Latest / Rice on the Radio / New York Baseball After the Knicks Parade: Yankees Hope, Mets Disaster, and What Comes Next

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New York Baseball After the Knicks Parade: Yankees Hope, Mets Disaster, and What Comes Next · Rice on the Radio

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: I guess there's only one way to find out.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do it to it, right?
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's been a while since we touched on some major league baseball.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a while since we touched on anything but the Knicks, to be honest with you.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: So long, in fact, that the last time we really sat down and talked about Yankees and Mets, the city was still waiting for somebody to bring home a championship.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then the Knicks went ahead and did the damn thing.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: So, yes, New York got the parade.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: New York got the moment.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: New York got to wake up for a few days and walk around like, oh, right.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: This is what uh this is what happiness feels like when one of our teams actually finishes the damn job.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm still very much in that mode, by the way.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still coming down from it.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still watching clips, I'm still seeing Jalen Brunson highlights and smiling like a big idiot.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still not fully ready to accept that the Knicks winning the championship is now a real sentence and it's done and over, and I gotta wait till November for the season to start again.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: But baseball did what baseball always does.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: It waited about 30 seconds and then said, Hey, congratulations on the parade.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now, now I want you to come look at this rib injury and this Mets rotation.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: Because that's where we are.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: The Knicks gave New York the X HL.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: The Yankees and Mets are giving New York the summer reality check.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: And the weird feeling is because I do think this is still going to be a great summer in the city.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: It almost it almost has to be because the Knicks won the title.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: The pressure of somebody, somebody please bring New York a championship, it's gone for a little bit.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: The city can breathe a tiny bit.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: Not all the way.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is New York sports here.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: We don't do peace, we do traffic, we do sports radio, and we convince ourselves that our backup catcher has a championship level swing.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: But the city can breathe a little bit.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: Doesn't exactly mean that Yankee fans get to relax, and it damn sure doesn't mean that Mets fans get to relax.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Because on the Yankee side, we gotta talk about the elephant in the room.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Judge is hurt.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: And any Yankee conversation that does not start there is lying to you.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: The Yankees are still good, they are still dangerous, they still have a roster that can do real things, but Judge being out changes the feel of everything.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: So today, we're getting into how they handled the first real stress tests.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Ben Rice, Camp Schlittler, veteran leadership with uh Goldschmidt and Bellinger and Cole coming back.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: And then some deadline questions.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Because I know people want bats.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: I know the poll was split, but I still think the Yankees' biggest need is a bullpen arm that they can trust when the season gets tight.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then we have the Mets.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: And look, I'm gonna try to be fair.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not promising gentle, but I'll be fair.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: Because the Mets do have a few real things like Soto, Benj, Ewing, McLean, Scott, even maybe have shown some flashes.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Lindor coming back is not nothing.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: But let's let's call it what it is here.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: This rotation is a disaster.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Not a small problem, not a rough patch, a disaster.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: And at some point, David Stearns does not get to keep walking up to a microphone, telling everybody there is still time and acting like the fans are supposed to ignore what they've watching every single night.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: The honeymoon is over.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: This was supposed to be Cohen's guy.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: This was supposed to be the smart build.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: This was supposed to be the Brewers' efficiency with the Mets' money.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: Instead, the Brewers kept rolling, and the Mets look like they took the process, but none of the results.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: So, with that, we're talking Yankees hope.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking Mets chaos, we're talking deadline decisions, and we're talking about the new standard in New York because the Knicks already did their job.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Now baseball gets judged against that.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: Guess there's only one way to find out.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get into it.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Extra, extra, keep the light blow.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: New York talking with the late nights go.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: From the garden glow to the stadium state.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Dev win, every loss, every what does it mean?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Right on the radio, coming through your speakers, big ticks, box dudes, heartbreaks, believers, match gangs, death giants, next on the ride.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Pull up a chair, let the whole city decide.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: No feet, all answers, no sitting on the fence.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Just wheel talk, live laps to making it make sense.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Clocks running down, lights, hit the mic, right on the radio.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do it to it tonight.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, all right.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back in.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Rice on the radio, episode 75.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Been a while since we touched Major League Baseball.