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Mets manager Carlos Mendoza joins FT + Bo Bichette drama in Toronto? · Foul Territory

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Matt's manager, Carlos Mendoza is back. Mandy, What a week
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: do you just have? Endless champagne bottle popping right now?
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Going on?
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: What a fun week this is?
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Are you enjoying watching this and getting the phone calls
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: with Bashette, Luis Robert and Freddie Peralta in a one
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: week span?
• 0:26
  Speaker 4: I know, right, especially after what we went through so
• 0:29
  Speaker 4: the first part of the off season, right when.
• 0:33
  Speaker 5: I see Cratsy laughing there, But yeah, it's exciting, man.
• 0:37
  Speaker 5: And everything happened so fast, you know, it was one
• 0:40
  Speaker 5: move after another one I could getting.
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: I kept getting text from David or call from our
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: front office members about the move that we were making.
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: And it was just exciting, you know because, like I said,
• 0:53
  Speaker 4: they wait, the off season started it and the fact
• 0:56
  Speaker 4: that we got to this point.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: He's excited.
• 1:00
  Speaker 6: To me a little bit about I'm sure you've thought
• 1:01
  Speaker 6: about this. People are wondering too this infield now, talk
• 1:05
  Speaker 6: to me. Have you thought about you know, where guys
• 1:08
  Speaker 6: are going to be You know, I haven't heard anything.
• 1:10
  Speaker 6: That's why I'm asking, like, have you thought is there
• 1:12
  Speaker 6: like any specific positions that Bo's going to be at?
• 1:15
  Speaker 6: And you know everybody else. I mean, so, I mean, like,
• 1:18
  Speaker 6: talk to me about where guys are going to be
• 1:20
  Speaker 6: in this infield er. Is he going to just try
• 1:21
  Speaker 6: and move people around?
• 1:23
  Speaker 7: Yeah?
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: No, I mean we're pretty much set with bo. We
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: were pretty honest from the beginning and he was all in.
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: I remember the.
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: Suit call that we had with him. He was clear
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: that the position that he was going to play was
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: third base, and he was all in. So we'll have
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: bow up there. Lian Bore obviously a sure mark is
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: second base. And then you know, we got Polanco that
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: we signed to play first base, another former middle infielder,
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: a guy that moves around, uh that for the first time.
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: In his career is going to be playing first base.
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: Bred Batty will get some reps there.
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: Mark Viento's is going to get an opportunity to earn
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: from a bat's there as well. So, like I said,
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: we feel pretty good with the way our infhill is
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: set right now.
• 2:08
  Speaker 7: Mandy, have you ever seen the movie Moneyball?
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: Of course?
• 2:14
  Speaker 7: Okay, Ron Washington in that movie is quoted is saying,
• 2:18
  Speaker 7: it's not that easy. Do you believe first base is
• 2:22
  Speaker 7: that easy? And because you you kind of tiered, you
• 2:25
  Speaker 7: kind of tiered the athleticism from Jorge Polonco to Brett
• 2:29
  Speaker 7: Bady to Viento's. But it's experience, it's angles, it's are
• 2:35
  Speaker 7: you going to have them go to their right because
• 2:38
  Speaker 7: you're gonna have Marcus Simeon controlling that area? You know?
• 2:41
  Speaker 7: Do they only go to the bag afterwards? Like how
• 2:44
  Speaker 7: easy do you think this transition is going to be?
• 2:47
  Speaker 7: So do you have a lower level of expectation if
• 2:50
  Speaker 7: you don't think it's that easy?
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: Expectations are there? They're going to be able to handle.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: Especially I gotta like Polanco, He's not that easy. He's
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: not that easy.
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: People just think that, how we'll put him at first
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: base and he'll figure it out.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: There's so much that goes into it when you're making
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: that type.
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: Of transition, whether it's you know, not to mention fundamentals
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: right cuts and relay, is bunt plays, getting familiar with
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: your pitching staff, who gets off the man well, having
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: the awareness with the second basement is playing. So you
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: got to get on a habit to pick to you right,
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: especially the guys that are used to playing up the
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: middle that as soon as the balls hit, their first
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: reaction is go get the baseball in this case, when
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: you're playing first base, you gotta be familiar, you know,
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: with how far the second basement is.
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: Do I need to go for that ball? Do I
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: need to just go straight to the base.
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: And that's almost some of the players that only by
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: playing the position, that's how you're gonna get better. So
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: our job is to get him as many as game
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: reps as possible, because it's not so much about catching
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: a ground ball. They know how to catch a ground ball,
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: they're gonna get to baseballs. And then on top of that,
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: it's the footwork at first base, you know, making sure
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: they're not stretching too soon, the balls in the dirt,
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: their ability to use the whole back like.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: It's going to be a process.
