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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: New York Mets · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody, It's Jeff here. I wanted to let
0:02
Speaker 1: you know we recorded this podcast episode on Sunday, August fourth,
0:06
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. By the time you hear this, some
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Speaker 1: things may have changed here or there, but we hope
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Speaker 1: you enjoyed the show. Welcome to Opposition Territory. Here at
0:30
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running weekly
0:33
Speaker 1: Philly sports podcast show in the world, eleven years strong,
0:37
Speaker 1: and we got a great discussion coming for you this week.
0:40
Speaker 1: We're gonna be diving into the New York Mets. What
0:43
Speaker 1: have they been doing in the NL East as it
0:45
Speaker 1: pertains to you know, possible wildcard implications as this team
0:50
Speaker 1: boy had some floundering happening with them during the early
0:53
Speaker 1: part of the season. At one point they were fourth
0:56
Speaker 1: in the NL East. But I'll tell you this team
0:59
Speaker 1: has been playing some baseball over the course of the
1:01
Speaker 1: past couple months, and uh, what is gonna happen with him?
1:05
Speaker 1: What's gonna happen with him in this division? We got
1:07
Speaker 1: a great discussion coming your way. We got a great guest.
1:09
Speaker 1: Love talking to her. Let's get right to it. You
1:12
Speaker 1: can find her on the Twitter slash x at Maggie
1:15
Speaker 1: one six ' two from the podcast a pod of
1:19
Speaker 1: their own over at home run Applesauce dot com. Check
1:23
Speaker 1: out everything they are doing her and her co hosts
1:26
Speaker 1: again they run a fantastic podcast, a pod of their own,
1:30
Speaker 1: The one and Only Maggie Wig and Maggie, How you
1:32
Speaker 1: doing here?
1:33
Speaker 2: I'm great, Jeff, thank you for having me on.
1:36
Speaker 1: It is great to have you on to get into
1:38
Speaker 1: this met season here on our Opposition Territory podcast. And uh,
1:42
Speaker 1: I gotta tell you you and your colleagues are doing
1:45
Speaker 1: some great things over at home run applesauce dot com.
1:48
Speaker 1: I know, I know you've got some you got some
1:50
Speaker 1: dinger stuff going on. I say dinger stuff going on,
1:53
Speaker 1: but you got you got some great stuff going on
1:55
Speaker 1: over there. Why don't you tell folks if they want
1:57
Speaker 1: to get involved. And yes, it doesn't matter folks that
1:59
Speaker 1: Maggie is a Mets fan, we are Phillies fans. It
2:02
Speaker 1: doesn't matter because there's good stuff that happens in the
2:05
Speaker 1: world and we should all participate in it in some way,
2:07
Speaker 1: shape or form. So what don't you tell folks what
2:09
Speaker 1: else you got going on?
2:11
Speaker 2: So we are getting close to every year a part
2:14
Speaker 2: of their own does a fundraiser for the National National
2:19
Speaker 2: Domestic Violence Hotline and it's called Dollars for Dinners and
2:23
Speaker 2: you can pledge for home runs. There's a raffle if
2:26
Speaker 2: you live in the New York area that will happen
2:28
Speaker 2: later in September. We have we make sure we always
2:32
Speaker 2: have lots of team neutral prizes there you go, so
2:36
Speaker 2: there's something for everybody. But it's a really really great
2:40
Speaker 2: it's a great cause. I would say, like we'll really
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Speaker 2: be ramping up in September, So keep an eye on Twitter,
2:46
Speaker 2: and in the meantime, you can, of your own volition
2:49
Speaker 2: go to National Domestic Violence Hotline and donate because it's
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Speaker 2: just a really incredible, very hands on, service oriented organization
3:00
Speaker 2: that makes the difference in thousands and thousands of lives.
3:03
Speaker 1: I donated last year, folks, I mean what it wasn't
3:06
Speaker 1: a huge amount, but any amount of money is a
3:09
Speaker 1: great amount of money in order to help such a
3:11
Speaker 1: fantastic cause.
