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

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Hey, everybody, it's Jeff. We've recorded this podcast to episode on Monday,
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August fourteenth, twenty twenty three. By the time you hear this,
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things may have changed a little bit, but we hope you enjoy the show.
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All right, everybody, welcome to this installment of Opposition Territory here at
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the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
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in the world. That's right over ten years strong. We got a great
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discussion coming your way here on Opposition Territory. We actually have not been getting
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into baseball too too much on our Opposition Territory pods as of late due to
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the football season, the NFL season really ramping up here during the preseason.
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But we're getting back to baseball, folks. We're getting back to one particular
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team that we really thought. We're gonna give the Philadelphia Phillies some major major
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issues this year. Remains to be seen if they will during the second half
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of the season, but it's a team that has done some unexpected things quite
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frankly, and that is the New York Mets. We have one of our
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friends in this podcast coming on to talk to us about this team where they're
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going in the future. Let's get into some opposition territory New York Mets discussion
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right now. It's great to have back on the podcast. Absolutely love talking
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to her about Major League Baseball on specifically when it comes to this New York
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Mets team. She is a fantastic podcaster, a pod of their own.
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Her and her co host, they do a fantastic job weekend and week out
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talking about the New York Mets, talking about Major League Baseball and the ongoings
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of what happens with this game we all love so much. You can follow
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on Twitter at Maggie one six two. They'll want to only Maggie Wiggan.
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How you doing, Maggie. Hi, Jeff, It's so nice to be
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on. It's great to have you back on. And I was like,
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so wanting to have you on now for some time to really talk about this
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Mets team, and I'm like, I don't want that exactly. I would
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want me to have to talk about the Mets feels personal. I know,
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I'm like, I don't know if she's gonna want to do this necessarily,
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but I so much appreciate you taking the time because, like I think,
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you know, as we look at this team, we look over there,
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we look back over the past few months and just analyze what this Mets season
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has been. And obviously I follow the Mets, a lot of Phillies fans
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do in the same division, this l East, which has been pretty bizarre
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this year. There's obvious disappointment for each and every Mets fan out there.
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There is It wasn't supposed to be like this here in August for Mets fans.
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So when you look back at the overall picture, Maggie like, was
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it I'm wondering, was there a moment that you can really pinpoint where it
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kind of just started down down that you know, downward spiral. I mean,
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you could certainly go ahead and say, like when Edwin Diaz blew out
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his knee, if you want to dig all right, I mean I would
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say, like for me, it felt like there was a like a palpable
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shift. I mean first kind of across the whole month of June. And
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this is this is hard to this It's hard to pin down too, because
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this is a team that's had a lot of death rattles where you thought maybe
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they were maybe they were evening things out, and then they didn't. And
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I would say like they you know, they had a terrible June, which
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seems like part of their thing as bad as any we've seen. And I
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feel like then they started July really strong and they had a nice little winning
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streak there and they were, you know, going into the going into the
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All Star break, they had lost a couple and it was sort of like
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coming out of the All Star break, it really it really kind of kicked
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into gear. Was like, this is where you know, this, this
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is the moment are you going to actually win some games or not so much?
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And they didn't and they didn't start winning right, they just kind of
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continued. Yeah. I was gonna say, somebody on the outside looking I'm
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sorry to interrupted to somebody from the outside looking in. I was like,
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Okay, this is a pivotal moment in time, right after the All Star
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Break, where we're going to see what this Mets team is about. Are
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they going to be able to come together? Are things going to really kind
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of start to gel because I really looked at it as the crux and again
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that moment of time of Okay, are they going to come out of this
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All Star break with a different type of mindset and just a different type of
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direction. Just it just it just didn't manifest itself. Yeah, it just
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didn't happen. And then obviously kind of, you know, as soon as
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the sell off started, it started in earnest. They did not Yeah,
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they did not really really hold back at all. And you know, now
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you have a shell of a team playing every day and that's you know,
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please don't ask me any little trivia about the bottom half of the Mets lineup,
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because I haven't heard those names before in my life. Yeah, you
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know, so I think it was. That was really though. That was
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the point where like they still sort of had a chance and then they didn't
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have a chance. It was really kind of right around the All Star break
