, first base. 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:11.290 We got a lot going on. Shout out Chelsea Janes 0:00:11.330 --> 0:00:12.970 making an appearance on the Mets pod where a lot 0:00:12.990 --> 0:00:14.830 of this stuff came out, as well as, you know, 0:00:14.890 --> 0:00:17.190 the articles are being posted everywhere all over the internet. 0:00:17.430 --> 0:00:18.860 Before we get going into it, make sure you guys 0:00:18.930 --> 0:00:22.099 are subscribed to Mets Stuff. Two videos minimum a week 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:24.180 over here on the YouTube channel about the New York Mets. 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:26.500 So if that's something you like, make sure you are subscribed. 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:28.360 Big shout out to all our members who get access 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:30.360 to these videos early. Sometimes it could even be a 0:00:30.380 --> 0:00:33.260 couple days early, depending on when we upload. And if 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:35.780 you're listening to us, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, drops a rating, 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:39.350 drops a review, download, and subscribe. Hey, Ben James, we 0:00:39.430 --> 0:00:42.280 haven't really talked like that dense of Mets stuff. Yeah, 0:00:42.300 --> 0:00:43.710 that's right. We've only done one episode of the Mets 0:00:43.770 --> 0:00:45.750 up this week. Only three videos in the wind-up. We 0:00:45.770 --> 0:00:47.010 haven't really talked that much at all in this last 0:00:47.030 --> 0:00:48.269 couple days. No, this is a quiet week. This is 0:00:48.290 --> 0:00:51.990 a quiet week. Mets are just... This is just waiting. 0:00:52.190 --> 0:00:53.920 I'm waiting right now. I want something to happen. I 0:00:53.940 --> 0:00:56.400 can't wait to watch this World Series, but for lots 0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:58.280 of Mets fans out there that are maybe not grabbed 0:00:58.340 --> 0:01:01.340 by all the intrigue between Rays versus Brewers, we just 0:01:01.380 --> 0:01:02.580 want to know what we're going to be able to 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:05.120 get done before the lockout. And Mark said at the top, 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:07.370 Chelsea Janes and Joe DiMeo, great podcast this week on 0:01:07.390 --> 0:01:08.830 the Mets pod. We talked about it with you guys 0:01:08.850 --> 0:01:11.490 a few days ago a little bit, but To dive deeper, 0:01:11.530 --> 0:01:15.250 because Chelsea is very blatantly now one of the Circle 0:01:15.270 --> 0:01:19.210 of Trust Mets reporters. She's the SMY insider. She's also 0:01:19.230 --> 0:01:21.470 a great reporter. She worked on a political campaign. She's 0:01:21.510 --> 0:01:24.970 good sourcing. And she let a lot of nuggets go 0:01:25.010 --> 0:01:28.590 with Joe that I think are really, really interesting as 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:30.440 to how the Mets are going to handle themselves this 0:01:30.540 --> 0:01:34.100 offseason and still kind of how they're just viewed around 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:36.340 the league, how players look at them. I think just 0:01:36.380 --> 0:01:37.940 to come off the top, because he's front of mind, 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:39.880 he's going to pitch in a few days. The Freddy 0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:43.240 Peralta stuff continues to be very interesting about what happened 0:01:43.260 --> 0:01:46.470 with him between Brewers, Mets, and Rays and why, for 0:01:46.510 --> 0:01:48.010 some reason, on the edges he was really good and 0:01:48.030 --> 0:01:49.950 in the middle he was not. Yeah, I mean, we 0:01:49.970 --> 0:01:52.490 kind of knew that there was just a complete clusterfuck 0:01:52.510 --> 0:01:56.180 and mess of the leadership with the Mets over this 0:01:56.260 --> 0:01:57.900 past year, a lot of it having to do with 0:01:58.200 --> 0:01:59.960 having a lame duck manager and all these new coaches 0:02:00.020 --> 0:02:03.540 around him. bring in new guys, first-time coaching all over 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.740 the place. And it seems like the relationship or the 0:02:06.860 --> 0:02:09.060 working relationship, I should say, because I don't think there's 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:11.600 anything personally wrong here, but I