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: So long, in fact, that we have to start with the elephant in the room.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: There are other Yankee stories, not just ones about blowpops.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: There are good Yankee stories.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: Ben Rice is a real story.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Cam Schlittler is an absolutely real story.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: Goldschmidt and Bellinger have given this team a layer of veteran stability.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Cole is back.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: The deadline conversation is sitting right there.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: But any Yankee conversation right now that does not start with Judge is trying to be cute.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't want to be cute with it.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Judge being out changes the entire feel of the Yankees.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: Not because the Yankees suddenly stink, they don't.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Not because the season is falling apart.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: It isn't.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: But Judge is the ceiling.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Judges the gravity.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Judge is the guy who changes how pitchers attack the lineup, how the crowd feels, how every game is framed, and how every other hitter gets treated.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: When Judge is in the lineup, everybody else gets to breathe a little bit differently.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: And when he's not, you find out who is comfortable being uncomfortable.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: And to the Yankees' credit, for a while there, they handled it really well.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: They won games, they scored runs, they beat up on bad teams, they found production in different places.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: They had a stretch where it felt like, alright, you know, maybe the June swoon never is going to come this year.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then baseball did the baseball thing, like it always does.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: They lose four or five.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Cole gets roughed up in Detroit.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: The offense is a couple of those games where you're staring at the screen like anybody, anybody want to get a hit with men on base today?
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: And suddenly, suddenly the June swoon is standing outside the window, knocking on the glass again.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: So, no, look, I'm not sitting here saying panic.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: The Yankees are still good.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: They still have the best record in the American League.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: They have a real rotation.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: They have plenty of power.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: They still have enough to survive this.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: But surviving and being dangerous are two completely different conversations.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: And that is why Judge's stretch is so important here.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: This is not just about the standings.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: This is about finding out what kind of team they are when the biggest presence in the sport is not standing in the middle of their lineup.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: And that brings me to Ben Rice.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: Shout out Rice on the mics.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: Look, Ben Rice is not Aaron Judge, right?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody is Aaron Judge.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Please do not do the thing where a guy gets hot and suddenly we start forcing him into impossible comparisons.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's not fair to anybody.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: But Ben Rice has been exactly what the Yankees needed him to be.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: He has not looked overwhelmed.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: He has not looked like a young player trying to borrow confidence from the veterans around him.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: He looks like a guy who understands there is more weight on him now and he's not running from it.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: That is a big deal.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's one thing to hit when the whole lineup is humming and judge is standing right behind him, scaring the life out of every pitcher on the mound.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: But it's another thing to hit when the captain is out.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the lineup feels different.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: The fans are starting to look around the room for somebody to grab the wheel.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'll tell you what, Rice has grabbed a little bit of the wheel here.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: And the all-star conversation around him is not some cute Yankee fan overreaction now.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: The numbers are real.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: The power is real.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: The presence is starting to feel real.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: He has turned himself into one of the better breakout stories in the league.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: The important part for me is not to just focus on the homers.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's the way he looks like he belongs in the conversation.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, some guys produce and they still feel temporary, I guess, right?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like the league is going to catch up, the role is going to shrink, and you know, eventually everybody will remember why they were supposed to be the side character to start.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Rice doesn't feel like that right now, man.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: He feels like he's moving from a nice young bat to a real piece in this lineup.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: And for the Yankees, that's enormous.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: They need homegrown answers.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: They need young guys who don't just exist as trade ships.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: They need players who can grow into October roles instead of always having to go buy them in July, buy the solution in July.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Look, Judge being hurt is terrible.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: But it has forced the Yankees to find out who can handle real pressure.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: And Ben Rice is handling it.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: And the other guy that's handling it on the mound, Cam Schlitzer.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he's not just some cute story anymore.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to talk about him like he's some fun little surprise.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: He is past that.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: This guy looks like a grown man on the mound.