3:13
Speaker 2: And because all those smaller donations, since we started this
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Speaker 2: fundraiser a few years ago, we have raised almost fifty
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Speaker 2: thousand dollars.
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Speaker 1: Incredible, it's incredible, and it goes towards a very good cause, folks,
3:25
Speaker 1: So make make sure we're looking out for that. And
3:29
Speaker 1: you know we're we're also going to be looking out
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Speaker 1: for this Mets team as we're moving forward here, because
3:33
Speaker 1: the Phillies certainly know how to drop leads, as we
3:37
Speaker 1: all know, and the Phillies certainly know how to pull
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Speaker 1: out the rug from under us.
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Speaker 2: So forget call me when the Phillies have a seven
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Speaker 2: game lead with seven people to play, because that's why
3:48
Speaker 2: I might kill That's what Yeah, that's what you might
3:50
Speaker 2: be godparently a long history of unexpected showings on both sides.
3:56
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, I mean we know what's happening with the Phillies. Now.
4:00
Speaker 1: They were the best team in baseball the first half
4:02
Speaker 1: of the season and now they're just going through a
4:04
Speaker 1: lot of garbage, a lot of crap. But I think
4:06
Speaker 1: what's interesting about this Mets team is and you know,
4:09
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about the good the bad here on
4:12
Speaker 1: this Opposition Territory podcast, about where the Mets are and
4:15
Speaker 1: just what their position is essentially within the NL East.
4:18
Speaker 1: And boy, they were floundering for a while and I
4:21
Speaker 1: remember the last time that we talked, you know, you
4:23
Speaker 1: felt okay about the team coming into this season, but
4:27
Speaker 1: not completely great about where the twenty twenty four Mets
4:31
Speaker 1: were going to be going. I mean, you were a
4:33
Speaker 1: bit optimistic, Maggie, but you had some reservations as well.
4:37
Speaker 1: As we're here at the start of August, what's your
4:39
Speaker 1: assessment of where the Mets are at right now at
4:41
Speaker 1: this point in the season.
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Speaker 2: Well, it's interesting because I was just thinking about the
4:45
Speaker 2: last time I was on and the Mets started off terribly,
4:50
Speaker 2: had a really rough start to the season, and then
4:52
Speaker 2: had a really solid stretch, and I'm pretty sure I
4:56
Speaker 2: talked to you right at the end of that solid stretch,
5:01
Speaker 2: and then they were awful again for a solid month.
5:03
Speaker 2: I mean really just looked like, is this a last
5:06
Speaker 2: place team? Like you were losing to the Marlins. It
5:09
Speaker 2: was it was difficult.
5:10
Speaker 1: You were fortun division at from what I remember.
5:15
Speaker 2: It was it was hard to imagine that same team
5:19
Speaker 2: being where they are now, which is actually you know
5:22
Speaker 2: when you say, like, oh, if they're going to get
5:23
Speaker 2: back into contention, they have to win like, you know,
5:27
Speaker 2: twenty of the next thirty games or something like that,
5:30
Speaker 2: And it's the kind of thing that Mets just did.
5:32
Speaker 2: They whether it's like the magic of Grimace or like
5:37
Speaker 2: the theme song, OMG, Candelita, Jose Iglesias doing a post
5:42
Speaker 2: game concert like whatever, whatever the juju is, it's just
5:49
Speaker 2: working for them. And I mean, and part of it
5:52
Speaker 2: is also like Francisco Lindor out of this world, Brandon
5:55
Speaker 2: Nimmel having a fantastic season after a slow start. I mean,
6:01
Speaker 2: I don't want to spoil. There's no buck, but there's
6:03
Speaker 2: a lot of things that are clicking. The pitching was
6:07
Speaker 2: not quite as bad as it could have been. But
6:11
Speaker 2: what's nice is that they have come off of this
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Speaker 2: incredible high of winning, you know again like like eight
6:19
Speaker 2: of ten, nine of eleven, like, and now they've a
6:22
Speaker 2: little more balanced out, but they're in wild card position.