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: I'm glad that we started early, but again, until we
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: see it in games, we just got to stay on
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: top of it.
• 4:17
  Speaker 7: I think I'll be playing more games. Are those guys
• 4:18
  Speaker 7: gonna be playing more games at first base? Not to
• 4:20
  Speaker 7: like only key on one position? More games at spring
• 4:24
  Speaker 7: training than they ever have, Like, are they going to
• 4:27
  Speaker 7: be going down to the B game in the minor
• 4:29
  Speaker 7: league side to get reps because you have three guys
• 4:32
  Speaker 7: for one position and there's only one big league game.
• 4:35
  Speaker 7: I think you played twenty six of them during spring
• 4:37
  Speaker 7: and they can't play.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: All of them.
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah, we're gonna have to get creative here in making
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: sure we're giving these guys game reps.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: So, like you mentioned, whether it's a big game, backfield action,
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: minor league games.
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: You know, not to mention that Bret Baide is going
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: to be getting some reps in the alphiel as well.
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: So the communication is going to be huge here making
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: sure that when we are putting together their their plans
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: and you know, you know, like the progression and where
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: are they going to be potential to be playing, they
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: have a pretty good idea in a heads up so
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: they can get ready. But again, creating as many as
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: game opportunities as possible is going.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: To be the key.
• 5:17
  Speaker 7: All right, let's take it back to that time where
• 5:19
  Speaker 7: the beginning of the off season that you alluded to
• 5:22
  Speaker 7: when you first came on. What did those conversations sound like,
• 5:25
  Speaker 7: Because people don't know, Mandy, you are one of the best,
• 5:29
  Speaker 7: most connected, most communicative managers in the game, and that
• 5:34
  Speaker 7: is you know, that's a superpower for you, and that's
• 5:37
  Speaker 7: what helps drive your team when you see that you're
• 5:41
  Speaker 7: going to lose or you lose a guy like Pete
• 5:43
  Speaker 7: Edwin traded Nemo. What are those conversations like, did you
• 5:47
  Speaker 7: have conversations with all three of those guys and how
• 5:50
  Speaker 7: hard were they if you did have those conversations.
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I talked to them after day's fine,
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: you know, only happened back to bad days.
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: I think it was Edwin.
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: Men, so he seems like he was he's being forever,
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: but I think it was ed when the first guy
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: and then I called him and you know, as much
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: as you hate seeing him leave, you know you're happy
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: for him in his sauel. And you create those relationship
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: with those guys and you just have to appreciate what
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: they did for us.
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: And then the same thing happened with p You know,
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: I call him and then I.
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: Saw him down here went to Vesta the player UH,
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: and then he was there and and we had a
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: long conversation. Again, you create this relationship with these players
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: that he means a lot, you know, but you wish
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: them well, you thank them because they posted and they
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: were a huge part of this organization.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: Same thing with the UH trade with Brandon he wasn't easy.
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: And then getting on the phone with him and after
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: the trade went down, you just appreciation.
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: A lot of respect for this guy.
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: Same thing with Jeff McNeil after the trade, you know, uh,
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: the conversations with him and uh, just like I said,
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: I appreciate what they did for us.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: All Right.
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: You talked a little about hitters that you lost there,
• 7:13
  Speaker 6: a little bit talk. I want to go back to
• 7:14
  Speaker 6: Bobbashev for a second. Where do you see him hitting
• 7:17
  Speaker 6: in the lineup? And you know, talk about that situation too,
• 7:21
  Speaker 6: because you can put him anywhere.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Uh, he's a guy that can bat too. He can
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: bat four.
• 7:26
  Speaker 6: Talk to me about like if you thought about that,
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: and where do you see him hitting starting, you know,
• 7:31
  Speaker 6: first day of the year.
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean he's early and I'm not gonna lie.
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: When the transaction went down, has some time the following
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: day just kind of start envisioning.
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: Where I could potentially be hitting.
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: But like you said, he's so versatile that this is
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: a guy that could lead off to hit take and
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: who hit ther who hit fourth? But if you're asking
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: me right now, and I mean we're so far away
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: from opening day, I could see a combination of when
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: door to shit right away, you know. But again, I
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: gotta have these conversations with the players. But the fact
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: that Bo he's such a good hitter.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: You know, you can put him in from a soda.
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: You can put it behind him, you can put me more.
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: Whether take him out of the leadle spot and put
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: him third, Like, there's so many different ways I could
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: go here, all right.