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: He's big, strong, confident.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: He attacks hitters, and he's pitching like he already knows he belongs in the biggest spots.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: That 13 strikeout start against Cincinnati was not just like a good start.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: That was a statement piece.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: That was one of those starts where you watch it and go, all right, this is different, man.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: We got something here.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the fastball has life, the stuff plays, the body language, the confidence.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: I know this is a heavy comp, so don't twist it into me saying that they're the same pitcher.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: But honestly, he gives me young Garrett Cole vibes.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: Look, not the exact style, not the career path, but the presence he brings, the way he conducts himself, the feeling of this dude is not just trying to survive the inning.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: He's trying to take your lunch money and ask why you brought extra change.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: If you are a Yankees fan, this is the dream.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: You have a young power arm blossoming while surrounded by real pitching adults.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: Cole is there to teach him, Rodan is there to teach him, Freed is there to teach him.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: The staff is deep, the infrastructure is strong.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: The expectations are massive.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: If you want a young starter to become a top-of-the-rotation monster, this is the kind of environment where it can happen.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: And right now, if we're talking American League Cy Young race, Cam is the leader in the room.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe people outside New York are still catching up to it, but watch the games.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Watch the stuff.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Watch the way hitters react when he has it going.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: This is not smoke and mirrors.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: This is not a nice story.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: This is a homegrown frontline pitching kid.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: And this is why the Yankees are in such an interesting place.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: Judge is hurt, which is obviously the biggest concern.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, they're getting answers from places that can change the whole shape of the season.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Rice looks like a real middle-of-the-order bat.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Schlitter looks like a real weapon.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then around them, you have the veteran lair.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: Goldschmidt still has some gas in the tank.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I know everybody loves to declare older players dead and the second they have a rough year or two, but Goldschmidt has been one of the steadier parts of this Yankee season.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: He's been asked to fill a role that he didn't expect to fill, and he's given you professional at bats.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: He gives you power when needed.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: He gives you a presence that does not feel sped up by the moment, which is exactly why they got him.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: That stuff matters in a long season.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: And Cody Bellinger has been the signing that he was supposed to be.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's the same kind of thing, just in a little bit of a different package.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he gives you unbelievable defense.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: He gives you solid at-bats.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: He gives you flexibility anywhere you need him.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: And he gives you that veteran presence of, you know, I've been around long enough to know what this is supposed to look like.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: Now you got Garrett Cole coming back, and that gives another adult in the room.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Now, look, let's be fair here.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Cole has not exactly been perfect.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: That Detroit star was rough and, you know, is what it is.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: He's had some June wobble.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm not going to sit here and pretend he's peak Cy Young Cole just because of his name in the box score, but he is coming off a major arm surgery, and he is still a bulldog that will give you six innings, six and a third no matter what.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: So even an imperfect Cole changes the temperature.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the credibility, the just the presence of a guy who takes the ball in every kind of environment.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: He gives you someone who knows what October baseball feels like and what New York pressure feels like and knows what it means when the whole building is expecting excellence.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: This is where the Yankees separate themselves from the Mets.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: The Yankees, well the Yankees have problems, but you can see the structure.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: Judges hurt, sure, but Rice is stepping up.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: Cole has been perfect, but Schlittler is exploding.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: The lineup has wobbles here and there, but Goldschmidt and Bellinger give you the professionalism to carry it on.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: There are concerns, but at least there's answers in the room.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: And that brings us to the deadline for the Yankees.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I put the poll out there, and if you're new here, every Wednesday on Instagram, I put out the Wednesday Mic Check, a little pulse of the people, see what everybody's feeling out there.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure you go follow and vote.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: But the poll that I put out was uh Yankees' biggest biggest deadline need bat or bullpen?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Real simple.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: And it came back 50-50.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: I get it, man.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: I really do.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: When judge is hurt, your brain immediately goes to bat.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: We need a bat.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, how could it not?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: You lose Aaron Judge, and the first instinct is okay, how do we replace him?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: But I really think this the answer is still bullpen.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, bat becomes urgent if judge's timeline gets scary.