6:27
Speaker 2: They have some good again not spoiling. They've made some
6:31
Speaker 2: good moves around the trade deadline, and it's it's easy
6:36
Speaker 2: to see them staying where they are. You know, would
6:39
Speaker 2: I put money on them overtaking the Phillies. I would
6:42
Speaker 2: not for many reasons.
6:44
Speaker 1: Well who knows at this point here, dear freaking lord,
6:47
Speaker 1: I mean it is it is, yeah, go ahead, I'm sorry.
6:50
Speaker 2: But I would put money if I was a betting woman,
6:53
Speaker 2: which I am not. I will that they make the playoffs,
6:55
Speaker 2: because that seems like it's there's every reason to think
7:00
Speaker 2: that they can hang with the teams that are currently
7:03
Speaker 2: lingering around that playoff position.
7:05
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, they're playing pretty damn good baseball quite frankly
7:09
Speaker 1: right now at this point. And as we know, baseball
7:12
Speaker 1: is all about teams and players getting hot and getting
7:16
Speaker 1: cold at certain points of the season. That's the game
7:19
Speaker 1: which is going to put them either in a great
7:21
Speaker 1: position or a terrible position within their division or the postseason,
7:25
Speaker 1: or wherever they're at at the given point in time
7:27
Speaker 1: during the season. So which aspects of this team, Maggie,
7:30
Speaker 1: are really hot and really cold at the moment. What
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Speaker 1: you're seeing right now here at the beginning of August.
7:37
Speaker 2: Well, they've had they've had some players on the on
7:42
Speaker 2: the hitting side who have really I mean again, I
7:45
Speaker 2: mentioned Francisco Lindor, and that almost seems like cheating because
7:48
Speaker 2: he's been hot for two and a half months. But
7:52
Speaker 2: he is playing like one of the best players in
7:54
Speaker 2: the National League.
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Speaker 1: And he's providing consistency. He's providing so much consistency.
7:58
Speaker 2: Exact at the at the leadoff position where he just
8:02
Speaker 2: sets the tone. But someone who is a bit of
8:05
Speaker 2: a surprise at this point, because I think a lot
8:07
Speaker 2: of Mets fans were ready to sort of like wave
8:10
Speaker 2: goodbye is Jeff McNeil. Yeah, he has always been a
8:14
Speaker 2: really important player for the Mets because he just has
8:16
Speaker 2: a different look than a lot of the than a
8:19
Speaker 2: lot of the hitters in that lineup, And it's not
8:21
Speaker 2: necessarily like a good thing if your different look is
8:25
Speaker 2: that you don't hit home runs. But he's still with
8:28
Speaker 2: somebody who you know, he's the kind of guy you
8:30
Speaker 2: would always want in a like get the runner home
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Speaker 2: from third with less than two outs, like he would
8:37
Speaker 2: be that guy you would go to. Except for most
8:39
Speaker 2: of the season he was unwatchable. Yeah yeah, I mean
8:42
Speaker 2: truly like cooked like this, like maybe he'll be okay
8:47
Speaker 2: in a bench roll next season kind of kind of look.
8:51
Speaker 2: And also he'd been doing it since this season before,
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Speaker 2: so there was a lot of reason to think that
8:57
Speaker 2: this is what we're going to get from Jeff McNeil forever.
9:00
Speaker 2: But and I'll be to be fair, it hasn't been
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Speaker 2: so long that you think, like, well, he's back forever,
9:07
Speaker 2: like this could definitely be sort of a last hurrah.