think the working relationship 0:02:11.910 --> 0:02:14.870 between Freddy Peralta and what was Justin Willard at the time, 0:02:14.930 --> 0:02:17.650 pitching coach for the New York Mets, still is. Still is. Yeah, 0:02:17.669 --> 0:02:19.389 I know. I said that and I was like, wait, 0:02:19.410 --> 0:02:23.329 he's still hired. He's not going anywhere. It doesn't seem 0:02:23.350 --> 0:02:25.660 like there was much of a working relationship there. It 0:02:25.700 --> 0:02:29.210 seemed like There was a strain in that Justin Willard 0:02:29.260 --> 0:02:32.010 was a first-time pitching coach working with these major league pitchers, 0:02:32.050 --> 0:02:35.870 Freddy Peralta coming into the organization, pretty established, pretty dang 0:02:35.889 --> 0:02:37.770 good in his career, had a lot of things I 0:02:37.810 --> 0:02:40.970 think he enjoyed to do and was successful with, that 0:02:40.990 --> 0:02:44.350 it didn't mesh, that Justin Willard didn't necessarily have the 0:02:44.410 --> 0:02:47.019 confidence to get his message to Freddy Peralta, and that 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:49.040 Freddy Peralta, because of that lack of confidence, might not 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:51.970 necessarily have listened to Justin Willard as much. Also the 0:02:52.010 --> 0:02:53.910 timing of it all, Freddie was traded. It was still 0:02:53.930 --> 0:02:56.310 before pitchers and catchers, but it was relatively later in 0:02:56.330 --> 0:02:58.100 the off season. And he probably knew he was going 0:02:58.120 --> 0:02:59.820 to be traded because that's how the Brewers do business. 0:02:59.880 --> 0:03:02.120 But he was acquired by the Brewers. That was from 0:03:02.139 --> 0:03:04.559 the Mariners. And he was what, like 18, 19 years old. 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:06.740 He came up, cut his teeth in that organization. As 0:03:06.780 --> 0:03:09.590 we all know, almost no one handles pitching development at 0:03:09.660 --> 0:03:12.510 any level better than the Milwaukee Brewers. Freddie Peralta went 0:03:12.530 --> 0:03:16.970 from unheralded prospect to borderline frontline pitcher in his time there. 0:03:17.130 --> 0:03:19.139 When you do that, You have so much trust in 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:22.929 the process and the people around you. I think a 0:03:22.970 --> 0:03:25.609 lot of times we kind of think about, it's hard 0:03:25.630 --> 0:03:27.670 for us on the outside to understand the coaching, the 0:03:27.710 --> 0:03:29.710 player development, and all the stuff between players on the 0:03:29.730 --> 0:03:33.540 inside because athletes versus coaches at that level, there's so 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:35.760 much riding on it, and you have so much personally 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:38.660 to gain, especially with Freddie Peralta entering a platform, a 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:42.280 contract year, that when you're suddenly getting new voices, coming 0:03:42.300 --> 0:03:43.970 off the best year of your career, you have the 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:46.810 lowest ERA, you feel like you've done everything right, and 0:03:46.830 --> 0:03:49.010 there are people trying to change things, it's easy to 0:03:49.070 --> 0:03:52.150 be resistant to some of those things, whether or not 0:03:52.730 --> 0:03:54.430 you actually may have had to. And the fact that 0:03:54.790 --> 0:03:57.150 there was this disconnect and that Carlos Mendoza was not 0:03:57.250 --> 0:04:00.280 able to bridge that disconnect does kind of give us 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:03.660 even more clarity on things that we've kind of suspected 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:05.480 since the beginning of the season. Yeah, and this is 0:04:05.540 --> 0:04:08.040 not to say anything bad about Freddy Peralta as a player. 