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and it just wasn't meant to be. When those trades happened. It was
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kind of like you essentially saw a team in general and an organization kind of
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just throw up their hands and be like, Okay, we needed to figure
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something out here for the future. And I was I was just honestly,
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I was surprised based on our last conversation when you were on the podcast,
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and there was hope, there was optimism because of not just the money that
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was spent, but because of the talent that was on the team, you
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know, and I'll even go back to you know, previous Phillies teams where
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you know, they have spent some money here and there over the you know,
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on various teams over the past decades, you know, but things just
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don't manifest themselves out. Whether it's team chemistry, whether it's certain guys just
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having down years, certain guys falling off a cliff. We've seen it time
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and time again. It happens throughout major League Baseball. But I just couldn't
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imagine that this was going to happen to the Mets this year, because,
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again, as we talked about the last time you were on, it was
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gonna be the Braves, the Mets, and the Phillies really vying for those
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top three spots. Had no idea that the Marlins were going to do some
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of the things they did earlier on this season as well. It was just
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it's been a bizarre season, and I wonder, you know, it's a
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team that we've seen a lot of flaws in with the New York Mets,
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a lot of flaws that we have certainly seen this season. But if you
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had to pick out two of the biggest and most glaring flaws. What would
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those be and why? I mean, I think the biggest issues are really
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on the pitching side. And that's not to say that the offense hasn't been
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inconsistent, and they have certainly committed way too many at bats too, players
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like Daniel Vogelbach who really don't bring anything useful to the team. But you
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know, I think at the end of the day, most of those players,
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you know, most of the position players, are going to end up
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close to where we thought they were going to. You know, Jeff McNeil
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is having a bad year. He's not going to really be able to solvage
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it at this point. You know, Lindoor got off to a really slow
7:15
start, as he often does, but he's right up there now with the
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best of the shortstops in the league. You know, Uh, Pete Alonzo's
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season has been was kind of soured by the after effects of a hand injury
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that he had for for a long time. And you look at where his
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cold streak really kicked in. It was right right after he came back way
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too early from his injury. But but the real fatal flaws have been on
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the pitching, and you know, from the get go. There was a
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lot of talk about you know, this was before Diaz got hurt, but
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there was a lot of talk about optionable arms, about intentionally seeking out relievers
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who had options left, you know, which which is a good technique if
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you're assuming that your pictures are going to be bad, Like I don't know
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why, you know, I think like I guess roster flexibility, but like,
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wouldn't you rather have have pictures that you wouldn't want a option? Like
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to me, that seems like ultimately like like I want pictures that aren't terrible.
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You know, the organization decided to take the approach in the off season
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of optionable arms, and you know, they got David Robertson, thank god,
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but other than that, really did not make any meaningful upgrades over the
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bullpen they had last year, which was of course so good now Edwin Diaz
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getting his knee blown out in March obviously not really a predictable thing. But
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you have to look at what was left of that bullpen. I get David
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Robertson, blessed, did his job? Love you, David Robertson. I
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hope you don't win with the Marlins. But but like the rest of the
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bullpen. You know, Adam out of being know was okay, Brooks Railey
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was okay, but everyone else was awful because they were not great pitchers and
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their optionability didn't change that. So what you had was an incredibly top heavy
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bullpen, which frankly, even with Edwin Diaz would still have been fairly top
9:18
heavy. So you have this super top heavy bullpen and once the starters problems
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showed up, and I'll get to them in a moment, you just burned
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through that bullpen so fast, and you know, anybody who was good at
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all was over exposed, and you just ended up completely unable to hold a
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lead, like at all. And again like notwithstanding David Robertson, who was
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excellent, but like so from the beginning, the bullpen super thin, very
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top heavy, and the result was exactly what you would think. And on
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the pitching side, I think the big I mean, obviously, like right
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off the bat, the biggest blow from the beginning was health, and you
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had Jose Quintana didn't throw a pitch until after the All Star break, and
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Justin Verlander missed most of April and then also like took a while to get
10:20
back into the swing of things. He probably also came back too soon.
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Good Carlos Carrasco, who you kind of hoped would hold steady from where he
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was last year, which was okay, not great, but he didn't.
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He took a big step back. Sure'ser big step back. And you know,
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you have to like if the bullpen was better, and you know,
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if the if the position players didn't all start off doing so badly, you
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know, they may have been able to weather those that first month or so.
