Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Jon Heyman | Baseball Columnist Previews the MLB Postseason & The Yankees' Chances

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Jon Heyman | Baseball Columnist Previews the MLB Postseason & The Yankees' Chances · Sid & Friends In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We're going to talk baseball now with the best in
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: the business. I mean that sincerely. I don't make up stuff.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: I don't say nice things to people because they're on
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the phone. If he sucked, I tell him he sucked.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: John Heyman is the best. John, good morning, buddy.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: How are you? Good morning, Sid. You're the best. Thank
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: you very much.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Thank you. I appreciate that. So there it is. Boone's
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: home run was 23 years ago, and he's been the
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: skipper of the Yankees for a long time. And I
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: don't listen to the band all that much, but I
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: tune in every now and then because I love those guys.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Craig is a dear friend of mine. And all they
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: do is bitch about Boone every year. Another year where
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: the Yankees won 93 games. Only Tampa Bay won more
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: games inside the American League. And most people feel like
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: they should get by Boston and Tampa Bay and win
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: the pennant. But now that you look at it, 93 wins,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: not a terrible year, right?
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: No, it's definitely not a terrible year. He does a
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: solid job. I don't think there's any question about that.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: But obviously... The one thing hanging over his head is
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: he has not won the World Series. This is year nine,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: and they are favored now to get to the World Series,
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: not favored to win the World Series. The National League
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: was better. Tampa is tough. Boston, I think, is a
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: good team, but the Yankees should win this one. Boston's
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: only scored 13 runs in the last eight games, and
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: The Yankees have the best starting pitching right now going in,
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: and that includes the National League right now, I believe.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: So they should get by the Red Sox, I do believe.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: And they are favored to win the American League, although
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: I'm not as confident in that as the oddsmakers are.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: Well, it's only Tampa Bay. If they get by the
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Red Sox in ways they're not losing to, let's face it,
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Houston or one of those clubs. And the Red Sox
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: did win 32 of 37 midway through the season. I
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: get that. But like you said, they're not a They're
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: not a great team. They had an epic run. 32-5
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: is pretty epic. And the Yankees do have the best pitching,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: not just in the American League, but in baseball. But
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: I will tell you this. If somehow the Red Sox
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: eke out a win in those first two games, the
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: thought of Garrett Cole, get me if I'm saying this
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: because he's been a Hall of Fame amazing pitcher, but
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: the thought of the season being on the line with
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Garrett Cole on the mound would scare me just a
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: little as a Yankee fan.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I kind of believe it. I know
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: we talk about recency bias. I kind of believe in it.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: I would have gone with Rodon. We'll see. They may
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: not get there. I mean, they've got Schlittler, who's clearly
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: the Cy Young winner this year, going in Game 1.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: They've got Max Fried in 2, so they may win
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: in 2. But you get to 3, I would have
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: gone with Rodon at this point, just based on how
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: they've pitched lately. I mean, Schlittler's been the best in
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: the league, but... Over the last month, month and a half,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: Rodon has been the next best pitcher in the American League.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: And I would just go with that. I mean, he
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: is a very talented guy. He's rediscovered his slider, which
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: was missing. Obviously, it's been an up-and-down Yankee experience, and
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: as you say, Cole's on the way to the Hall
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: of Fame. He's incredible, but this is his first year
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: back after the Tommy John, and he isn't quite himself.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: He don't run for the last three games allowed, so
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: I think this is a mistake that we may not
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: see come to fruition because I do think there's a
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: decent chance the Yankees wrap it up.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: No, so do I with those two pitchers, but if
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: it does get to that, why didn't the Yankees... I'm
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: making this choice. Is it based on resume? Is that it?
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm sure it is. And maybe that is a
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: big factor in making a choice, but I do think
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: they kind of defer to the, to the big stars
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: a little bit too much sometimes. And in this case,
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: Cole has not been great the last three times out
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: at least. And as a five ERA over his last
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: five starts, which isn't great. And Rodan has been dominant.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: So I, I don't get it. You know, I mean,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: Cole could come throw a great game. No question about that.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: He's extremely, extremely talented, but lately not great. But let's
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: not bet you about that. At this point, they could
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: win it too, right?
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Yankees' offense. There are rumors that
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Stanton may be back. Judge told reporters last week, I
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: can play, despite Aaron Boone saying he's not ready yet.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: So a lot of question marks. Do you have any
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: answers on Judge and or Stanton?
