Latest / Foul Territory / Ken Rosenthal’s Inside Scoop: Mets crumble, AL WILD West, MLB = CIA?
Transcript
- 0:06Speaker 1: It's the inside scoop with that T senior insider Ken
- 0:08Speaker 1: Roseen dal Ken, what happened in that Mets Philly series?
- 0:11Speaker 1: You were just there?
- 0:12Speaker 2: What did you see? That was a crazy game last night.
- 0:16Speaker 2: And for those who didn't see it, the Mets scored
- 0:19Speaker 2: four runs in the first inning and then Hazus Lozardo
- 0:23Speaker 2: retire excuse me, twenty two in a row. So that
- 0:27Speaker 2: was the first time in Major League history that had
- 0:29Speaker 2: ever happened that a team did not get a base
- 0:32Speaker 2: runner after scoring four runs in the first inning. Lozarto
- 0:36Speaker 2: was brilliant, There's no question about that, and that was
- 0:38Speaker 2: the reason for it. But the Mets whole season has
- 0:42Speaker 2: been so curious. Forty five and twenty four. On June twelfth,
- 0:46Speaker 2: thirty one and forty seventh cent they had the best
- 0:48Speaker 2: record of the majors. On June twelfth, they have the
- 0:50Speaker 2: fourth worst since and now they're looking at a real
- 0:54Speaker 2: problem in the wildcard race because their lead is down
- 0:57Speaker 2: to one and a half games. They hold the tie
- 0:59Speaker 2: break over the Giants, but not the Reds. So if
- 1:03Speaker 2: the Reds do tie them, they've got a real problem.
- 1:06Speaker 2: And guess what tonight they faced Jacob de Gram at
- 1:09Speaker 2: City Field.
- 1:12Speaker 3: Is what is a higher level excitement for the Phillies
- 1:16Speaker 3: for what just happened or concern for the Mets.
- 1:21Speaker 2: I would say both equal, Eric, because there should be
- 1:23Speaker 2: excitement for the Phillies. The Phillies even without Wheeler for
- 1:27Speaker 2: the rest of the season, even without Trey Turner and
- 1:29Speaker 2: Alec Bohm for a little bit longer. For sure, they
- 1:32Speaker 2: expect Turner back before the end of the season, Boom
- 1:35Speaker 2: probably right at the end of his ten days. Even
- 1:38Speaker 2: with those absences, they look great. They are eleven and
- 1:42Speaker 2: three in their last fourteen games. They just completed a
- 1:45Speaker 2: four game sweep of the Mets, and they seem to
- 1:48Speaker 2: have whatever that equality is right now. And Harrison Bader
- 1:52Speaker 2: has added a huge edge to that team, maybe one
- 1:55Speaker 2: that was kind of needed, a little bit of an
- 1:57Speaker 2: injection of energy. Same thing at the back into the
- 2:00Speaker 2: bullpen with John Duran. So everything looks great for them
- 2:04Speaker 2: right now. And I say that knowing that, of course,
- 2:07Speaker 2: We've seen many teams this season look great and then
- 2:10Speaker 2: all of a sudden crash and the Mets are on
- 2:12Speaker 2: the opposite end of that spectrum. So yes, I am
- 2:15Speaker 2: concerned about the Mets. I know it was just a
- 2:17Speaker 2: couple of weeks ago. They swept the Phillies at City Field.
- 2:21Speaker 2: I know who is in their lineup, we all do.
- 2:23Speaker 2: But they're not performing. They're starting pitching remains really problematic.
- 2:29Speaker 2: They're veterans. The ones who aren't hurt are struggling. David
- 2:32Speaker 2: Peterson was pretty good last night, but it was still
- 2:35Speaker 2: only five innings. And they've got the three kids going
- 2:38Speaker 2: against Texas this weekend, Jonatan and then Brandon Sprote and
- 2:42Speaker 2: then Nolan McClain. Those guys are really talented. We've seen that,
- 2:46Speaker 2: but that's who you're going to lean on down the stretch.
- 2:49Speaker 2: Three kids we just really just saw get promoted to
- 2:51Speaker 2: the major leagues. They've got huge problems right now, and
- 2:55Speaker 2: their bullpen is another one because it has been inconsistent.
- 2:58Speaker 2: And what's so odd about this whole situation is the
- 3:02Speaker 2: Mets and Phillies went for the same thing at the
- 3:04Speaker 2: deadline centerfielder. Mets got Mullins, Phillies got baiter Lenen and relief.