9:10
Speaker 2: But whatever it is, he looks great. He looks like
9:12
Speaker 2: the whole Jeff McNeil. He's not striking out, he's you know,
9:16
Speaker 2: he still hits a lot of ground balls, but he's
9:18
Speaker 2: hitting them with more authority. He's he is hitting some
9:23
Speaker 2: line drives to go with that. Like it's it's been
9:27
Speaker 2: a really transformative thing to have him in the lineup
9:31
Speaker 2: looking like Jeff McNeil and not looking like late stage
9:34
Speaker 2: Luis Castio.
9:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think that's a great answer to that question, because,
9:40
Speaker 1: you know, as we're moving along here, the Mets have
9:43
Speaker 1: they've had some really strong play over these past couple months,
9:46
Speaker 1: which you're describing here as well, but their bullpen, their
9:49
Speaker 1: bullpen has been a bit of an issue, as Mets
9:53
Speaker 1: fans known people that follow the NL East. The bullpen
9:56
Speaker 1: has had about a four point zero six er, which
9:59
Speaker 1: was ranked sixteenth in baseball, and the Mets made some
10:02
Speaker 1: moves at the trade deadline to really help their bullpen issues,
10:07
Speaker 1: and you know, I wanted to get your thoughts on
10:09
Speaker 1: these moves and how it may help the team in
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Speaker 1: the future. Do you like the moves, Do you think
10:14
Speaker 1: that it really can help to at least, you know,
10:16
Speaker 1: provide some stepping stones to getting a more stable bullpen
10:20
Speaker 1: down the road. What are your thoughts on these moves.
10:22
Speaker 2: Well, it was a really difficult trade deadline, I think
10:26
Speaker 2: for everybody, but the Mets really were in a position
10:30
Speaker 2: where everyone around them was making the kind of moves
10:33
Speaker 2: that they wanted to make and paying these enormous prices
10:37
Speaker 2: for it. And you know, I think the Mets are
10:40
Speaker 2: Mets have a decent farm system, but also they're going
10:42
Speaker 2: to need to tap into that farm system a lot
10:44
Speaker 2: in this off season when and a ton of their
10:47
Speaker 2: roster is about to turn over. So they really had
10:52
Speaker 2: to thread this needle very carefully, and all things considered,
10:55
Speaker 2: I think they did actually a really good job. They
10:58
Speaker 2: brought in four bullpen are over the course of the
11:02
Speaker 2: last month or so, which was the number that I
11:06
Speaker 2: said thinking that, like, well, I never got there. I
11:09
Speaker 2: was like Mett, Steve Moore, four relievers, and they got them.
11:12
Speaker 2: And you know, they're mostly they're mostly I don't want
11:16
Speaker 2: to say depth guys, because that makes me makes it
11:19
Speaker 2: sound like they're just gonna kind of be in Triple
11:21
Speaker 2: A and brought up for a But they're mostly like
11:23
Speaker 2: you're going to see them early in games. But Brazabon
11:29
Speaker 2: is a really promising kind of player. You know, he's
11:32
Speaker 2: got a lot of team control, which is useful. Again,
11:34
Speaker 2: I mentioned like they're going to turn over a lot
11:36
Speaker 2: of their roster next year and that he's just pitching
11:38
Speaker 2: really well. And they've had a lot of They have
11:42
Speaker 2: a lot of guys who can pitch okay, and the
11:46
Speaker 2: problem was that anybody who could pitch okay was getting
11:49
Speaker 2: used up, like you know, two innings a day for
11:53
Speaker 2: you know, three days straight. It was you know, that's
11:56
Speaker 2: that's always been a problem, is the volume of innings
11:58
Speaker 2: that they've needed to pitch. But like you do like
12:01
Speaker 2: to see a guy come in who you can trust
12:04
Speaker 2: in a tricky situation, but it is I mean, they
12:08
Speaker 2: also just needed fresh arms. The and this is this
12:12
Speaker 2: problem is not going away, which is the the starter's
12:16
Speaker 2: just not going very deep into games even compared I know,
12:19
Speaker 2: nobody's going deep into games anymore. Then that's really really
12:22
Speaker 2: pushing that. So if they weren't going to be able
12:28
Speaker 2: to really get significant starting help, which they have one,
12:33
Speaker 2: they got brought in one new starter, Blackburn. He's I
12:36
Speaker 2: think a really good pick up for them, but he's
12:39
Speaker 2: not the kind of acquisition who is going to substantively
12:45
Speaker 2: change how heavily that bullpen needs to get used. So
12:49
Speaker 2: what they needed to do is they need a volume,
12:51
Speaker 2: and that's what they have. So they have four fresh
12:54
Speaker 2: arms who have not been pitching to the same innings
12:58
Speaker 2: that the existing reliever have. And there are you know,
13:01
Speaker 2: none of them are guys where you know, sorry Jake
13:03
Speaker 2: Deekman that you see them coming and you're.