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Well, I would say it's trending towards Stanton being on
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: the roster and being a pinch hitter. And I would
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: say at this point, if a judge hasn't done any
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: baseball activities, I don't exactly know what he's done. He
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: hasn't been on the field at all. We haven't seen
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: him run or hit. So I would think it's unlikely
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: that Judge would be available for this first series. I
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: can't imagine they're going to risk him with this. calf
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: injury in the soleus muscle, which is down by the Achilles.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: I mean, we don't want to see him out for
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: next year. Hope we do have a next year. I
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: think we will. And we don't want to see him
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: out for next year over, you know, him playing when
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: he has basically just played a week's worth of games
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: a couple of weeks ago and Didn't look quite himself
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: at that point.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: He looked terrible. What do you mean? He struck out
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: 13 times in 21 plate appearances.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: Right. And that was after having some hitting off of
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: live pitching. Now he has not had any of that. So...
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: Why would anyone think he'd be better, and why risk it?
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: It makes no sense to me to put him on
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: the roster. I guess we could all dream of the
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Kirk Gibson moment, but let Stanton have that Kirk Gibson moment, right?
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, Stanton is an October guy. Maybe this is
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: the best way to use Stanton anyway, just have him
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: be an October player and not play in the regular season.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: And he can stay healthy. And you and I will
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: have that discussion about baseball. I actually know the attorney,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: the Marvin Miller of 2026. He's not nearly.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: As confident as you are, so we'll have that discussion
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: after the postseason. Or there'll be baseball next year. It'll
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: be a shame.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: Confidence a little strong.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: No, listen, you've got to feel that way because to
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: think about next year having no baseball, no sports. Well,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: I mean, right now you've got football in week three,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: college football week four, the Rangers. They start tomorrow night.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: The Islanders start Wednesday. The Devils start Thursday. The Knicks
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: start in less than a month. You got plenty of
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: stuff going on, but you get rid of baseball. You
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: got five months of nothing. I mean, nothing. WNBA, are
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: you nuts?
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we don't need it. No, wait a second. I'm
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: not going to say that. Well, I did. You're funny, Sid.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: I did.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: And we need baseball.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: We need baseball. I get it. I get it. We
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: need baseball. I mean, it fills up the whole summer, right?
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: You're right. October is fantastic, right? I mean, I think
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: October and April are probably the best.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: April's great. April's great. College basketball, the Masters, and all
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: that good stuff, yeah.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: Right, right. Late March, yeah, definitely. But, yeah, I'm very
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: hopeful that they'll figure it out. I think we're going
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: to miss some games, but I think we'll be late.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: But I can't imagine they can't cancel the season. They
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: just can't do it.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Well, I retweeted one of your tweets this weekend, which
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: was great, about the Cleveland Guardians. You said, this team
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: year in and year out, Willie has one of the
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: lowest payrolls in baseball, and they keep winning that AL Central. Now,
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: I took a look at the rest of the teams
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: inside the AL Central. Lousy payrolls, too. The Tigers, the Twins.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: So you talk about a team. that in miraculous fashion
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: continues to win with no payroll and ends up with
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: the best record in baseball, in the American League, I
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: should say, and wins a much more competitive AL East.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Any comment about that goes to the Tampa Bay Rays.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: Kevin Cash must be a magician. They haven't won a
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: World Series with him. But how that team wins almost
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: 100 games every year, how do they do that?
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: It's incredible. Front office, brilliant. Kevin Cash is a great manager.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: There's no question about that. Uh, it's really, really amazing.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: I mean, they went into season. We thought they had
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: really three offensive players, including Caminero, who, uh, probably second
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: in MVP to, uh, your Don Alvarez from the Astros. Uh,
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: they have Yandy Diaz and they have a Jonathan Aranda.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: That was it. We thought they had three. They picked
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: up X at the deadline. Now they have four guys. Uh,
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: you wouldn't think they can win with really four productive
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: offensive players, but, uh, they figure it out somehow, some way. And, uh,
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: It's really amazing. I haven't done it in the postseason.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: It is interesting to see that these small market teams,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: these low-revenue teams, these low-paid teams can get through 162 games.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: But it does seem like it's certainly helpful to have
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: those superstars come October, and that's why I think the
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: Yankees and Dodgers are the favorite and probably should be.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think we'll see some combination in the
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: World Series of Yankees, Dodgers, Brewers, Rays. It does feel
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: like those are the four best teams, but the Yankees
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: and Dodgers are favored, and that's for the history, like
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: we're picking cold to pitch teams. That is for the
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: history and for the fact that they have the bigger stars.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: They do, although Milwaukee did win 103 games this year.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: That's the most in baseball. The Dodgers also 100-win team
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: and They don't even look all that good about moving
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: through the season. It's like they're bored. You know, the Dodgers,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: I think they get bored during the regular season.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: They try this year. Last year they didn't try. Remember,