• 8:19
  Speaker 7: One of the things that was said, because we didn't
• 8:22
  Speaker 7: hear a lot about Bobashet and it was said on
• 8:25
  Speaker 7: this show, not by me, not by aj, not by
• 8:27
  Speaker 7: Scott or Todd, somebody said the bow signing was a
• 8:32
  Speaker 7: panic pivot. Do you feel like it was more of
• 8:37
  Speaker 7: a surprise for you than if you had gotten Tucker,
• 8:42
  Speaker 7: if that had gone all the way through and had
• 8:44
  Speaker 7: been Tucker, Or was it something that we had this
• 8:47
  Speaker 7: coming down the lane the whole time? It is just
• 8:49
  Speaker 7: you stupid media people didn't know about it.
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: Pratz. I know you're gonna tell me if you said it,
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: you will tell me.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Hey I said it.
• 8:56
  Speaker 7: Oh, I would tell you, you know that.
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: No, Listen, I don't see it as a panic because
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: we laid down that foundation, like we were prepared. You know,
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: we had some calls with him, you know, so we
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: had conversations with him. This wasn't all talker went somewhere else,
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: and then the very next day here we are signing both.
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: We have meetings with him.
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: Like I said, you gotta get credit to David Stearns
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: in the front office because they lay down that foundation
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: that you know, they we had an idea in case,
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: you know, this guy goes here, we can always go there.
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: But I wouldn't say it was a panic move.
• 9:31
  Speaker 7: All right. Does it feel a little bit better signing
• 9:33
  Speaker 7: Bow that the Phillies thought they had Bow? Just a
• 9:37
  Speaker 7: little bit, just a little rivalry. Does it feel a
• 9:40
  Speaker 7: little bit better? Yeah?
• 9:42
  Speaker 4: I mean there's so much out there that I don't
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: know that you get caught up on all the noise
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: and all that. But I saw those reports where like
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: the Phillies are getting close to getting both.
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: I think you just getting an an elite player period.
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: Regardless whether we got them or they didn't get them,
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: they're still a pretty good team.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: But the way I see it is just that we
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: got better as the team as an organization as soon
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: as we sign them.
• 10:06
  Speaker 7: Okay, it was confirmed by Dombrowski, so it wasn't just
• 10:09
  Speaker 7: a rumor. But I won't let you. I won't. I
• 10:11
  Speaker 7: won't belabor the point because my next one's a little
• 10:14
  Speaker 7: bit tougher. There's not not report, not reports, but there's
• 10:19
  Speaker 7: things coming out about, Hey, they wanted you guys wanted
• 10:22
  Speaker 7: to change the culture. When you see the moves that
• 10:25
  Speaker 7: were made on a team that didn't pitch well, and
• 10:28
  Speaker 7: yet it was position player, position player, position player, position
• 10:32
  Speaker 7: player that weren't signed back, maybe it to me it
• 10:36
  Speaker 7: kind of confirms that. And or was it a shift
• 10:40
  Speaker 7: of what type of team you want to be and
• 10:43
  Speaker 7: not necessarily the culture of a team that needed to
• 10:47
  Speaker 7: be shifted.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah, look, I know there was a lot of noise
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: as well about that.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: For me, I think it was just some of the
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: personality and the way we want to construct a roster.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: We had a really good culture. You know. The truth
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: was that we didn't play well. You know, we didn't
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: get results. I thought that at the beginning of the year.
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: For the first two and a half months, you know,
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: nobody said anything about, you know, what was going on in.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: Our locker room. It was a professional.
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: Look now, if we're comparing twenty twenty five to twenty
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: twenty four, then maybe we could there's a case there,
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: you know, but that was something magical that will happened
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: in twenty twenty four.
• 11:28
  Speaker 8: I feel like the guys got along well. They respected
• 11:31
  Speaker 8: each other. But when you're not winning games, you know,
• 11:34
  Speaker 8: like you're trying to keep it fun. You're trying to
• 11:36
  Speaker 8: push guys. But we just didn't get the job done
• 11:40
  Speaker 8: on the field.
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: But I think we hear David and how much we
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: wanted to improve our defense, and some of this move
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: will reflect that.
• 11:51
  Speaker 6: I want to go on another guy. You guys just
• 11:53
  Speaker 6: picked up Lewis Robert. Have you won Have you had
• 11:56
  Speaker 6: any conversation with him? And two, we know him, we
• 11:59
  Speaker 6: know he's got the and we know he can hit
• 12:01
  Speaker 6: the ball a long way, big in stature. You're looking
• 12:04
  Speaker 6: for him just to get it, be healthy and bring
• 12:06
  Speaker 6: back that Oldthouis Robert and Wold Junior.
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean we're looking at a very toolsy player.
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: When he's healthy, he's he's one of the best. You know,
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: we know the defense, we know the power, his ability
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: to steal. Basis is our job to keep him on
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: the field. Now I spoke with him. I know the
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: trainers are already with their hands on him.
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: Again. We got to get to know the player. We
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: got to get.
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: To know his routines and the way he prepares, and
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: then we're going to have to make some adjustments in
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: communication with him because that's going.