13:07
Speaker 1: Like, oh, God is right.
13:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it was a really it was a
13:14
Speaker 2: really solid trade deadline. Especially they did not trade away
13:18
Speaker 2: any of their major any of their major prospects at all. Yeah,
13:22
Speaker 2: to make this change, and they really focused very clearly
13:26
Speaker 2: on their areas of need. And you know, you gotta
13:31
Speaker 2: you gotta tip your cap to David Sterns because he
13:33
Speaker 2: really did his like classic David Stern's thing of getting
13:37
Speaker 2: the guys you didn't expect. But you're like, oh that
13:39
Speaker 2: is that's work. Yeah, And who'd you get for? Oh
13:42
Speaker 2: that guy? All right? Well sure, it's interesting.
13:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting how the Mets and the Phillies really
13:47
Speaker 1: were very similar in terms of their philosophy at the
13:50
Speaker 1: trade deadline. Is it pertaining to the bullpen acquisitions, because
13:52
Speaker 1: It was the same for the Phillies getting rid of
13:54
Speaker 1: some guys who just after time just would not performing
13:59
Speaker 1: the way that they hoped to be performing that we
14:02
Speaker 1: as fans in the front office, thought that they would
14:05
Speaker 1: be at in this point in their career. So move
14:07
Speaker 1: on from them. But bring in some freshness. Bring in
14:09
Speaker 1: some freshness. Nobody that's really going to be the a
14:12
Speaker 1: one hundred percent over the top difference maker, but that
14:16
Speaker 1: has the potential, has the developmental potential in order to
14:19
Speaker 1: really help the team out. Give them some fresh arms
14:22
Speaker 1: down this stretch. And that's and that's an important part
14:24
Speaker 1: of baseball. It really is.
14:26
Speaker 2: And it is. Yeah, and I all have like what
14:28
Speaker 2: you're saying about, like, you know, cutting loose some of
14:32
Speaker 2: the other guys. That is something that's different for the
14:35
Speaker 2: Mets this year. Oh yeah, that you know, they had Deekman,
14:38
Speaker 2: had Adrian Hauser who came in minor league major league deals.
14:43
Speaker 2: You know, in Adrian Hauser's case, they had traded Forum.
14:45
Speaker 2: You know, the old Mets would have played these guys
14:50
Speaker 2: until the end of time because it's like sunk costs,
14:54
Speaker 2: misplaced loyalty. I never quite understood the like philosophical underpinnings
14:59
Speaker 2: of playing playing bad players for months and months, right,
15:03
Speaker 2: but this mess they're not doing that. They are they're
15:08
Speaker 2: moving quickly in terms of like and I hate to
15:10
Speaker 2: say it, but like addition by subtraction. Yeah, yeah, And
15:13
Speaker 2: so it's a combination of bringing in good innings and
15:17
Speaker 2: reducing your bad innings.
15:20
Speaker 1: Again, folks are talking to Maggie Wigan from a pod
15:23
Speaker 1: of their own podcast. Check them out on Apple Podcast
15:27
Speaker 1: and Spotify as well over at home Run applesauce dot com.