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: If this thing drags on, if the updates get worse, if we start playing that, he's close, but not super close game, and you know, all that rigumer roll.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, then you might have to look at the lineup a little bit differently.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: But bullpen help is necessary no matter what.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: The Yankees do not need a panic by some homer or nothing bat just so Brian Cashman can hold up a receipt and say, See, I did offense.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: Look at this.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: They do not need to chase a giant starting pitching splash unless something absurd falls into their lap.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: No, what they need is a no-doubt late inning arm.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: A real one.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Not a seventh inning theory, not a guy you talk yourself into because his expected numbers look better than his actual numbers.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: A real late inning arm.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Someone who shortens the game, someone who gives Aaron Boone one less chance to start mixing chemicals in October.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: Because that's where the Yankee season usually gets decided, to be honest with you.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: Not in June when they're beating up on the White Sox, not on a random Tuesday where the lineup scores 12.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: No, it gets decided when the game is 3-2 in the seventh inning in October, and everybody in the building knows that the next pitching move can swing the entire season.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's why if I'm a Yankee fan, I want a bullpen arm.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: And yes, it is gonna cost you.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody wants bullpen help.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: Every contender thinks it needs just one more guy, one more lefty coming out of the pen.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: That makes the market get stupid.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: The price goes up, and suddenly you're talking to yourself into giving away a prospect you swore was untouchable three weeks ago.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: But if the Yankees are serious, which they should be, that's the move.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: You don't mortgage everything, you don't get reckless.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: But if you find the right arm, the guy you actually trust, the guy who makes October feel less like a high wire act, you can't be afraid to pay the price.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody cries about the prospect rankings at the parade.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that's that's where the Yankees are right now.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: They're still good, they're still dangerous, still very much alive, but they're being tested.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: The Yankees can look at the Knicks and say, alright, maybe we're next.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Not because they're perfect, not because the path is clean, but because they're pointed towards something real.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: And that is where the Yankee conversation turns into the Met conversation.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because the Yankees, as they're trying to sharpen a contender, the Mets the Mets are trying to figure out what the hell they even are at this point.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't want to do the lazy thing here where it's just laughing at them for being the Mets.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's boring and that's easy, and I've done that countless times.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: Also, it misses the actual problem.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: The problem is not just LOL Mets.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: The problem is that this team was supposed to be past this.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Steve Cohen spent the money.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: David Stearns was supposed to be the guy.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: The roster was supposed to be smarter.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: The organization was supposed to be more stable.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: The Mets were supposed to stop feeling like a team held together by tape, vibes, and one random hot week every month.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: And yet here we are.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: 34 and 43, buried in the division, seven out of a wild card, a team that keeps giving you one little reason to breathe, and then immediately takes the air back.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's what makes this so exhausting.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: They sweep the Marlins and you go, okay, all right, Marlins, maybe, you know, whatever.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: Then they crash.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: Then they take a series from the Braves.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: The Braves.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: And you go, all right, yeah, there's still a pulse, man.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: They just beat up on the Braves.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then they look helpless.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Bichette heats up, Soto gets hot, McLean gives you a real start.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: Benjamin Ewing flash a little bit.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: Lindor starts getting closer to coming back.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Start getting a little riled up.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then the rotation walks in wearing clown shoes and kicks the door off the hinges.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the Philly series was not the whole story, but it was the latest receipt.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: Harper hits for the cycle, never done it in his career, and then almost does it again the second night.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Schwarber hits three home runs, two of them might still be in the air.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: Peralta gets obliterated, puts up a triple-double of 10 runs, 10 hits, 10 to earn runs.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: Peterson gets knocked around the next night, and it it feels less like one awful weekend and more like the universe putting the Mets season into a highlight package.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the Mets don't just lose momentum, they lose it violently.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: And the main reason is the rotation.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: That is the center of this whole thing.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: The Mets franchise, since the beginning of time, has made the most sense when they could pitch.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: That is the DNA of the New York Metropolitans.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: Even when the lineup was weird, even when the offense was streaky, when the team had flaws all over the place, when the Mets were good, or at least when they were believable, it usually started with the arms.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: Seaver, Gooden, Darling, Cone, Leiter, Hampton, Santana, Harvey, DeGrom, Syndegaard, Wheeler before they let him become a Phillies problem.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I can go on and on and on.