- 3:10Speaker 2: Philly's got Duran and Duran and David Robertson. The Mets
- 3:15Speaker 2: got Helsley, who has nothing good, and Tyler Rodgers, who
- 3:18Speaker 2: has been very good. It just seems these two teams
- 3:20Speaker 2: are going in opposite directions. To use the old cliche, all.
- 3:24Speaker 3: Right, well let's go to the Phillies. Since we've already
- 3:27Speaker 3: piled on the Mets think too much and Ken's got
- 3:30Speaker 3: a smile on today, so we gotta go to the Phillies.
- 3:33Speaker 3: And the article you wrote about Bryce Harper, a guy
- 3:35Speaker 3: who came up as the superstar of the next Lebron
- 3:39Speaker 3: James of baseball, all this and what his career is now,
- 3:42Speaker 3: He's at a point this season where you wrote Phillies
- 3:46Speaker 3: leading man or supporting actor.
- 3:49Speaker 2: Right now he's more of a supporting actor. Kyle Schwerber
- 3:52Speaker 2: has been their leading man. Trey Turner has had a
- 3:55Speaker 2: great season, their starting pitchers have been amazing, and as
- 3:58Speaker 2: I just mentioned, the deadline additions have been really impactful
- 4:02Speaker 2: as well. Harper has had a good season, not a
- 4:05Speaker 2: great season. He had the risk problem which sidelined him
- 4:08Speaker 2: for a time, bothered him for a little bit more
- 4:10Speaker 2: than that. So it's been interesting to see the dynamic
- 4:14Speaker 2: of that clubhouse. And some people with the Phillies mentioned
- 4:18Speaker 2: to me, I'm not so sure. They said that Bryce
- 4:22Speaker 2: is all that comfortable with this He's always been the
- 4:24Speaker 2: center of attention. So I asked him about it after
- 4:27Speaker 2: last night's game, and he said, listen, I just want
- 4:29Speaker 2: to win. I am fine, I'm gonna be Bryce Harper
- 4:32Speaker 2: and guess what my time is coming. I love October.
- 4:36Speaker 2: I love the bright lights, I love the big moments,
- 4:38Speaker 2: and he's gearing up for that, hoping that these final
- 4:42Speaker 2: few weeks lead him into October to where exactly he
- 4:45Speaker 2: wants to be.
- 4:47Speaker 3: Did he give you any inclination that that risk is
- 4:50Speaker 3: fully healthy? Did you ask? Or maybe it wasn't even
- 4:53Speaker 3: the situation to ask, because a lot somebody that hit
- 4:56Speaker 3: me up the other day said I feel like Bryce
- 4:58Speaker 3: Harper's pulling the ball. A lot more were not able
- 5:00Speaker 3: to stay on it longer, which could be an issue
- 5:04Speaker 3: of that risk.
- 5:06Speaker 2: I didn't ask, but I didn't think it was an issue.
- 5:09Speaker 4: Eric.
- 5:09Speaker 2: Now maybe I'm wrong about that, and maybe I should
- 5:11Speaker 2: have asked. There are always questions that you don't ask
- 5:14Speaker 2: that maybe you should have. But at the same time,
- 5:18Speaker 2: he was really good coming off the IL in September.
- 5:21Speaker 2: He hasn't been quite as good, but it didn't seem
- 5:24Speaker 2: to me. He didn't mention the risk as a problem
- 5:27Speaker 2: or an ongoing problem. So I don't expect that that's
- 5:30Speaker 2: the issue right now. It didn't come up in the conversation.
- 5:33Speaker 2: And again perhaps that's on me. I should have asked,
- 5:35Speaker 2: But if he was hurting, I think he might have
- 5:38Speaker 2: mentioned it too.
- 5:41Speaker 4: I want to change gears here a little bit. Phillies
- 5:43Speaker 4: are doing awesome. Well, let's go into al West here.
- 5:45Speaker 4: Did you see this coming? I mean, as we know
- 5:47Speaker 4: about this Mariner team, how good the pitching staff was,
- 5:50Speaker 4: we knew how good Houston was, and how how they've been.
- 5:55Speaker 4: Have you seen this Mariner team? I'm sure you have,
- 5:57Speaker 4: but you did you see this coming at the end
- 5:59Speaker 4: of the year.
- 6:01Speaker 2: I didn't see any of this coming for any of
- 6:03Speaker 2: those teams, not in the way it's happened. And if
- 6:06Speaker 2: you remember Todd, at the start of the year, the
- 6:08Speaker 2: projection systems had all of these teams, the three teams,
- 6:11Speaker 2: the three contenders, with about the same records, and I
- 6:14Speaker 2: remember Mike Petrillo of MLB dot com wrote about that,
- 6:18Speaker 2: and that's what the projection system said. And it's turned
- 6:21Speaker 2: out that way, but certainly not in the way anyone anticipated.