15:33
Speaker 1: She is a great great follow on Twitter slash x
15:35
Speaker 1: at Maggie one six two great grade follow and a
15:39
Speaker 1: two part question for you here, Maggie. As we're moving
15:42
Speaker 1: along the discussion here, wanted to talk about surprises of
15:45
Speaker 1: this Mets season and letdowns as well. So let's get
15:49
Speaker 1: to the surprise first. What's the biggest surprise of this
15:52
Speaker 1: Mets season for you? As we're here in the early
15:55
Speaker 1: stages of August at this.
15:56
Speaker 2: Point, I would say, really the contribution of there not
16:02
Speaker 2: just the bench players, but starters who we didn't know
16:05
Speaker 2: would be starters. And I'm thinking of like Jade Martinez,
16:09
Speaker 2: who you know obviously he's he's always hit well no
16:12
Speaker 2: matter how old he gets where he goes. The fact
16:15
Speaker 2: that he's hitting well is not a huge surprise, but
16:18
Speaker 2: that he has hit as well as he has, and
16:21
Speaker 2: also the work that he's done with all the other
16:23
Speaker 2: players I also think of like Jose Iglesias, who is
16:27
Speaker 2: you know, a backup second baseman, and in addition to
16:30
Speaker 2: postgame concerts at City Field, he has also produced a
16:34
Speaker 2: lot out of that spot, which was very important when
16:36
Speaker 2: Jeff McNeil was looking so bad. And then the other
16:39
Speaker 2: one I'll shout out is Mark Fiantos, who you know,
16:42
Speaker 2: was up a little bit of the last two seasons
16:44
Speaker 2: and just looked overmatched, like kind of that classic striking
16:49
Speaker 2: out on everything, you know, designated hitter without a designated
16:55
Speaker 2: hitter opening. And he was sent down the beginning of
16:59
Speaker 2: this year and since he came back and supposedly Martinez
17:02
Speaker 2: has had a lot to do at this with this
17:05
Speaker 2: adjustment for him, but he is just hitting the cover
17:08
Speaker 2: off the ball. He still strikes out a lot, but
17:13
Speaker 2: he just makes really solid contact. And you know, for
17:17
Speaker 2: a team that has gone through I don't even want
17:20
Speaker 2: to know how many players they've had a third base
17:22
Speaker 2: the last few years. Yeah, idea that he might be
17:24
Speaker 2: able to stick there, even just for a few years. Again,
17:27
Speaker 2: with like a big, big holes in the roster coming
17:30
Speaker 2: up soon, that's huge. And I would high five anybody
17:34
Speaker 2: who thought Mark Fantos is going to be a sick
17:37
Speaker 2: player this season, because it was something I didn't there.
17:39
Speaker 1: You go, well, what about the biggest letdown so far
17:42
Speaker 1: of this season? Lots of trials and tribulations for this
17:45
Speaker 1: Mets team, as you outlined earlier, but when you look
17:49
Speaker 1: at the team overall here, what's been the biggest letdown
17:51
Speaker 1: so far?
17:52
Speaker 2: I mean, it's tempting to say the pitching because but
17:55
Speaker 2: also we knew the pitching was going to be was
17:58
Speaker 2: going to be trouble. Yeah, I have to Oh my god,
18:01
Speaker 2: my heart hurt so much. It's probably Pete Alonso. I mean,
18:06
Speaker 2: you know, he's picked it up a lot since the
18:08
Speaker 2: All Star break. He really, he really has. But you know,
18:12
Speaker 2: for a player who is playing for a contract, who
18:15
Speaker 2: had you know, because of his profiles like a you
18:20
Speaker 2: know bat first, all dingers, mostly dingers kind of guys,
18:25
Speaker 2: you know, this is not a great age for him
18:27
Speaker 2: to be ash. And he came into the season, you know,
18:33
Speaker 2: everyone was really excited to see what they would see
18:35
Speaker 2: from him, and he hasn't made the case to bring
18:41
Speaker 2: him back on the kind of and it's it's tricky
18:44
Speaker 2: because you know, do I think he's worth two hundred million?