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: The best versions of this franchise have almost always had pitching as the backbone.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: And this team, this team has no backbone right now.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: The bats are frustrating, yes.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: They should be better on paper.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: There is enough offense to score some runs.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: Soto, Lindor, Bachet, Alvarez, Ben, Jewing, Vientos, Beatty, Simeon, whatever combination you want to throw together, there should be enough talent to give the starters some support.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: They're not performing like it consistently, but on paper, the batch should be good enough.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: The rotation is not.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: The rotation is knock them down, drag them out, disastrous.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Fredd Peralta was supposed to come over and be the stabilizer.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe not a true ace, but a 1B at the minimum.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the guy behind the guy, the dude who gives the whole thing some shape here.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: Instead, he's barely a 1B.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: And the only reason you even call him that in the first place is because everybody else in the rotation is pitching like a Z.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: Look, it's not all on Peralta.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: Sangha has been a mystery box, the stuff is there, but the command disappears, the innings spiral, and every start feels like you're waiting for the floor to just drop out from underneath him.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: Peterson has been rough.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: Clay Holmes getting hurt was a huge blow.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: He was killing it, I guess.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: He was doing damn good.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'll give him that.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, Scott and McLean have shown some real flashes, and I like both of them, but they're killing.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: They should be part of the future.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: They should be part of developing into something.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: They should not be asked to carry the adult weight of a rotation.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: The front office failed to build correctly.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's the failure.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, the offense has disappointed.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: The rotation, though, the rotation has sunk the season.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: And when the rotation sinks the season, that takes us directly to David Stearns.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: The honeymoon is over, man.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how else to say it.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: The David Stearns honeymoon is over.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: This was supposed to be Cohen's guy.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: This was the guy that Cohen waited for.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: The guy who was supposed to bring Milwaukee's brain to New York's budget.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: The guy who was supposed to make the Mets smarter, deeper, more sustainable, less chaotic.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Instead, he left and the Brewers kept rolling on without him, and the Mets looked like they took the process, but none of the results.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, at some point we have to ask if David Cern's myth was bigger than what he was actually done here.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean he's an idiot.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean that he forgot baseball.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: But this is New York, man.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: This is the Mets with the Steve Cohen wallet.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: You do not get graded on sounding reasonable in a press conference.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: You get graded on the team you put on the field.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: And the team he put on the field is broken.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, this feels like a small market caution with big market money.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's the thing that makes Mets fans crazy, man.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: If you're gonna spend like a monster, spend like a monster with a plan.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: If you're gonna be careful, then be careful.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: The careful moves have to actually make sense and work.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: You cannot be expensive and do patchwork at the same time.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: That is the worst of both worlds.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: And look, I know this might sound familiar because Yankee fans have lived a version of this with Brian Cashman.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Not the same resume, not the same track record, not the same rings, that's for sure.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying they're identical, but it's the same disease.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: Smart executives who start acting like the game owes them an apology.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like if they keep proving how clever they are, eventually reality will stop being rude and start cooperating with them.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Stearns keeps coming out and saying there is still time.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: The team has urgency, everybody's doing their jobs.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: They're going to evaluate it turn by turn, start by start.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: But fans are watching the games.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: You can't tell people there is urgency when the team doesn't play like it.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: You can't tell people the process is working when the process has produced one of the worst rotations in the league.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: You can't tell people to wait when the season has already slipped away.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, quote, we need to throw more strikes.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, yeah, that's true.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's also an indictment.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: You built this staff, man.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: You watched last year's rotation fall apart.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: You had to call up kids who were nowhere near ready.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: You knew pitching killed this team.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: You knew we needed real answers, and somehow here we are again, having the same conversation with different names and worse vibes.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: That is on Stearns.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Mendoza, Mendoza is not exactly clean either here.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: Look, do I think Carlos Mendoza is the main villain of the season?
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: You can only manage the roster you're given, right?