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But the fact that they didn't have Justin Verlander at all, they didn't
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have Jose Quintana at all the first month, and then Scherzer was not great
11:03
and had and then missed two starts because of the suspension. You know,
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you ended up having to go to this really really weak pool of kind of
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quad A type starters, which was a problem last year two. But at
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least like they were able to get enough out of some of their guys who
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this year have just been like unrosterable. I think about David Peterson, who
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probably has a statue somewhere in Philadelphia because of like, my god, you
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must love him so much, he must be your favorite person. He's way
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up there. But Yeah, So I think like it was really, you
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know, the fatal flaws were in the pitching from the get go of not
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having the depth either in starters or relievers to to you know, accommodate injury,
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you know, spectacular injury in the case of Edwin Diaz or just kind
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of like regular predictable injury in the in the case of like Justin Verlander,
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who is a million years old. Yeah. I also I'm a little bit
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better about the older Mets starters because they were the last Mets older than me
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and they're both gone. Yeah, and I didn't have a chance to adjust
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to that on a personal level, right, But that and then that's really
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I mean, that's it. Like again, kind of the position players were
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up and down, not as good as they were last year, But the
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position players aren't what killed this team. It was. It was really the
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pitching it was. And I think I think that's really a great answer to
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that question about the flaws with this team as we know in Major League Baseball.
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And I mean, of course, I mean we're seeing with the Phillies.
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I mean, there's been pretty darn good pitching this year and it's been
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able to keep them afloat, even as they have struggled throughout the season.
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Throughout much of the season when it comes to runners and scoring position, just
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generating consistent offense. I mean, we saw it with regard to the recent
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series. We're not here to get into the Phillies by any stretch. But
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I do want to also ask you as well, and I hesitate to ask
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this because when your team's not doing well, the last thing you want to
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do is really talk about any positives with the team. But like, and
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of course, as I say that, not everything is one hundred percent awful
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with the Mets, So please don't throw rotten vegetables at me, because I
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know how it feels when people are like, Okay, it's not that bad.
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It's like, yeah, right, whatever. But I'm wondering if there
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are two areas of this Mets team that you've actually enjoyed watching this season,
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you know, what would those be? And why? Oh? I mean,
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I think you know, it's a little bit of a mixed bag for
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a couple of different reasons. But certainly, you know, the Mets being
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able to bring up some really quality minor league talent has been has been a
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great positive. Yeah, you know, and it's not it's not one hundred
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percent positive because not all of those young players have really been able to to
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stick to be everything we believe they can. But you know, it's hard
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to ignore the contributions of Francisco Alvarez, who you know, has his own
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ups and downs. Right now, you know, he's he's not. For
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a while, he was just like destroying the world, and he's simmered down
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a little bit, but he's still I mean, he's still got I'm just
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checking just for his most up to date, like his WRC plus is one
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hundred and thirteen. He's a twenty one year old catcher. You know,
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that's that's huge for where he is. And you know, also for him,
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I think there was always you know, there's always some sense that the
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bat's going to be pretty good for a catcher, but the question was like
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would he be able to stick behind home plate? And you know, after
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I ragged a bit on Shares earlier, I'll give him credit for really pushing
14:54
this and making it impossible for the Mets to ignore. Is his defense is
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that he's turned out to be quite a good defensive catcher, and I think
15:03
like that, really that takes off so much pressure in other ways because we
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know he can stick behind the plate and he has the chance to really be
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that for the Mets for a long time. So that I mean, you
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cannot, you cannot talk about the twenty twenty three Mets without giving a nod
15:22
to Francisco Albrez because everything he does is just enormous. And I would say,
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I guess probably the other the other side of it, you know,
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is kind of I'm gonna this is a little is a little cheaty, but
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I'm gonna say the some of the other position players because I think, you
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know, like a lot of the hitters who who are coming off good years
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and in Jeffy Hill is kind of the big you know, counter to this
15:50
one, but like you know, are actually having good years. And I
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think, first of all, Francis go lindor Is. You know, some
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Mets fans don't believe me. That's fine, they're not going to believe me.