18:48
Speaker 2: Probably not. Do I think he's worth one hundred and
18:51
Speaker 2: fifty maybe, But I don't think David Stearns will, and
18:55
Speaker 2: I think somebody else, another team will. That's sort of
18:58
Speaker 2: my feeling on it. And you know, I think at
19:01
Speaker 2: this point you'd almost want him to play a little
19:04
Speaker 2: bit badly, because then your best chance of keeping him
19:06
Speaker 2: around is if he is if he takes the qualifying offer.
19:11
Speaker 2: So that's sort of like we just you just really
19:15
Speaker 2: wanted him to be a major player, and while he
19:19
Speaker 2: has a lot of season left to work with, and yeah,
19:21
Speaker 2: he has been really yes, yeah, I'm actually I just
19:25
Speaker 2: clicked over his pangraftsation. It's actually look at a little
19:28
Speaker 2: better than I He's not like a one twenty five
19:31
Speaker 2: WRC plus for this. My apologies, Look, this happens, this happens,
19:37
Speaker 2: But that long I mean, if if you're you know,
19:41
Speaker 2: if you're David Stearn's or an exec for any other team,
19:44
Speaker 2: and you look at that really really long stretch where
19:47
Speaker 2: he wasn't hitting home runs, he wasn't hitting anything. And
19:51
Speaker 2: you look at his age, and you look at what
19:53
Speaker 2: contract he may or may not get. It's a tough
19:57
Speaker 2: position for him to be in. Like this was the
19:59
Speaker 2: year that you want him to explode and he's not.
20:05
Speaker 2: He hasn't done that.
20:06
Speaker 1: Yeah.
20:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, And a defense has also continued to drop off.
20:09
Speaker 2: His defense was never good, Yeah, but he increasingly does
20:14
Speaker 2: read like a designated hitter.
20:17
Speaker 1: There's still more time in this season, and the last
20:19
Speaker 1: thing I want to do is necessarily come to the
20:21
Speaker 1: defense of any New York Mets out there. But I
20:24
Speaker 1: look at what's happening with this Philadelphia Phillies team, and
20:27
Speaker 1: when you have Bryce Harper and Trey Turner who are
20:29
Speaker 1: combined fourteen of one hundred and seven, which is hard
20:33
Speaker 1: to do one oh three batting, one oh three of
20:36
Speaker 1: these two guys with twenty seven strikeouts since the All
20:39
Speaker 1: Star break.
20:40
Speaker 2: And that's not like a few days at this point exactly.
20:43
Speaker 1: There's still a lot of season left for these two
20:45
Speaker 1: guys to rebound here for the Phillies. But things happen
20:49
Speaker 1: in baseball, and sometimes they you can't explain them. And
20:52
Speaker 1: again I'm not trying to defend folks out there. Don't
20:54
Speaker 1: go into my DMS here. It's I'm not trying to
21:00
Speaker 1: pete Alonso, but these things happen, and I have a
21:03
Speaker 1: feeling there is enough time in this season where the
21:05
Speaker 1: ship can be righted and where he can probably get
21:08
Speaker 1: back to form. I mean, you look at two great
21:11
Speaker 1: baseball players, and Bryce Harper and Trey Turner I just mentioned,
21:14
Speaker 1: and boy they are struggling big time and they're pretty
21:18
Speaker 1: good baseball players. We know that. So things happen. Things
21:21
Speaker 1: happen in this game. So, Maggie, as we are closing
21:25
Speaker 1: things out here, I wanted to ask you before I
21:28
Speaker 1: let you go. You know, as you and the Mets
21:30
Speaker 1: are looking towards you know what this future holds for
21:32
Speaker 1: this team, and you have talked about some of that
21:34
Speaker 1: as well. You know, what does the team need to
21:37
Speaker 1: do in the future short term and long term just
21:40
Speaker 1: to you know, enjoy or ensure some greater success in
21:44
Speaker 1: the division and beyond. What are your thoughts here?