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: And this roster is a mess.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: He didn't build the rotation.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: He didn't create the injuries.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: He he's not the one who decided this collection of players was the right formula.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: But managers do not get to disappear when the team looks this flat.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: Look, he makes some bad moves sometimes.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: Something sometimes I scratch my head and go, what are you doing, dude?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: But every manager does.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: Some of his feel worse because the team is already walking on the ledge.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: And more than that, whatever message he's trying to send to them does not seem to be getting through.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe he's a good manager.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe he was better suited to a different version of this team.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe last year and the year before it gave him more room than this roster actually deserves.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: But this group, this group just does not seem to vibe.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of the cleanest way I can say it.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: The roster does not feel connected.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: The energy does not feel right.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: The response after bad losses does not inspire much confidence.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then what happens?
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, whether it's fair or not, the manager becomes part of the evaluation.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Stearns built the room.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: Mendoza, Mendoza has not gotten the room to make sense.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: And now you got Francisco Lindor coming back, which is good, but probably too little, too late, to be honest with you.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to sit up here and act like Lindor coming back means nothing.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that would be stupid.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Lindor changes the defense.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: He changes the lineup.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully, you hope that he changes the daily professionalism.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe he comes back hot.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe he gives him a little bit of a spark.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe he reminds everybody what the team was supposed to feel like when he and Soto and Bachete are actually in the same lineup while mixing in the kids.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: But one guy coming back does not erase 34 and 43.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: One guy coming back does not erase 14 games back in the division.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: One guy coming back does not erase seven games out of a wild card.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of right has to happen in a short amount of time.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Not a little bit of right.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: Not a hey, take two out of three every series and you know we're gonna start cooking.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: No, like a 12-game win streak has to happen.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: Lindor can make them better.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if he can make them alive.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's what makes the few bright spots feel complicated.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Soto is not the problem.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Soto is Soto.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: He is too good naturally to be bad for long.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: He's hitting around 300.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: He's got 17 homers, an OPS around 965, and he looks like the superstar he is billed as, even with missing some time.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: So the people who wanted to blame Soto early look ridiculous now.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think it was a loud crowd as is, but they were out there.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: The real Soto concern is not just is Soto good, of course he's good.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: The concern is what this team looks like around him and what that means going down the road.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that opt-out cloud exists.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: The salary cap or labor fight cloud exists.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: The Mets have ways to protect themselves if Soto wants to opt out, but it gets expensive.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: And the future in baseball is gonna get really weird pretty quick.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: Look, that's a bigger conversation for another day, but for right now, Soto is a reminder that the Mets still have something real.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: But they're failing the timeline around him.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, Benj and Ewing are real oxygen for this team, and Soto seems to have taken a shine to them and has kind of taken them under his wing in the outfield, which is great.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: Those two give you something to watch when the team is dragging you in the mud.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: Bench had that early trial by fire moment where the league punches back, and it looks like he has started to figure it out, which is great.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's what you want from a young player.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: Not perfection, just be able to adjust.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: You want to be able to find your place in the league.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: And Ewing, Ewing in center field looks like an absolute stud.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, at minimum, both of these guys should be high-level defensive players.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Ewing might win gold gloves out there for years if this develops if he keeps developing the right way.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: If the bats continue to come around, now you're talking about pieces that actually belong on the next iteration of the good Mets team.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's what Mets fans need right now.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: Not fake hope real pieces.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: And McLean and Scott fall into that category too, but pitching is uh pitching's a little bit of a different animal.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: I like both of them.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: I think there is something there with both of them.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: McLean has obviously shown you starts where you go, alright, man, this kid's good.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I think Scott has shown you enough to be part of the plan going forward, but pitching can go any direction.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: Young pitchers are hope and terror in the same uniform.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, one month you think you think you found the guy, and then the next month you're talking about command and workload and soreness and innings, mechanics, and then suddenly everybody's using the phrase precautionary MRI.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's never what you want to hear.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: So, I don't know.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, look, McLean and Scott are bright spots also, but they should not be asked to save this season.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: Bichette, Bichette is a little more complicated.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I would not call Bo a clean bright spot.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think he gives you hope, not exactly comfort.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: He he has this streaky thing, man.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he can go 0 for 13 and look completely lost, and then all of a sudden he rips off a week where he hits three homers, you know, collects like eight hits, drives in a bunch of runs, and you go, oh yeah, this guy's been an all-star.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: I forgot about that.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: This guy's a this guy's a damn good hitter.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that version helps.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: But the Mets need more than hot flashes for him, they need clarity.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: And that brings us to the deadline.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't think it needs to be too complicated.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think you sell hard.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: I hate to say it, and I was against it, and I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but the time has come.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta sell.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_01: But I think you sell for the soon.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: Not the now, you sell for the soon.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: That makes selling hard, I don't know.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_01: If you sell hard, you don't have to wave the white flag and disappear into the ocean.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it just means admitting this year probably is not the year.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: And you gotta make smart decisions that help the next real version of the Mets, hopefully next year.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, move the rentals, move the obvious pieces, listen on players who don't exactly fit the 2027.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: Get creative.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: There's a controllable player out there who might actually solve something long term.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, Matt Chapman's name has been thrown around a bunch, a real third baseman, a real adult infielder with a good bat.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a move that would be more about the next couple years than pretending this season is suddenly fixed.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: But even that comes with questions.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, would the Giants eat some money?