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: To be the goal. We need this guy on the field.
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: So I feel good where he's at in talking to him.
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: And like I said, our group, our medical group is
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: already in communication with him, and I'm pretty sure they're
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: gonna put a plan moving forward so he allows him
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: to be on the field as much as po awesome.
• 13:04
  Speaker 7: Quanta temple blah blah, Coln Luis, how many times have
• 13:08
  Speaker 7: you talked to Luis? Because you have a little different
• 13:10
  Speaker 7: connection than you know, say Will Venable did last year.
• 13:15
  Speaker 7: I get it. You know the previous manager, he was Pedro,
• 13:18
  Speaker 7: had had the Spanish connection. That means a lot to
• 13:22
  Speaker 7: Cuban guys, I think more than some guys who come
• 13:25
  Speaker 7: up through the minor leagues and spend a lot of
• 13:26
  Speaker 7: time in the minor leagues. He was in the minor
• 13:29
  Speaker 7: leagues for a little bit and then bang in the
• 13:30
  Speaker 7: big leagues. So how many times have you talked to
• 13:33
  Speaker 7: him to make that connection as much as you can
• 13:36
  Speaker 7: in these you know, previous few days that you've had
• 13:38
  Speaker 7: him now as a player.
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: Yeah, no, I only talked to him once, but I'm
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: planning on uh visit him, uh so I can see
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: him in person and watching work out. I know he's
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: down here in Florida, but I know our trainers already
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: in contact with him. But as far as like my
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: first conversation, I mean, he happens so fast, right, uh,
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: just more like introduction. But again, it's good to have
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: a player that you know, with that calibor and that potential.
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: And my job now as the manager and our coaches
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: is to build that relationship with him so he can
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: trust us.
• 14:16
  Speaker 7: All right, Freddie P my guy, one of my favorite
• 14:19
  Speaker 7: teammates of all time. You see, yeah, how how how much?
• 14:26
  Speaker 7: How much is this first conversation that you're gonna have
• 14:29
  Speaker 7: with him if you haven't had it yet or you
• 14:32
  Speaker 7: already had it, Does it mean to set out a
• 14:37
  Speaker 7: standard of you need to be our number one or
• 14:40
  Speaker 7: you don't need to be our number one. You just
• 14:42
  Speaker 7: need to be you, right?
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: Uh?
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: And that's it, grat See, he needs to be himself.
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: I spoke with him as soon as the transaction went down.
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: I got on the phone and I had a.
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: Very good conversation. He was super excited.
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: Uh, and everything that I'm hearing, we all know the
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: quality of the picture and the competitor that he is
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: on him out, but everybody keeps telling me the quality
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: of the person. And you could feel it right away
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: with my first conversation with him, and how excited he was.
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: And he's willing to report a porson Lucy earlier. So
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: he started meeting people, and that for me goes a
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: long way again. He was a he was a productive
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: and a really good conversation. But at the end of
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: the day, he's got to be Freddie Peralta. Go out there,
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: compete and give us a chance to win every time
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: you take the base.
• 15:35
  Speaker 7: Did you make him laugh the first time you talked
• 15:37
  Speaker 7: to him on the phone or were you serious, Mendy.
• 15:41
  Speaker 9: I was, I was, Mandy. You know, it's just maybe
• 15:44
  Speaker 9: maybe they laugh. He's not like, Hey, how are you
• 15:48
  Speaker 9: now telling him about the organization? Who we are, what
• 15:54
  Speaker 9: we are all about? And you just appreciated that.
• 15:59
  Speaker 7: And did you tell tell him that it's extension time?
• 16:02
  Speaker 7: Have you guys in an organization said we're gonna make
• 16:05
  Speaker 7: this We're gonna make this guy a permanent met because
• 16:09
  Speaker 7: your other guy, Boba Schett said nothing when asked about
• 16:13
  Speaker 7: playing for a one year contract or was it going
• 16:16
  Speaker 7: to be a little bit longer.
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we'll let them get comfortable here.
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: We'll let Freddy get his feet wet here and go
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: out there and do himself and the rest will take
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: care of itself.
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: Same thing with both.
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: You know, we need those guys to go out and
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: have a huge year and then the rest will take
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: care of itself.
• 16:37
  Speaker 7: All right, The end of the season didn't go well,
• 16:40
  Speaker 7: then you had some coaches changes, all that stuff. How
• 16:43
  Speaker 7: did you handle that? Now that you look back on it,
• 16:45
  Speaker 7: You've had Christmas, in New Year's and some hopefully some time.