21:48
Speaker 2: Well? Short term you know, and I there's nothing wood
21:51
Speaker 2: nearby for me to knock on, But like short term,
21:54
Speaker 2: it's it's going to be a question of health in
21:57
Speaker 2: a lot of ways. You know, again, like I feel
22:00
Speaker 2: like even saying this out loud, they the position players
22:04
Speaker 2: especially have stayed incredibly healthy this year. We have avoided
22:09
Speaker 2: any major injuries. And again, like I just knocking on
22:14
Speaker 2: all the wood. Yeah, so but that's got to that's
22:17
Speaker 2: gotta stick because also, like the trade deadline's over, Code
22:21
Speaker 2: I Sanga, that's you know, he's really been the recipient
22:25
Speaker 2: of all of the Mets injury woes. So but they
22:29
Speaker 2: really like it's going to be a tight squeeze to
22:32
Speaker 2: get through the rest of the season. They are in
22:35
Speaker 2: a good position, but one or two significant injuries and
22:39
Speaker 2: it's over.
22:40
Speaker 1: Yeah.
22:41
Speaker 2: So that's that's a big piece of it. That's why,
22:44
Speaker 2: like having the extra arms is really helpful. You know,
22:49
Speaker 2: whatever they're conditioning is this year, it seems to be working.
22:52
Speaker 2: So but that's the big thing for short term long term,
22:57
Speaker 2: you know, they are at a huge crossroads this off season.
23:00
Speaker 2: They have to replace an entire rotation. I think they
23:05
Speaker 2: maybe have They have Code I Sanga next year. Code
23:08
Speaker 2: I Sanga, who pitched one game this season and did
23:11
Speaker 2: it well, you know, with with wild weird injuries on
23:15
Speaker 2: either side of that game. So he's going to be
23:17
Speaker 2: coming into next season having not really pitched in a
23:23
Speaker 2: year plus, so and then the and then we need
23:27
Speaker 2: four starters after that, like show and obviously the bullpen
23:32
Speaker 2: is going to need a lot of work. Maybe Pete
23:35
Speaker 2: Lonzo needs to be replaced. There will definitely need to
23:38
Speaker 2: be two new outfielders. You know, depending on how Jeff
23:42
Speaker 2: McNeal holds up, they may need to bring in a
23:45
Speaker 2: couple more infielders. Like it's it is going to be
23:48
Speaker 2: a very very active off season. Just buy necessity, Like
23:53
Speaker 2: we don't have to worry about the Mets sitting on
23:55
Speaker 2: their hands, because if they sit on their hands, they
23:56
Speaker 2: won't have a roster.
23:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, so.
24:00
Speaker 2: That's just going to be a really And it's also
24:02
Speaker 2: why I was pretty mad that they didn't do more
24:04
Speaker 2: moves this past offseason, like set themselves up with some
24:07
Speaker 2: players on multi year contracts so they didn't have to
24:10
Speaker 2: do so much work next season. They did not do that.
24:14
Speaker 2: So what they really need to do is figure out
24:16
Speaker 2: how they are going to make that volume of moves
24:19
Speaker 2: in a way that preserves the quality of the team.
24:25
Speaker 1: She's Maggie Wigan. Folks a pod of their own. Subscribe
24:29
Speaker 1: to their podcast head on over to Home Run Applesauce
24:32
Speaker 1: dot com and check out everything that is going on
24:35
Speaker 1: over there. Maggie, it was great talking to you about
24:38
Speaker 1: this Mets team. Thank you so much for taking the
24:40
Speaker 1: time to come on and I'm looking forward to talking
24:42
Speaker 1: to you at some point down the road.
24:44
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Jeff, pleasure to be here.
24:46
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for us here on Opposition
24:49
Speaker 1: Territory this week. Please share our podcast with your friends
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24:55
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25:19
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