0:04:08.060 --> 0:04:12.830 He has some of the highest... remarks that I've honestly 0:04:12.870 --> 0:04:14.510 heard about a pitcher in a very long time about 0:04:14.550 --> 0:04:16.609 player in a long time everybody loves a great clubhouse 0:04:16.630 --> 0:04:18.500 guy all this kind of stuff so I wouldn't take 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:22.360 the not listening between or the the lack of communication 0:04:22.380 --> 0:04:24.460 seem like between him and Willard as yeah as a 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:27.320 negative on either it was like kind of the perfect 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:29.419 storm of a situation where you have Justin Willard who 0:04:29.460 --> 0:04:31.659 was a very much behind the scenes guy now being 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.320 thrown into the fire a little bit of like hey 0:04:34.370 --> 0:04:36.909 work with these pitchers you have to make these relationships 0:04:36.950 --> 0:04:39.650 and get your point across wasn't the strongest at doing 0:04:39.670 --> 0:04:41.770 it in year one. And Frank Peralta, who had to 0:04:41.810 --> 0:04:43.740 look out for himself over anything, was like, I just 0:04:43.779 --> 0:04:46.180 have all this data where I've been phenomenal with the 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:48.200 Milwaukee Brewers. I'm not really going to change it when 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:49.740 you don't really seem to be that confident in what 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.160 you're saying either. And the other part of the perfect 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:54.400 storm was that was the beginning of the season. I 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:55.750 think as we got to the end of the season, 0:04:55.790 --> 0:04:58.110 we had a lot of Mets pitchers speaking glowingly about Willard. 0:04:58.130 --> 0:05:00.410 Christian Scott helped him get new pitches. Sean and I 0:05:00.690 --> 0:05:02.170 talked a lot about helping him work through all of 0:05:02.210 --> 0:05:05.460 his stuff. But Willard, We heard a little bit through 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:08.880 the grapevine that if there was any shortcoming to him transitioning, 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:11.140 moving up a role, it was in his ability as 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:13.080 a communicator. And that was very easy to get masked 0:05:13.100 --> 0:05:15.240 when he was an assistant pitching coach in Boston. He 0:05:15.260 --> 0:05:17.670 was working under Andrew Bailey, who's renowned for being an 0:05:17.690 --> 0:05:20.850 amazing communicator, a former player. And as these things were 0:05:20.890 --> 0:05:22.690 going on at Freddy Peralta, I think it's easy for 0:05:22.770 --> 0:05:27.109 us Mets fans to forget that through the end of May, 0:05:27.150 --> 0:05:29.570 he was pitching fine. It was very much a Freddy 0:05:29.620 --> 0:05:32.580 Peralta season. He had made 12 starts. He'd gotten 60 innings. 0:05:32.890 --> 0:05:35.810 He had 3.8 ERA. Like, that was incredibly Freddie Peralta. 0:05:35.830 --> 0:05:38.180 He had high strikeouts. He had high walks. It was 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:41.580 just very Freddie Peralta time. After that, hit the wall. 0:05:42.420 --> 0:05:45.680 ERA never recovered after the 10-run debacle. That was, like, 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:47.489 right after Knicks Day? That was right after Knicks Day. Yeah, 0:05:47.500 --> 0:05:50.150 it was right after Knicks Day. Right after Knicks Day. Yeah, 0:05:50.170 --> 0:05:53.170 it was that weekend, June 20th. Yeah, I guess. Because, well, 0:05:53.370 --> 0:05:56.230 they had the one game against the Braves where they 0:05:56.290 --> 0:05:58.270 swept that series against the Braves. So it might have been, like, 0:05:58.350 --> 0:06:03.890 the week after. The parade day. Parade day. Yes, that's right. 0:06:03.910 --> 0:06:08.370 Parade day. Whatever it was. But then when Freddie gets traded, 0:06:08.470 --> 0:06:11.310 he hits a wall. Then it's easier to listen to 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:14.960 some of these things. So again, this isn't anything defamatory 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:17.060 about the player or the coach, but just about how 0:06:17.140 --> 0:06:20.200 there was a not great work environment that was created 0:06:20.220 --> 0:06:23.539 inside of the Mets building. That's more of what this was. Yeah, 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:25.780 a lot of dysfunction going on, which is the most 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:29.330 frustrating thing. And that seems to be Hopefully, in the 0:06:29.380 --> 0:06:31.799 rearview mirror, now that it seems like the coaching staff 0:06:31.820 --> 0:06:33.300 and the people that are in charge and the guys 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:36.240 that are supposed to be leaders are actually there with 0:06:36.300 --> 0:06:41.140 around people