• 16:49
  Speaker 7: People need to know managers are very busy. They're on
• 16:52
  Speaker 7: zoom calls and flights for people that are signed. How
• 16:56
  Speaker 7: did you looking back on those weeks, the end of
• 16:59
  Speaker 7: the season, through the play off, the coaching changes, how
• 17:02
  Speaker 7: did you handle it? And how tough was it or
• 17:05
  Speaker 7: did you know it was tough in the moment and
• 17:07
  Speaker 7: then when you're looking back on it, Ah, you know what,
• 17:09
  Speaker 7: I handled it as well as I could.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, look, I'm not gonna lie.
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: They were probably the toughest days of my professional career,
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: whether it.
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: Was a player, coach, manager at any level. You know,
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: because you developed this relationship with these coaches. You know,
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: we work together for a couple.
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: Of years, and you know, when you know, you know
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: you're gonna have to make some tough decisions. And man,
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: I'm telling you, you know, not only get close with them,
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: because you spend so much time with them. You know,
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: you spend more time with them than what you do
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: with your family. They become your family. And when you're
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: making those phone calls, uh, it just breaks your breaks
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: your heart, you know, but it's the business. Obviously everybody understands. Uh.
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: But to answer that question, Pratzy, very difficult few days,
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: a few weeks to be on this with you to
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: kind of get over the hump. But I'm happy that
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: pretty much all of them found home, which I'm not
• 18:07
  Speaker 4: surprised because again, not only they were really good coaches,
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: they were great people. But we need to make some
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: tough decisions.
• 18:15
  Speaker 6: Talk about your starting rotation pitching wise, if everybody's healthy,
• 18:19
  Speaker 6: you know, Singer coming back from his injury, do you
• 18:22
  Speaker 6: see a six man rotation through this?
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: I feel like Sanger, you know, I'm not a manager. Yeah,
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: it's tough, but don't go there to man. I don't know.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: I feel like.
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: Like here's doing me a topic with Kode. I. Well,
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: you guys gonna go five man, you guys gonna go
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: six man.
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: I remember last year when we were rolling right and
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: all of these starters were throwing the ball extremely well,
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: and somebody asked me, hey, you got Manaya coming back.
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: You got Frankie Montez coming back. That same day goes down.
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: Three days later, I think Griffin Canning blows hiss Achilles.
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: Then Tyler mcgeel goes down.
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: Here we are now, you know now a days aygo,
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: people were asking me what do you guys want to
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: do with ten starters?
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: And now we're down like two of them. Oh, and
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: here you are now to ask me.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: I'm saying it now, so the injuries are done. Now,
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: we'll do it now.
• 19:16
  Speaker 6: So when the season comes, the question was already yes,
• 19:19
  Speaker 6: so nobody's gonna get injured.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: You're good.
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: I'll blame you well, but.
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: You know, the goal obviously is to keep these guys
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: healthy and then hopefully we're making those tough decisions and
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: you know, whether off days, how many you know, do
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: you want to go six, man, you just gotta wait,
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: so wait and see.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 19:42
  Speaker 7: Do you feel like do you feel like Stearns and
• 19:45
  Speaker 7: Stevie Cohen are done? Do you feel like if you
• 19:49
  Speaker 7: added another starting pitcher? This is this is always a
• 19:51
  Speaker 7: touchy subject for me when you're on a roster, you're
• 19:53
  Speaker 7: the manager. If I say yes, we want another starting pitcher,
• 19:57
  Speaker 7: then it sounds like, well, which of these six is it? Me?
• 20:01
  Speaker 7: It's important at me, Mandy doesn't like me. I understand
• 20:04
  Speaker 7: that part of it is there a Is there a
• 20:08
  Speaker 7: world where you guys continue to talk about adding a
• 20:11
  Speaker 7: big frontline starter that you can continue to add in
• 20:17
  Speaker 7: and add to this ten man rotation that you had
• 20:22
  Speaker 7: last year and now this this year you're starting with
• 20:25
  Speaker 7: a few less. Yeah.
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: I mean, look, man, I know Davey is going to
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: continue to stay active with Stevie, like you just ask
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: the manager.
• 20:36
  Speaker 5: You appreciate having an owner you know and Steven Alex
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: that are.
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: Willing to put all the resources right. That's a really
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: good feeling. So for me to sit here and say, ah,
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: I don't know. I know we will continue to be active.
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: I know David will continue to look for ways to
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: continue to improve our roster. But we do feel really
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: good with where we are as a team, you know,
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: from the pitch inside, from the position players side, the
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: death or minor league system, like, we feel really good
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: where we're headed as an organization.
• 21:09
  Speaker 7: All right, No one wan claim. You know he's gonna
• 21:12
  Speaker 7: be pitching in some kind of big games at the
• 21:13
  Speaker 7: beginning of the season. How nervous does that make your hand?
• 21:16
  Speaker 7: Does it make your hands sweat? Does that make your
• 21:19
  Speaker 7: that he's going to play for WBC? Yes?