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: Would we have to eat money?
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: Do the Mets have what San Francisco wants?
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: Does it mean that you're basically giving up on Brett Beatty?
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: Is Chapman still good enough to be part of the next serious Mets team?
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: Or are you just buying a name because the current product is gross?
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's the line Stearns has to walk.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: Do not make moves just to make moves.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, last year the Mets got A's across the board at the deadline.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: Big bullpen pieces, a bat they thought they could that could contribute.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody praised them on paper.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then the moves blew up in their face.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: So this year, being active is not enough.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: Being clever is not enough.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: Winning the press conference is not enough.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: If you sell Peralta, and you probably should if this keeps going this way, you're already selling from a weaker position than you wanted.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's an expiring contract having an underwhelming year.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: If you were shoving and the Mets were dead, at least you could get, you know, a real haul.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: Instead, it's more like, hey, contenders, anybody want our uh disappointing fake ace before he leaves us?
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: Not exactly the cleanest sales pitch.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: So really, what it has to, what it has to come down to is the Mets have to be honest.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta sell for the soon.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: Stop lying to yourself about the now.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: Stop pretending the process is above criticism.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: When the process gave you this rotation, and this is really where the whole episode lands for me, man.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: The Knicks, oh God, thank God for the Knicks.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_01: The Knicks changed the city's mood, right?
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: They gave New York the parade, they gave New York the release, they gave this city proof that one of these teams can actually finish the job.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't think that's a small thing.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: The pressure of, quote, somebody please bring New York a championship is lifted a little bit.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's not gone forever, it's not magically cured, but lifted enough where the city can breathe.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: And yet, baseball is still baseball.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_01: The Yankees are good, but they're being tested.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: Judge is hurt, Rice and Schlichtler arising, the veterans are keeping the floor steady.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: The deadline.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: Deadline has to be handed like a contender trying to sharpen some, not just a team chasing headlines.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: And the Mets, man, the only way to put it is the Mets are a mess.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_01: Not exactly a hopeless Mets, even though they look like it.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: Kids have life when Door is coming back.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_01: The pieces are kind of there.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_01: But this rotation is a disaster.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's crushed the season.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: And David Stearns does not get to hide behind patience forever.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, after all that, I think that's I think that's a good place to leave it for baseball right now.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_01: As always, if you're rocking with the show, like, share, subscribe, leave a review, tell a friend, tell a cousin, tell the guy at the bar who keeps yelling about bullpen usage, like he's on the coaching staff.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_01: Follow along on the socials, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, all that good stuff.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's at Rice on the Radio.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate everybody listening.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate everybody tapping in.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I appreciate everybody who keeps this thing moving.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: As always, spread some good energy in this world.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_01: Cost nothing to be nice.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: And tell someone you love them.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_01: I am Ian Rice.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: This has been episode seventy-five of Rice on the Radio.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll catch you next time.
• 36:21
  unknown: Take care.