that they work together well with, cohesion. Synergy now. Synergy, baby. 0:06:41.180 --> 0:06:45.960 All about that synergy. Love that synergy. Another interesting note, 0:06:45.980 --> 0:06:47.820 and I think one that's really worth talking about because 0:06:47.860 --> 0:06:50.039 it works diametrically opposed to the last time we spoke 0:06:50.060 --> 0:06:52.580 to you guys, that Chelsea hinted at the fact that 0:06:53.020 --> 0:06:55.880 the Mets may be kind of content with their first 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:58.560 base situation. Yeah, which I don't love to hear. Between 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:01.080 Jared Young and maybe a minor signing here or there, 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:03.620 trying to do something like find the next Ty France. Yeah, 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:07.780 because right now, again, we've talked about the first base options. 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:09.620 The best options are on the trade market. Like if 0:07:09.660 --> 0:07:13.460 you were going to be going after someone realistically at 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:15.380 a decent price, it's going to be on the trade 0:07:15.420 --> 0:07:18.240 market just because pretty sure Jake Bowers is going to 0:07:18.260 --> 0:07:20.740 get the QO from the Brewers. Chance, good chance there. 0:07:20.820 --> 0:07:22.580 It's a pretty good chance based on how he's played. 0:07:22.820 --> 0:07:24.860 He deserves it. And I don't think any team is 0:07:24.900 --> 0:07:27.000 going to go against the QO for a guy like 0:07:27.020 --> 0:07:29.150 Jake Bowers who– We think he's a good ball player, 0:07:29.170 --> 0:07:31.890 but the track record is very, very short. And then 0:07:31.930 --> 0:07:34.190 with Ty France, it seems like he wants to stay 0:07:34.230 --> 0:07:36.050 in San Diego, and I think they're going to keep 0:07:36.090 --> 0:07:38.690 him there. I don't think they are, actually. I think 0:07:38.710 --> 0:07:42.070 they are. They have to move the Crohn's zone back 0:07:42.100 --> 0:07:43.920 to first because he makes too much money and has 0:07:43.940 --> 0:07:46.540 too many years left to get rid of. He's just horrible. No, 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:48.280 he's terrible, but you can't really do anything about that. 0:07:48.300 --> 0:07:50.840 He's like five years left in that contract. It'll be 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:53.340 a big test for their ownership, but also Ty France 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.260 is the platoon for Jake Cronenworth, and you kind of... 0:07:56.630 --> 0:07:58.430 You look around that team, like, yes, you have to 0:07:58.470 --> 0:08:00.990 play Jake Cronenworth, but do you? Because you need your players. 0:08:01.250 --> 0:08:03.030 That's my point, yeah. It depends what ownership does with that. 0:08:03.090 --> 0:08:04.630 I feel like they're not going to have, I feel 0:08:04.650 --> 0:08:07.130 like they're not going to be bold enough to make 0:08:07.170 --> 0:08:09.150 that move. I'll also say this, I don't think Ty 0:08:09.180 --> 0:08:11.450 France is interested in being a part of a platoon 0:08:11.620 --> 0:08:13.420 at first base. That's what I'm saying. Ty France wants 0:08:13.500 --> 0:08:15.880 a full-time job, no doubt, which is why I think, yeah, 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:17.780 especially after we did this year, he's earned it for 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:20.460 whatever next contract he gets. I think the Mets will 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:22.340 still try to make minor moves. I think they have 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:24.880 lots of internal faith in Jared Young. We've sort of 0:08:24.900 --> 0:08:27.520 been seeing Jared Young since he Got knocked out in 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:30.040 the field. Yeah, it was very scary. Very scary. I 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:32.250 think the Mets, in their perfect world, I think they 0:08:32.309 --> 0:08:36.950 hope that Jared Young can be like 70% of Jake Bowers. Yeah, 0:08:36.990 --> 0:08:40.790 I mean, like last year against right-handed pitching in about 0:08:40.790 --> 0:08:45.120 100 games, 280 played appearances, 275 average, 339 on base, 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:50.100 450 slug, 793 OPS. Relatively speaking, if you can find 0:08:50.179 --> 0:08:52.860 his caddy on the right side to be a left-handed masher, 0:08:54.809 --> 0:08:57.270 then yes, Jared Young and that platoon can work, but 0:08:57.330 --> 0:08:59.730 I would also love to not go into the season 0:09:00.150 --> 0:09:03.150 relying on perfection from both of those guys at first 0:09:03.190 --> 0:09:05.670 base again. Definitely not, and also just because with a 0:09:05.750 --> 0:09:08.510 four-man bench in modern baseball, one's taken up by the catcher, 0:09:08.650 --> 0:09:10.479 one's taken up by a backup infielder, one's taken up 0:09:10.500 --> 0:09:13.300 by a backup outfielder, just to simply have a left-handed 0:09:13.340 --> 0:09:15.699 matching right-handed academy, we've seen over the last few years 0:09:15.740 --> 0:09:19.340 how that can really shrink a roster. Maybe... Maybe first 0:09:19.380 --> 0:09:21.979 base Francisco Alvarez to Venezuela in the league. Imagine that. 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:24.580 Imagine if he's the right-handed caddy because you need that 0:09:24.620 --> 0:09:27.260 right-handed caddy to have some other function for your baseball team. 0:09:27.380 --> 0:09:29.179 You need to. You have to be able to play 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:30.319 a different position. You have to be able to play 0:09:30.340 --> 0:09:32.939 the outfield. Maybe you could play catcher. You can't just be– 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:34.760 it can't just be– it can't be Mark. It just 0:09:34.820 --> 0:09:37.480 simply cannot be Mark Vientos. It can't because he is 0:09:37.540 --> 0:09:40.300 a one-dimensional player, and he's not even really that good 0:09:40.940 --> 0:09:42.939 at it. He's fine at that dimension. That dimension is 0:09:42.980 --> 0:09:46.740 exactly what you described for Jared Young against left– righties. Yeah, 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:49.240 I just... It's just not worth the roster spot. Correct, 0:09:49.260 --> 0:09:52.940 because at least Jared Young is the favorable platoon side. 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:54.859 He will be in the... In a world where he 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.400 plays for a full season, he'll get 450 plate appearances 0:09:57.460 --> 0:10:00.959 as opposed to 200. Yeah. And even... tongue-in-cheek talking about 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.859 Young hopefully becoming Bowers. Bowers has had way more prospect pedigree. 0:10:04.900 --> 0:10:06.800 He was a former top prospect. Way more. Way more 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:09.569 bat speed. Makes better swing decisions. Truthfully, we hope Brett 0:10:09.590 --> 0:10:12.310 Beatty becomes Jake Bowers. Yeah, that's true. And these guys 0:10:12.330 --> 0:10:13.710 are the same age right now. Jared Young and Jake 0:10:13.750 --> 0:10:16.890 Bowers are the same age. They're both 31. Yeah. So, again, 0:10:16.929 --> 0:10:20.080 that was... But I still think that That's just something 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:22.300 most Mets fans really don't want to hear at the moment, 0:10:22.340 --> 0:10:25.040 is that if the Mets are looking for significant upgrades 0:10:25.260 --> 0:10:28.839 on this roster, among this position player group, it's not 0:10:28.980 --> 0:10:32.140 likely to be at first base. And the fact that 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:36.120 they also seem very content with letting these prospects kind 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:37.679 of begin to be the guys that figure it out 0:10:37.780 --> 0:10:40.420 for the rest of the infield. I mean, at some 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:42.880 point you have to. They seemingly have no interest in 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:45.410 moving on from Brett Beatty unless they get something that 0:10:45.450 --> 0:10:47.969 they think is going to be more valuable, which... I 0:10:47.970 --> 0:10:49.370 don't know why a team would do that right now. 0:10:49.710 --> 0:10:51.150 I don't think a team is going to offer that. 0:10:51.190 --> 0:10:52.960 It also seems like Ronnie Mauricio is in the same 0:10:53.010 --> 0:10:55.319 boat where he could also be one of these guys. 0:10:55.620 --> 0:10:59.660 He's gone. I don't know. I think they might give 0:10:59.700 --> 0:11:02.780 him one more chance just because Marcus Simeon is so toast. 