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: they didn't get the bye last year because they weren't
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: trying in the regular season. Then the poor Reds had
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: to play the Dodgers, and that got wiped out the
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: two games. And, of course, we know the Dodgers ended
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: up winning an amazing game. World Series, and they are
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: the favorite again. Their four pitchers look pretty good right now, too.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: I think the Yankees have the best four-man rotation right now.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: You'll need three, of course, in that first series, but
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: I think the Yankees are the best. Dodgers are tough.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: Their offense is not as great because, Otani, we got
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: the question with the injury. Freeman didn't have a very
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: good year. It's not quite the same, but they were
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: pretty good. They did win 100, but I would year
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: I covered the Brewers and the Dodgers series, and the
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: Brewers had won every game in the regular season. Then
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: they get to the postseason, and the Dodgers swept them.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: Otani had that fabulous game with the three home runs,
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: the 10 strikeouts that will never be topped. And that's
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: kind of been the story of the postseason is that
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: the big market teams do have that advantage. And that's
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: kind of the owner argument. We'll see if the Dodgers
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: and the Yankees, again, that's probably a point for the owners.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: If it's the Brewers and the Rays, that's probably a
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: point for the players to say that, look, anybody can
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: do it.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: I think the commissioner, Rob Manfred, would kill himself if
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: it ended up being Tampa Bay-Milwaukee.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: The ratings wouldn't be great. Everybody says if you go
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: talk to the TV people, Tampa's the death. That's the
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: death situation for any postseason. For whatever reason, Tampa draws
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: no national interest. None. Zero.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Now listen, baseball is a regional sport. There's no question
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: about it. Football, on the other hand, everybody knows. What's
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: going on with the Chargers and Raiders at 4 o'clock?
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Even if you live in Brooklyn, New York, you just
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: know what's going on. That sport, you know, everybody's interested
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: all day long. Baseball, pretty much a regional sport. I
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: do want to get to the Metropolitans. You know, you
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: mentioned all those MVP candidates in the American League. The
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: guy that should win it, but he was on a
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: lousy team, is Alonzo. He led the American League with
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: 43 home runs. He led the American League with 113 RBIs.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: This guy ended up with a monster, monster season after
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: a very slow start with Baltimore. God, the Mets could
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: have used him. But on a Met note, 14 under.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: They're going to keep Andy Green for the next three
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: years as their skipper. Some of these young guys, Ewing, Benji,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: look pretty good. Certainly McClain in that rotation. What are
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: your thoughts on the Mets moving forward?
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they made the right decision to keep
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: Andy Green. They were near. 500 with him, so that's
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: pretty good considering it's not a good team and they
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: weren't close to. 500 when he took over. So I
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: think maybe their streak of bad decisions will be ending.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: I think they made some good calls in the deadline.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: Jefferson Rojas looks like a potential star, so that was
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: a good trade. But boy, that offseason they had last year,
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: To now undo all that, they still don't have a
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: first base solved. I mean, to replace Pete Alonso with
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: Jorge Polanco, who had the injury history, got hurt, was
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: not good, is not a first baseman. I don't know
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: what analytic told them that was a good idea, but
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: that was just the worst decision that anybody made this year.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: David Stearns. Okay, so here it is, John Heyman. You
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: talked about the likelihood of Yankees-Dodgers, but you didn't leave
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: out the Rays and the Brewers. This is the time.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: This is where boys become men, John Heyman. I said
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: you're the best in the business for a reason. Who
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: will be playing in the fall classic, and who will
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: be standing when it's all said and done?
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it'll be the Yankees and Dodgers. I
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: will admit that I picked at the beginning of the year,
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: don't boo me, the Dodgers and the Tigers. Terrible pick
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: by me in the American League, but the Yankees starting
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: pitching looks like the, you know, the Tory era starting
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: pitching when you had Clemens and El Duque and Pettit
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: and Cone and all those great starters right now, and
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: it does feel like they should be able to get
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: by in the American League. Look, the Dodgers, until proven otherwise,
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: you've got to go with them. The Brewers are fantastic.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: They're their best ever, 103. They have an incredible manager,
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: but I'm going to say it's Dodgers-Yankees.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: I can't argue. John Heyman right there. John's the best.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: Got a great podcast, New York Post as well. And
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: hopefully John will stick with us through this baseball postseason.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: And then, of course, all the labor talks, which might
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: be very painful at the end of this season. John Heyman,
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: as always, tremendous work, buddy. Thank you so much.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: Always a pleasure. You're the best, Sid.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Look who's talking. You can't say that. You're
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: the best, John Heyman. Right there, some great baseball conversation.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: I love that guy, I really do.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: Thanks for listening to Sid and Friends in the Morning.
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: You can hear Sid and Friends in the Morning weekday
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: mornings at 6. If you like the podcast, share it
• 14:13
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• 14:18
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• 14:21
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• 14:28
  Speaker 3: and X. See you next time for.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: A new episode so you never have to wonder... What
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: the heck is going on here?