- 6:25Speaker 2: So let's go through the teams. Houston incredible, injuries all year.
- 6:30Speaker 2: They were without Alvarez for three months or so, starting
- 6:33Speaker 2: pitching injuries all season long, they had seventeen players eighteen
- 6:37Speaker 2: players on the il at one point, they're barely hanging
- 6:41Speaker 2: on it seems right, even with Alvarez back, and even
- 6:43Speaker 2: with some big moves at the deadline. Texas one of
- 6:47Speaker 2: the most disappointing teams in baseball this season. They looked
- 6:51Speaker 2: like they were out of it. Then about two weeks
- 6:55Speaker 2: ago they lose Ivaldi, Simeon and Seger Garcia followed. And
- 7:00Speaker 2: yet these younger guys, these inexperienced players that they've brought in,
- 7:04Speaker 2: Cody Freeman, Michael Hellman, they've been the guys carrying the
- 7:08Speaker 2: Rangers to this point where now they are back in contention.
- 7:12Speaker 2: It's the oddest thing. And then finally Seattle, and we
- 7:15Speaker 2: think of Seattle as this pitching monster, right, but they
- 7:19Speaker 2: haven't quite been as good pitching wise as they've been
- 7:22Speaker 2: in the past. Part of that is injuries. Now, Brian
- 7:25Speaker 2: wu has been great, probably a top five cy young finisher,
- 7:28Speaker 2: but if the others have been hurt and consistent, whatever
- 7:31Speaker 2: you want I want to say about them, and their
- 7:33Speaker 2: offense has been again kind of an in and out offense,
- 7:37Speaker 2: but better at home certainly, and better of late. So
- 7:42Speaker 2: they're right there. I don't know who's going to win
- 7:45Speaker 2: this thing. I do know that each of these teams,
- 7:48Speaker 2: like virtually every contender this year, has taken a circuitous
- 7:51Speaker 2: path to where they are right now. But it's going
- 7:54Speaker 2: to be a fun final stretch for those teams for sure.
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- 8:58Speaker 3: Dig In Opinion, Which are the three teams if they
- 9:03Speaker 3: don't make it, because one of the three will not
- 9:04Speaker 3: make the playoffs will have more long lasting ramifications? Is
- 9:10Speaker 3: it the Astros because they got rid of stars and
- 9:13Speaker 3: it's like, hey, we can't keep getting rid of stars
- 9:15Speaker 3: like we have because in the past it's worked. Is
- 9:18Speaker 3: it the Mariners? Hey, we we can't go all in
- 9:21Speaker 3: like we did. Is it the Rangers? We can't start slow?
- 9:24Speaker 3: So which ramification will have or will have the longest
- 9:28Speaker 3: long term ramification based on if they don't make it?
- 9:32Speaker 2: Eric, that is a great question. I don't know the answer.
- 9:36Speaker 2: We do know that when teams experience disappointing seasons play
- 9:40Speaker 2: below expectations that changes often are made front office wise
- 9:44Speaker 2: manager wise coaching, whatever the case might be. So depending
- 9:50Speaker 2: on which team is out and which team disappoints the most,
- 9:54Speaker 2: I guess we may see some change along those lines.
- 9:57Speaker 2: As far as long lasting ramifications. The Astros are in
- 10:01Speaker 2: an interesting position that way. Al Twove's getting older and
- 10:05Speaker 2: they have lost Tucker and Bregman over the years. Korea
- 10:08Speaker 2: is back now cam Smith. He struggled a bit as
- 10:12Speaker 2: a rookie since that hot start, but he could be
- 10:14Speaker 2: a star of the future. And they still have pitching,
- 10:17Speaker 2: but from ber Valdez is a free agent, so they
- 10:21Speaker 2: might be in the most precarious state even with Alvarez
- 10:24Speaker 2: signed long term. It's difficult to say the Mariners, too,
- 10:28Speaker 2: are funny operation because if they missed the playoffs, how
- 10:32Speaker 2: long did they give Jerry Depoto, their president Baseball operations,
- 10:35Speaker 2: time to keep going in this fashion when they keep missing.
- 10:39Speaker 2: I don't know that he did anything wrong here. Their
- 10:41Speaker 2: team is good. He did well with the deadline. But
- 10:45Speaker 2: I do wonder if their ownership, which historically has been inert,
- 10:48Speaker 2: would maybe say, I don't know, it's time for something different.