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:05.760 Simeon's toast, but you still go into next season with 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:08.860 Simeon on the roster. Yes. The biggest thing here is 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:11.240 that it seems like– It depends what Bo does. Yeah, 0:11:11.300 --> 0:11:13.630 it depends what Bo does. Now, after the quotes, we 0:11:13.650 --> 0:11:16.809 still think probably 85% chance Bo opts in. Yeah. That 0:11:16.850 --> 0:11:19.850 changes things a little bit. Another thing that Chelsea said, though, 0:11:19.870 --> 0:11:22.150 that ties into all of these conversations, that the Mets 0:11:22.170 --> 0:11:26.130 are seemingly very confident in Jefferson Rojas. They should be. Definitely. 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:28.100 Us putting him in these trade packages, that may have 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:30.920 been jumping the gun. It seems like the Mets, similar 0:11:30.980 --> 0:11:33.860 to Carson Bench heading into this past season, they want 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:36.220 to give Jefferson Rojas every opportunity to make this club 0:11:36.260 --> 0:11:38.720 out of camp and be a starting infielder on this team. 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:40.850 I don't remember if he's going to the Winter League. 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:44.110 He is playing in the Winter League. But still coming 0:11:44.130 --> 0:11:46.570 into spring training with a chance to be a guy 0:11:46.630 --> 0:11:49.120 on this team on opening day next year. Yeah, and 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:52.980 I hope he is. You got flashbanged there. What's going on? 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:55.620 The light might have just croaked. That might have just 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:57.600 been it. My right light. Oh, they came back. We're 0:11:57.660 --> 0:11:59.600 good now. I have too many more videos to record 0:11:59.620 --> 0:12:01.120 for this to be a problem right now. That absolutely 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:04.140 smacked you in the face. That was an old-school Modern 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:08.100 Warfare 2 flashbang. I can't see anything right now. All right, 0:12:08.220 --> 0:12:11.410 help me out. Back to it, though. The Mets have 0:12:11.429 --> 0:12:13.200 a lot of problems. The Mets have a lot of holes. 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:16.439 Back to basics. The Mets have some issues. What I'm 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:18.800 learning is that the Mets are really relying on hopefully 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:21.120 the same guys that they had last year just being better, 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:23.319 and I feel like that's a little scary. The part 0:12:23.340 --> 0:12:25.760 of it that's not scary is Lindor and Soto just 0:12:25.830 --> 0:12:28.689 not missing over 100 games. That part, less scary. Yeah, 0:12:28.850 --> 0:12:32.189 getting Soto, Lindor, and Bichette in the lineup next year 0:12:32.210 --> 0:12:35.910 for 130 games automatically makes this team so much better. 0:12:35.950 --> 0:12:39.250 Puts them right around 500 games. Bichette just playing well, again, 0:12:39.390 --> 0:12:41.429 assuming he's on this team. It's amazing he had such 0:12:41.450 --> 0:12:42.850 a bad year that he doesn't even want to opt 0:12:42.910 --> 0:12:44.860 out when this is the free agent class. But it 0:12:44.929 --> 0:12:46.440 does make sense considering how bad of a year he 0:12:46.460 --> 0:12:49.780 just had. So bad. I also do wonder, and I 0:12:49.820 --> 0:12:51.780 talked to Joe about this a little bit, just because 0:12:51.860 --> 0:12:54.360 Rojas seems like he profiles way better as a third 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:56.819 baseman than a second baseman. If Bo goes to second? 