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But he's having a fantastic year. He really is. His defense hasn't
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lost a step. He's batting, you know, his batting average is still
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not cracked two fifty, but you know, he's got twenty two home runs,
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He's got a whole bucket of RBIs. He's just he's doing what a
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franchise player does, which is go out there and put up a like top
16:22
ten in the league kind of performance every year. And I'm sorry, he's
16:26
actually eleventh in the league. So but that's you know, and that's just
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what he does, and he does it quietly. And the other and you
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know, I think missing a little bit of this because he has had some
16:37
injuries, but Brandon Nimmo coming in after you know, they picked him back
16:44
up in free agency on a long term deal eight years, and it's he
16:48
just didn't miss a step. He's doing Brandon Nimmo things. He's getting on
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base, he's taking really long at baths, he's doing just fine in center
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field. You know that you've got to be happy with what both of those
17:02
two players, what you expect to be able to get from them in the
17:06
future. And then the other one is Pete Alonzo and Pezza really kind of
17:11
can be kind of a divisive player right now because there's a sense that he's
17:15
really having a very down year, which you know, I mean, don't
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get me wrong, like I gain his average is two twenty three right now,
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that's not what you want, but also his babbit is two a one,
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his slugging is five twenty one, He's got thirty five, I mean,
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he's thirty five home runs. He's putting up a really good year and
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it's not all about bad, it's not. And his average is also looking
17:41
a little flukey right now. I you know, if if this, if
17:45
this season went on for a few more months, which will still a month
17:48
and a half, like that should come up. Yeah, And I mean
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I think then the good big question still remains about Pete and his future here
17:56
with the team. But like in terms of what you would hope to get
18:00
from Pete from this year, it's maybe not like what you would dream of,
18:06
but it's also like it's what the team needs. He's like filling the
18:11
expectations that the team had for him. Yeah, it's interesting to see where
18:18
certain aspects of this Mets team are going to go in the future. And
18:21
I think a lot within the Mets fan base and probably the organization themselves,
18:25
are already starting to look toward what free agency might actually look like. I
18:30
mean, and as we know, this team just spent a boatload of money
18:34
this past offseason, They're probably going to do the same thing this coming off
18:38
season as well, Maggie. I mean that, I mean conventional wisdom says
18:42
that's probably going to happen. I mean, what's the and I ask,
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what's the level of trust then between the fan base and the organization that they're
18:51
going to be able to make these right decisions in the future when trying to
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acquire free agent talent when they spent a boatload this past season, became sellers
19:00
at the trade deadline. So what do you think that level of trust is
19:03
going to be between the fan base and the organization there. I mean,
19:06
I think to some extent, I think the act the big like fire sale
19:11
this this season, if Mets fans are thinking about it rationally and I can
19:18
almost not even get that set fans thinking rationally that's a new one and like
19:22
and like, let's be real, Jeff, Mets fans, there you go
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special a special breed. But I mean, if that should, in theory
19:33
and gender somewhat more trust because it shows that the team is not delusional about,
19:44
you know, the challenges that they're facing. This is not you know,
19:48
five years ago, the Wilpons would have doubled down, would have traded
19:52
their last two decent prospects for I don't know Jabier Bias for example, and
20:00
have ended up in the exact same place. And also with no reason to
20:03
think that they were going to take a different tactic this off season, because
20:07
that was just the Mets under the Wilpons. It was the same thing over
20:11
and over again. They didn't like to admit they had made mistakes. They
20:15
didn't like to change gears seemingly ever, But this is a different situation,
20:22
and for better or worse, they're not afraid to take bold action to make
20:29
big changes, you know, both in terms of adding to the team and
20:33
then they're subtracting to the team. And I think, you know, at
20:36
a time like this, it's clear what the team needs is big changes because
20:41
because they've got big problems. So I think my hope is that there's going
20:45
to be a little bit more trust. I think they probably didn't do themselves
20:49
any favors by either lying to the press or lying to Max Cherser, like
20:56
one of those two things has happened, because they told Max Cherser they were
21:00
definitely not in for twenty twenty four, and that inspired him to wave his
21:06
no trade. So they were obviously incentivized to lie to him by that,
21:10
but also like it's not great to do that, and it's not great if
21:15
like you're lead into free ages. They'd be like, well, we thought
21:18
you were taking twenty twenty twenty four off and they're like, no, no,
21:21
no, we just lied to Max schers Or to get him to waive
21:23
his no trade. Like that seems like a tough jumping off point to me,
21:30
But like so I guess the question becomes like do you think they lied
21:33
to Max Scherzer and will that have any blowback? Or do you think they