• 21:22
  Speaker 8: And no.
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: Again, you know, it could happen anyway, you know, whether
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: it's in the WBC, you know, but you hate to
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: just even think about. But for them to go through
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: that type of experience, you know, I had the opportunity
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: to be with Team Venezuela the.
• 21:39
  Speaker 10: Past WBC, and what an experience, you know, Like for me,
• 21:43
  Speaker 10: the fact that he's going to be able to experience
• 21:46
  Speaker 10: that play with it against some of the best players
• 21:49
  Speaker 10: in the world in that type of environment, those settings,
• 21:53
  Speaker 10: is just going to continue to help his development.
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: So I'm excited about it, and I know he is
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: super he's getting ready, he's ready, he's getting after and
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: I'm just looking forward to watching pitch.
• 22:07
  Speaker 7: All right, last one for me. I've already had a
• 22:09
  Speaker 7: lot of them, Mendy, So I used up all my
• 22:10
  Speaker 7: questions and I need to put another quarter in the system.
• 22:13
  Speaker 7: Your ABS, your ABS strategy. I know you've thought about
• 22:17
  Speaker 7: it because you're constantly thinking about stuff like this. How
• 22:21
  Speaker 7: are you going to deploy it? And is there going
• 22:24
  Speaker 7: to be an onus on who has a little bit
• 22:27
  Speaker 7: more leeway than other people? And will you slap somebody
• 22:32
  Speaker 7: that's hitting ninth on the wrist for a bad challenge
• 22:35
  Speaker 7: When Juan Soda comes up in the ninth and doesn't
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: have a challenge, Yeah.
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: I think he's just creating that awareness, you know. I
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: think people are making way too much out of it.
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: The strategy part of this. At the end of the day,
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: they got to hit. They gotta go be a hit.
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: You know, that's hard to do. You guys know what
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: ta CRAF team like, He's hard. Like the last thing
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: I won from them is like thinking where this is
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: a high leverage, a media leverage, like go ahead, you know,
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: and then we'll add jus like I said, it will
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: be fluid.
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna tell no not to challenge on the first inning.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: He knows his spikes so better than anybody.
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: If he knows a ball, he's gonna challenge regardless of
• 23:16
  Speaker 4: the leverage of the game, right, But I think we're
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: just gonna let it play out, uh, and then make
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: some adjustments us we move forward here.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: Hey, last one from me, Mandy Carson Bench, so a
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: name that we're learning more about even during the offseason,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: because it sounds like he could be a part of
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: the mix early in the season if things go right
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: for him in spring training. It doesn't hurt that he's
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: already down in Port Saint Lucy, which we heard about.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: So what are the chances that we see him early
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: on cracking the team, maybe out of camp if he
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: has a big spring training.
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and he is going to get an opportunity to
• 23:52
  Speaker 4: make the team.
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: He's Uh, he's got a legit chance to do it.
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: And like you mentioned, credit to him, he's already worked
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: out in Ports On Lucy, uh, and he's planning on
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: staying there until officially he has to report. So we
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: got a lot of our coaches already working with him.
• 24:10
  Speaker 4: But again, I'm excited, Uh, and he's going to get
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: an opportunity to make make the ball club.
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: Auto Swing training I love it all right, Well, good stuff.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: It's great to catch up, especially after a week like this, right,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: you know, we we like to chat with you here
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: and there and figure out the time they're going to do.
• 24:27
  Speaker 4: We didn't catch up right after the winter meetings when
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: we we both be us and uh we tried.
• 24:33
  Speaker 7: We tried. We like try, just like Stern.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: Said, wait, patience, patience.
• 24:39
  Speaker 7: Patience yet Mandy, Mandy, last one. Now, somebody that gets me.
• 24:45
  Speaker 7: I get ripped very heavily on Twitter by Mets fans,
• 24:50
  Speaker 7: by Yankee whoever I'm talking about at the time. They're
• 24:52
  Speaker 7: one of the things they always say, besides the fact
• 24:54
  Speaker 7: that I sucked as a player, you buffoon. Turn your
• 24:57
  Speaker 7: hat around. So when people get get on you, they're
• 25:01
  Speaker 7: gonna be like, oh, what's our manager having his hat
• 25:03
  Speaker 7: backwards for? So just know there's some visceral hate coming
• 25:07
  Speaker 7: your way. Okay. I hope you have the broad shoulders
• 25:09
  Speaker 7: to be able to handle that.
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: All right, Yeah, live your life.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, touch some grass to whoever's concerned about the way
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: that you're wearing your hat. On January twenty third, I
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: think everyone's good there.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: It is good stuff.
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah, nice, nice. I'm getting gready to go to the
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: ballfield with my boys.