0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:00.060 You just jerk Bo around again. You switch him. Oh, 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:01.959 you're here? Guess what, now you play second. Yeah, you 0:13:01.980 --> 0:13:03.960 want to opt in? All right, thank you. Here you go. 0:13:03.980 --> 0:13:06.530 But that probably makes sense. Rojas is going to have 0:13:06.550 --> 0:13:10.790 a stronger arm. Yeah. I mean, bro, usually you'd like 0:13:10.820 --> 0:13:12.120 to put the younger guy more in the middle of 0:13:12.130 --> 0:13:15.460 the infield, but scouts have said he's a better third baseman, 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:18.520 second baseman anyway. He's not going to play shortstop. I 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:20.600 think also the way the Mets are going to move 0:13:20.620 --> 0:13:23.239 this offseason too is that DH spot's going to be 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:26.220 very fluid. Which is another thing that people don't want 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:27.939 to hear. Yeah, I don't think that they're going to 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:31.219 find a permanent DH, especially with how this roster's built. 0:13:31.260 --> 0:13:34.180 I think Soto and Lindor are going to get more 0:13:34.220 --> 0:13:35.920 DH days. I think that's going to be one of 0:13:35.940 --> 0:13:38.219 the ways that they kind of mitigate the one Soto 0:13:38.250 --> 0:13:41.520 defense and two the Lindor, just nagging injuries that have 0:13:41.820 --> 0:13:44.200 accumulated over the last couple years. He probably just can't 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.699 play 162 at shortstop every single day. No, definitely not 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:49.550 at this age. And he prides himself on that, so 0:13:49.570 --> 0:13:51.330 that might be a tough adjustment. But 33 years old, 0:13:51.350 --> 0:13:53.390 you have to start making some adjustments, take care of yourself. 0:13:53.410 --> 0:13:54.750 You can do 140. Give him one day a week 0:13:54.790 --> 0:13:56.830 at DH. Like, that's probably something that's going to happen. 0:13:56.850 --> 0:13:59.960 Soto probably plays two days a week at DH. It 0:13:59.980 --> 0:14:01.740 also felt like some of the undercurrent of all of 0:14:01.780 --> 0:14:04.760 this was that the Mets– Internally, there might actually still 0:14:04.780 --> 0:14:08.020 be some belief in Jorge Polanco coming back, which I 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:10.210 will really believe that when I see it. He's got 0:14:10.250 --> 0:14:13.689 like the Yao Ming injury. He's a foot and a 0:14:13.690 --> 0:14:18.670 half shorter. It just feels like he's one non-functional foot. Completely, 0:14:18.730 --> 0:14:24.510 like just kind of dragging around. We also thought some 0:14:24.530 --> 0:14:26.950 of these things last year, especially when the flurry happened 0:14:26.970 --> 0:14:28.980 with Pete and with Diaz, we were like, all right, 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:30.700 this is going to be committed to the youth and 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:32.530 we're going to see what things have. And then a 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.670 lot of creativity happened, which, again, whether or not it 0:14:35.690 --> 0:14:38.750 was David Stearns or Steve Cohen that really wanted Bo Bichette. 0:14:38.890 --> 0:14:41.070 I mean, I feel like I've been hearing more and 0:14:41.110 --> 0:14:44.030 more things that we said very much at the beginning, 0:14:44.050 --> 0:14:47.110 which was, this felt like a Steve Cohen move. Gotta 0:14:47.130 --> 0:14:48.490 get a guy. Get me a star right now. Get 0:14:48.510 --> 0:14:51.430 me a name that I know. It's almost never worked out, 0:14:51.470 --> 0:14:54.230 by the way. No, maybe just Steve Cohen. We always 0:14:54.270 --> 0:14:56.580 talk about the joke that David Stearns might listen to this. 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:58.720 Maybe Steve has to listen. Yeah, maybe Steve needs to 0:14:58.740 --> 0:15:01.960 start listening. Find them. Find them more so. Learn the names. Yeah, 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.560 that's what it is. Learn the names. Just watch a draft. 0:15:04.580 --> 0:15:05.820 It's a good way to get you in. Watch the 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:08.800 tier lists. Find out who's a great ball player or 0:15:08.830 --> 0:15:12.470 a baseball player. If you had to bet right now 0:15:12.790 --> 0:15:15.890 on opening day, is the Mets designated hither in the 0:15:15.950 --> 0:15:19.830 organization or not in the organization? In the organization. And 0:15:19.950 --> 0:15:22.450 who would you guess that is? Juan Soto. No shot. 0:15:22.570 --> 0:15:25.720 He's playing the outfield opening day, 100%. No, I think 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:28.580 that the DH realistically on opening day is going to 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:31.920 be someone inside the organization. And I think it's going 0:15:31.940 --> 0:15:33.260 to be a name that people are going to be 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:35.600 disgusted to hear. If you say Mark Vientos, I'm going 0:15:35.620 --> 0:15:37.260 to stop. No, it's not going to be Mark Vientos. 