- 10:53Speaker 1: Ken, I'm gonna plug some other work that you put
- 10:55Speaker 1: up in the athletic This week, So you have an
- 10:58Speaker 1: article after a disappointing twenty twenty five, these four MLB
- 11:00Speaker 1: teams might be ready for success in twenty twenty six.
- 11:03Speaker 1: You know which team I'm picking because you also reported
- 11:06Speaker 1: on the Orioles kind of quietly promoting Michael liias to
- 11:10Speaker 1: President Baseball Operations before the season started. My two questions
- 11:14Speaker 1: for you, Number one, why do this quietly when you're
- 11:17Speaker 1: coming off back to back played a playoff appearances before
- 11:20Speaker 1: this season that turned into a disaster for Baltimore. And two,
- 11:23Speaker 1: this was a good point from AJ the other day.
- 11:25Speaker 1: He's like, we should know the contracts for a front
- 11:28Speaker 1: office leader. So my thing is, even if you're not
- 11:31Speaker 1: going to disclose the money, don't you feel like fans
- 11:33Speaker 1: have the right to know how many years are on
- 11:36Speaker 1: a contract, because think about it, if the Orioles missed
- 11:38Speaker 1: the postseason again next year, we're now in two years
- 11:41Speaker 1: of in my mind, a disaster because you did five
- 11:43Speaker 1: years of tanking for what for two playoff seasons and
- 11:46Speaker 1: no wins.
- 11:48Speaker 2: Scott excellent points. And when I heard yesterday and actually
- 11:53Speaker 2: Britgeroli got the original tip that he was President Baseball Operations,
- 11:58Speaker 2: I thought, okay, this is the The Oils are going
- 12:00Speaker 2: to do this. They're going to elevate him now, eliminating
- 12:04Speaker 2: any questions about his future, bolster their front office by
- 12:07Speaker 2: hiring a GM under him. And then upon further reporting,
- 12:10Speaker 2: we learned that this actually had happened last off season
- 12:15Speaker 2: and they hadn't said anything about it, and it was
- 12:17Speaker 2: really curious to me, and it remains curious to me.
- 12:20Speaker 2: I am pretty sure at the time, let's assume this
- 12:23Speaker 2: happened last November December. They figured, we're coming off two
- 12:26Speaker 2: playoff years. We're gonna have a great year next year, right,
- 12:28Speaker 2: be even better? All good, we don't have to worry
- 12:31Speaker 2: about saying anything. Nothing's going to be a problem. Well,
- 12:35Speaker 2: guess what they struggled. They had a bad off season.
- 12:38Speaker 2: Then they had a bad start to the season. I
- 12:40Speaker 2: wouldn't say a bad off season, an off season that
- 12:42Speaker 2: didn't correct entirely what they needed to correct, which was
- 12:45Speaker 2: their starting rotation. And then the season starts and people
- 12:48Speaker 2: are saying, well, maybe Mike Golias shouldn't be the long
- 12:51Speaker 2: term guy here. If they had just said in December
- 12:54Speaker 2: or whenever they announced that or made that promotion, this
- 12:58Speaker 2: is what is going on. It would have been a
- 13:00Speaker 2: lot less heat on Michael oas now, maybe he doesn't
- 13:02Speaker 2: care about that, maybe they don't care about that. Teams
- 13:05Speaker 2: often seem to operate in their own little bubbles, but
- 13:08Speaker 2: in retrospect, it seems awfully foolish not to have announced that. Now.
- 13:13Speaker 2: To AJ's point, teams often do not like to announce
- 13:18Speaker 2: the terms of the deals for their executives and their
- 13:22Speaker 2: managers for that matter, because at that point, and I've
- 13:25Speaker 2: been told this by executives, we start the countdown as
- 13:28Speaker 2: media and fans, Hey, he's got a year left, what's
- 13:32Speaker 2: going on. Teams hate having any pressure on them, hate
- 13:35Speaker 2: having anyone question them, so that's why they go about it.
- 13:40Speaker 2: It's odd because certainly the players are their terms are
- 13:44Speaker 2: out there, and certain teams do announce terms of their
- 13:47Speaker 2: managers and front office executives and just how long they're
- 13:51Speaker 2: under contract. It's not that unusual, but there are teams
- 13:54Speaker 2: that do not, and to me, it does a disservice
- 13:57Speaker 2: to the fans and everyone else. But they're private companies.
- 14:00Speaker 2: They can do whatever the heck they want.
- 14:03Speaker 4: That is for sure.
- 14:04Speaker 1: Yeah, it's CIA. Sometimes it's CIA instead of MLB.
- 14:08Speaker 3: It's weird.
- 14:09Speaker 2: I'm gonna put you at one more point in that, Scott.