• 25:30
  Speaker 7: So love that. That's right, love that for them.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: This is a backwards hat show. We're gonna be with
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: Ken Griffy Junior. I think a little bit tomorrow too,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: and I think he he says that backwards hats are
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: just okay with everyone. So I'll take his blessing and
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: anyone would take his career. Mendy, good stuff. Great to
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: catch up. Appreciate the time, fun times. Right now, we'll
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: see it. We're booking our day actually right now with
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: Matt's pr so we'll see in spring training.
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: All right, good seeing you guys.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: You too, cheers. That's Carlos Mendoza, New York Mets manager
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: on Foul Territory. We also have our Mets show, Mets Up,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: part of the FT network. Of course they talk and
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: they're talking all about the big week. We had a
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: lot of fans commenting the last few days like, hey,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: we're getting a ton of Mets coverage on FT right now,
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: Yes we are. Have you seen what they're up to?
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: So with Meryfield is a little part of the FT fan.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: He's hosted the show here before and he spoke the
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: other day about Bobaschet's relationship with the Blue Jays. This
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: is coming straight from our boy Witt, who is a
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: straight shooter. He said, I know for a fact Bo
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: loves Toronto, loves the Jays, loves the city, loves the
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: fans there. I also know that there was some stuff
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: along the way that happened with Bo and the coaching staff,
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: so he thinks that there was a little bit of
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: a strained relationship with the front office. He said, there
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: was some stuff that went on with Bo and the
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Jays as far as the front office and coaching staff
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: that maybe tainted that relationship a little bit. We didn't
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: further details. I don't know if we ever will. Bo
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: is not one to do a ton of interviews like
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: the in depth staff, right, It'll be on the field
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: doing It's not like he's not accessible, but he's not
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: a big, big talker.
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: I don't think it would have much here. Yeah, I
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: mean that's true.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: You guys know, you guys both played in New York.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: You know Bo is gonna get a lot more attention
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: from the media. He's not the only one. But yeah,
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: in Queens you're gonna get tons. So what do you
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: think here? And I guess we should start here. The
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: Blue Jays didn't seem like they were fully in on
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: pursuing him. Bo mentioned how they were conversations. I mean,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: crats just because you're on every day you can start.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Ken's been on this show twice a week and then
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: on Fair Territory twice a week since we started, right,
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: Ken said every time we'd ask him in the off season,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: I don't think the Blue Jays are in on him.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: Ken was right.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: They I mean, sure, conversation, parameters of a deal, whatever,
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: but it didn't seem like they were in the running
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: to a serious extent for a guy that played really
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: well there for a while. Do you think that there's
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: any connection with what Wit said and why that happened.
• 28:14
  Speaker 7: I mean, I think I think what Witt said is
• 28:16
  Speaker 7: spot on, because I don't see why Witt would say
• 28:18
  Speaker 7: something that like he's not just gonna come out and
• 28:20
  Speaker 7: say something that is not true just to get some clicks,
• 28:26
  Speaker 7: like that's not how, that's not how. That's very few
• 28:29
  Speaker 7: player ex players are gonna play in the media like
• 28:32
  Speaker 7: it's just a straight shooter and he knows from experience,
• 28:35
  Speaker 7: and he was he was trying to be a little
• 28:37
  Speaker 7: measured about how he said it, So you know there
• 28:39
  Speaker 7: was something there. But just look at the look at
• 28:42
  Speaker 7: the situation. Look how everything went down. Bow and Vladdie
• 28:45
  Speaker 7: and Calvin Biggio all came up. Calvin Bigio was you know,
• 28:51
  Speaker 7: didn't didn't pan out the way that Bow and Vladdie did.
• 28:54
  Speaker 7: And so then it's Bow and Vlattie up there and
• 28:56
  Speaker 7: they're you know, they're both having good careers. Even some
• 29:00
  Speaker 7: would say Bo. A few Bo's years, he was a
• 29:04
  Speaker 7: little more consistent. Then all of a sudden he fell
• 29:07
  Speaker 7: off the two years ago, not this past season, but
• 29:10
  Speaker 7: two years ago. Was he playing through injuries? Was you know,
• 29:13
  Speaker 7: was that part of it? No idea, But you see
• 29:17
  Speaker 7: Vladdy gets the extension. There could be some hard feelings
• 29:21
  Speaker 7: if you both were like the golden child, the next
• 29:24
  Speaker 7: era of Blue Jay baseball. And maybe Vladdie doesn't get
• 29:29
  Speaker 7: maybe Laddy gets a little bit more extension talks, because
• 29:32
  Speaker 7: you know they talk. It's not like Laddy's like, nope,
• 29:35
  Speaker 7: haven't heard anything, and then bang extension talk. And at
• 29:38
  Speaker 7: some point does that mean Bo never got extension talks?