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:38.620 It's the other guy. It's going to be Brett Beatty. 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:40.870 Brett Beatty's playing DH opening day. Brett Beatty's too good 0:15:40.890 --> 0:15:42.670 of a defender to be DH on opening day. Maybe 0:15:42.690 --> 0:15:44.310 Marcus Simeon's going to be DH on opening day for 0:15:44.330 --> 0:15:46.250 a guy in the organization. If Marcus Simeon is DH 0:15:46.670 --> 0:15:49.920 on opening day, I might shave my head. Okay. Yeah. No, 0:15:50.020 --> 0:15:53.880 I don't want to do that. If there's anybody on 0:15:53.940 --> 0:15:55.820 God's green earth that should not be DH on the 0:15:55.860 --> 0:15:59.300 New York Mets roster, it's the guy who can't hit. Well, 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:02.000 I mean, we'll see about that. So is that in writing? 0:16:02.020 --> 0:16:03.500 You'll shave your head? No, I'm not doing that. Of 0:16:03.540 --> 0:16:06.140 course not. You don't have that much hair. I don't 0:16:06.180 --> 0:16:07.619 know what's going on. I don't know what events I'm 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:09.490 going to be having, what opening day could possibly be. 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:12.670 It might be June. It might be May. Who knows? Really? 0:16:13.370 --> 0:16:15.090 I mean, I have a lot of weddings to go to. 0:16:15.110 --> 0:16:17.240 I don't think I can show up bald. not bald 0:16:17.260 --> 0:16:18.540 i mean that's a little crew cut dude you get 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:20.460 you get the little stripes on the side you get 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:21.940 like the you can get the little thing in your 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.140 eyebrow but then but then i need i need something 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:26.330 from you i need the beard to be on the 0:16:26.350 --> 0:16:28.000 think about something i just i mean just think about 0:16:28.070 --> 0:16:30.489 like the intimidation the hardball the softball leagues if you 0:16:30.610 --> 0:16:32.490 if you're if you're faith up crew cut with the 0:16:32.530 --> 0:16:36.370 with the eyebrow patch i'd be looking really really different 0:16:36.410 --> 0:16:39.530 i think they're gonna think you're like possibly light-skinned venezuelan 0:16:40.670 --> 0:16:42.350 that would be on the table maybe i'd be on 0:16:42.370 --> 0:16:45.910 the table yeah Other things to talk about from this stuff. 0:16:46.390 --> 0:16:47.590 I mean, do we have anything more to talk about 0:16:47.610 --> 0:16:49.350 these position players? We just did a whole 35 minutes 0:16:49.370 --> 0:16:51.050 with you guys talking position players that we want. I 0:16:51.170 --> 0:16:53.360 feel like all of it now is not going to happen. 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:55.040 All the guys that I'd want on the Mets, they're 0:16:55.060 --> 0:16:57.380 just not going to get because this roster, once again, 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:00.700 is very clunky, which that's the biggest critique of David Stearns. 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.359 I don't know how we've done this. We freed so much, 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:05.040 and then we're like, what if we make it clunky again? 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:06.780 Reclunk the whole thing. Well, I think the way it 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:10.879 declunks is a non-tender to Mark Vientos, a non-tender to 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:13.810 Ronnie Mauricio. of let the two years, say goodbye to 0:17:13.850 --> 0:17:16.670 Marcus Simeon with two years left on that contract. That's 0:17:16.690 --> 0:17:18.830 how you declunk this roster. I think there's no shot 0:17:18.850 --> 0:17:22.129 they non-tender Mauricio, but yeah, I think Rianto's gone. I 0:17:22.170 --> 0:17:26.050 feel like, I think Mauricio's going to be non-tender. I 0:17:26.070 --> 0:17:27.750 think unless that they know they're going to trade him. 0:17:27.910 --> 0:17:29.950 I think there's no way he's in this organization next year. 0:17:30.550 --> 0:17:32.689