- 14:12Speaker 2: It's major League baseball, Okay, it's not geopolitics. And sometimes
- 14:16Speaker 2: I think you really like geopolitics by the people running
- 14:20Speaker 2: the teams when it's an entertainment vehicle. And yeah, it's
- 14:24Speaker 2: serious business. We all know that it's a twelve million
- 14:26Speaker 2: dollar industry. But for goodness sake, let's not get carried
- 14:29Speaker 2: away with ourselves.
- 14:31Speaker 1: Be transparent with your fans.
- 14:33Speaker 4: That's all I ask interesting. I agree, you got last legs,
- 14:37Speaker 4: last legs, two quick questions. You don't have to go
- 14:39Speaker 4: deep into them. But I'm gonna put you on the
- 14:40Speaker 4: spot kind of. You know, you deserve fans deserve to
- 14:44Speaker 4: hear what you have to say. Here, one spot left
- 14:46Speaker 4: in the wild card in the American League. Yankees, Red
- 14:49Speaker 4: Sox and Blue Jays are in. Who gets that final
- 14:52Speaker 4: spot as of today, I think see how stranger Okay.
- 15:00Speaker 2: Houston, I don't see Texas getting there now. I am
- 15:04Speaker 2: intrigued by Texas. I think they're really interesting, but it's
- 15:09Speaker 2: two games still, and yes, if segu comes back and
- 15:12Speaker 2: elevates them and Garcia comes back as well, but it
- 15:16Speaker 2: just seems to me that Seattle as long as they
- 15:19Speaker 2: stay at home, which they can't do the entire time,
- 15:21Speaker 2: but they're better at home. They're gonna be okay, and
- 15:24Speaker 2: Houston I don't see falling off entirely, all.
- 15:28Speaker 4: Right, and then we'll go to the National League Cubs
- 15:30Speaker 4: and Padres are in. Who gets that final spot as
- 15:32Speaker 4: of today.
- 15:34Speaker 2: The Mets, and there's no reason why they shouldn't get
- 15:38Speaker 2: that final spot. It would be one of the all
- 15:40Speaker 2: time flops with a three hundred and forty million dollars
- 15:43Speaker 2: payroll if they can't hold off a Giants team that's
- 15:47Speaker 2: sold the deadline and a Reds team that you look
- 15:49Speaker 2: at it right there with the Giants two games over
- 15:52Speaker 2: five hundred. The Mets should be better than this. They
- 15:55Speaker 2: should be able to hold these teams off. But at
- 15:57Speaker 2: this point, after watching them for the last couple of months,
- 16:01Speaker 2: the last couple of days, I don't know that I
- 16:04Speaker 2: would guarantee anything. And it's just disturbing to see what
- 16:08Speaker 2: they have become and the fact that they seemingly are
- 16:11Speaker 2: unable to get out of this rut. I don't quite
- 16:13Speaker 2: understand it, and no one around the team does.
- 16:17Speaker 1: Our director Jeremy, who produces Fair Territory with Ken was
- 16:21Speaker 1: bringing up the epic Mets collapse. I think it was
- 16:23Speaker 1: two thousand and eight, seven or seven, gave it up
- 16:26Speaker 1: seven seven seven.
- 16:28Speaker 3: Yeah, that's the first time the Phillies made it.
- 16:30Speaker 1: Yeah, crazy lead and gave it up in five seconds.
- 16:33Speaker 1: It was insane. So everyone can look that up. Hopefully
- 16:35Speaker 1: we don't have to bring it up. If you're a
- 16:37Speaker 1: Mets fan, if you're a Reds or a Giants fan,
- 16:38Speaker 1: then then go look it up and get some inspiration.
- 16:41Speaker 2: Ken. Thank you.
- 16:42Speaker 1: We'll watch you this weekend on what do you have
- 16:44Speaker 1: this weekend?
- 16:45Speaker 2: Milwaukee Cardinals Brewers. I'm in Milwaukee right now, got it?
- 16:49Speaker 2: Are okay?
- 16:49Speaker 1: We'll watch you on Saturday.
- 16:51Speaker 4: Thanks Kenel.
- 16:52Speaker 3: No, that's a nice hotel. That's a nice hotel.
- 16:56Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think I know that one. And that's
- 16:58Speaker 1: that's not the one. That's not to the one they
- 17:02Speaker 1: got great breakfast. Oh yeah, if you can make it
- 17:05Speaker 1: through the evening, If you make it through the evening,
- 17:07Speaker 1: did I talked to him? The ghost always Fair Territory
- 17:10Speaker 1: with Ken on Monday. Fair Territory with Ken and Lana
- 17:14Speaker 1: next week on Thursday,