• 29:43
  Speaker 7: Does that mean during his injury season, maybe they could
• 29:46
  Speaker 7: have come to him with a Bobo extension that they're like, well,
• 29:52
  Speaker 7: we think this is fair. You're not having a great year,
• 29:54
  Speaker 7: and he's like, wh what, I've been there. There's a
• 29:57
  Speaker 7: lot of positives about being in one organization, one play
• 30:00
  Speaker 7: for a long time. There's also negatives because when you
• 30:03
  Speaker 7: hurt somebody's feelings, whether it's through not calling them up
• 30:07
  Speaker 7: when you think they should be called up, whether it's
• 30:10
  Speaker 7: through the arbitration process. Players remember that stuff, and how
• 30:16
  Speaker 7: you're treated in families, how you're treated compared to the
• 30:18
  Speaker 7: other stars or people around you. It's it all goes
• 30:23
  Speaker 7: into it and where that is until Bo comes out
• 30:26
  Speaker 7: and says something we don't really.
• 30:27
  Speaker 6: Know and we might not know, like Scott said, And
• 30:30
  Speaker 6: I think that's you know, I don't think it's an issue.
• 30:33
  Speaker 6: I mean, I would love to hear, you know, what
• 30:35
  Speaker 6: ensued and all that stuff, but I don't think that's
• 30:38
  Speaker 6: for Wit and Merrifield to come out and say.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: But yeah, maybe there was friction. Maybe there was.
• 30:43
  Speaker 6: An instance in an example, something happened that really went
• 30:47
  Speaker 6: to Bow and Bo was inside He's like, man, I'll
• 30:49
  Speaker 6: never forget this. And they didn't come to a conclusion
• 30:51
  Speaker 6: about it. He just went about his every day. The
• 30:54
  Speaker 6: dude came back from injury when he was as posed to.
• 30:56
  Speaker 6: He went out hit a big three run. Homer made
• 30:58
  Speaker 6: some plays didn't look the same, but he was a factor.
• 31:02
  Speaker 6: This guy is a factor. He's going to be a
• 31:04
  Speaker 6: factor playing this game until he's done playing.
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: He's a stud. He comes from family lore and kind
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: of move on. But yes, yeah, there's there's probably something
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: to it.
• 31:16
  Speaker 6: But you know, short and spring training, those questions will
• 31:19
  Speaker 6: come up again and sweeping on the rug and they'll
• 31:21
  Speaker 6: move on from what happened last year.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we never really heard, Oh, the Jays are throwing
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: a big number at bow and he's turning it down.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: We didn't get the report like we did the other day. Hey,
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: the Reds are trying to throw a bunch of money
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: at Elie de la Cruz.
• 31:37
  Speaker 7: We never heard that.
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, That'salonzo. Like we knew that, we didn't hear.
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: We didn't hear anything really about.
• 31:43
  Speaker 7: That, And that hurts. That hurts as a player, That hurts,
• 31:45
  Speaker 7: especially when you know what you've done.
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: In your career, what you've done for that organization.
• 31:49
  Speaker 7: There's only one way of knowing your true value to
• 31:51
  Speaker 7: an organization or to major League Baseball. And that's cage. Yeah,
• 31:56
  Speaker 7: somebody's pushing cash at you. They think you're a good player.
• 31:59
  Speaker 7: It's not just because you got a cool smile.
• 32:01
  Speaker 6: The one that hurt me with the Yankees after the
• 32:02
  Speaker 6: year never, I never got an off or anything I knew,
• 32:05
  Speaker 6: And after seventeen, yeah, I was like, that was the
• 32:08
  Speaker 6: one team. I'm like, please make me an offer. I'll
• 32:11
  Speaker 6: probably take it. Even if it was undervalue, I probably
• 32:14
  Speaker 6: wouldn't taken it.
• 32:15
  Speaker 7: They had a lot of turnover that year, so there
• 32:16
  Speaker 7: was a lot going on. It wasn't just you that
• 32:18
  Speaker 7: they you know, they didn't didn't resign. I got I
• 32:22
  Speaker 7: got resigned by the Yankees. But but I'm you're just saying.
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: Your nickname back in the day was mister turnover. Yeah
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: it was yeah in basketball?
• 32:30
  Speaker 7: From basketball, Yeah, definitely definitely.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: There you go, m No, that hurts. Yeah, I mean right,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: you play your whole career for a squad. He's been
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: in the organization for what a decade now if you
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: include the minor leagues, and then you're like, hey, are
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: you gonna seriously chat here?
• 32:46
  Speaker 7: No? What about me?
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: What about us? What about all you?
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: Never?
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: After two for two today?
• 32:55
  Speaker 6: Stay hot, I've got a hip hop competition later.
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: What I'm trying to