21:40
lied to the press and the fan base in saying that they did not intend
21:45
to sit out the season In terms of free agency, Like you know,
21:49
there's there's a lot of competing messages, and I think you have to look
21:53
at what the team has done in recent years and you have to conclude that
22:00
Steve Cohen gets bored very easily and and and our benefit because he clearly,
22:07
I mean, he runs the team like a hobbyist, which is fine by
22:11
me because it actually like results in the team making moves instead of just kind
22:18
of sitting around and not really doing anything or acknowledging its own problems, which
22:23
has been the past, so I think, like, you know, I
22:27
think you can only conclude more bold moves in the future. I also think
22:32
it's, uh, it would be very foolish to assume that the Mets were
22:37
trying to get the best farm system in the whole wide world as opposed to
22:42
getting ready for some big trades, because that is would also be a major,
22:48
you know, way to address this team, and they now have the
22:52
resources for it with the trades. You know, I think it comes down
22:57
to, like, do you think do you think they're going to make terrible
23:03
moves? Because I will say, like it's easy, easy to find the
23:08
mistakes and how they ran this last off season, but also like especially at
23:15
the time, it wasn't like there were huge gaps in the logic. I
23:19
mean, obviously there were some issues with filling in the back end of the
23:22
bullpen, but you know, for that matter, it's easy tory, Yeah,
23:27
yeah, And you can make really smart moves around the bullpen and still
23:30
end up with a terrible bullpen like that is just part of life. And
23:34
you could say that like, well, they should have tried to go younger
23:37
with their pitching where they did do that. Kodei Senga. It has worked
23:41
for them, so you know, I think the trust thing, I think
23:45
just comes to how much you value making big, bold moves and the knowledge
23:52
that this team will almost certainly be doing that because that's just the personality of
23:57
who's in charge. It's gonna be interesting to see what this Mets off season
24:03
is like, of course, and how it really does set the tone I
24:06
think for other various components of variables within Major League Baseball itself. It's gonna
24:11
be fascinating to watch. And again, folks were talking to Maggie Wiggan from
24:15
a pod of their own subscribe on Apple podcast Spotify. They're on various podcast
24:21
platforms, and Maggie, you mentioned at the top of the show you touched
24:26
on some of the developmental pieces that have been brought up, you know,
24:30
through the farm system. And there's two particular gentlemen, and I hope I
24:34
don't mess up the names here. I consistently mess up names on this podcast
24:38
platform and show. But Louis angel Akunya and Drew Gilbert. They were acquired
24:44
at the trade deadline and both are in the Mets minor league system here at
24:48
this point, and they seem to be a potential important part of the future
24:53
of the team. And just again as an outsider looking in, you know,
24:57
I wonder if the Mets are this Mets organization is also realizing that building
25:03
the future means just ensuring that you're developing talent in the minor leagues in the
25:08
farm system. I know it sounds simplistic to say that, as I reflect
25:11
on the Philadelphia Phillies and how they neglected their farm system for so many years,
25:17
they finally have gotten back to the point where they're valuing development of players
25:22
that are coming up through the minors. So I wonder, do you think
25:23
this organization has the foresight to be thinking this way from from a long term
25:29
perspective in terms of what the Mets farm system is going to be down the
25:33
road. I mean, I think I think they are starting to approach it
25:37
the right way. And you know, I mean I point to Francisco Alvarez
25:40
as a great success for the Mets, and that is that absolutely is true.
25:42
It's the case, but on a broader level, they have had some
25:48
serious development issues for a long time. Just like they just don't hit very
25:55
often literally and figuratively. I mean, like, you know, I think
25:59
of and Amed Rosario was like number two on the Baseball Prospectives, you know,
26:06
top one hundred list, and he just he never ever clicked with the
26:10
Mets. There are many other, many others over the last several years who
26:14
kind of also fell away. You know, Brett Baity right now is really
26:18
struggling. I think he will be all right. But you know that they
26:22
have a development problem, and it's been talked about, you know, via
26:26
the media by prospect folks for years and years since while before Steve Cohen took
26:32
the helm. And the fact is that you know, they had they didn't
26:37
have great development staff. They didn't have a big development staff, and there
26:42
didn't seem to be much impetus to change that for whatever. And again this
26:47
kind of ties back to what I was saying before in terms of the Mets
26:48
used to just be so have such inertia. To get anything shifted just seemed
26:55
so difficult. There was, you know, was that like boys club.
26:59
You know, you want the guys who you've known forever, you know,
27:02
to stick around. But my understanding, and I would refer anybody who's interested
27:08
more to from Complex to Queens, our sibling podcast about Mets minor leagues and
27:15
prospects that that is changing, that that is an area that there has been
27:21
a lot of investment in in the last year. And of course this is
27:25
one of those things where you do have to wait a while to actually see
27:29
the fruits of this come to be. So I think they're and they're so.
27:33
And here comes the trust again of having kind of, you know,
27:37
sit back and wait to a certain extent to see what happens with a bigger
27:41
player development staff and a better player development staff. You know, I don't
27:45
know to what extent there have been changes around leadership there. I'm not,
27:51
you know, an expert, but certainly had big needs better leadership vibes.
27:57
But it's that's going to be key because we've seen this happened so many times
28:03
before. Then that's get good prospects. They have good prospects and they just
28:06
don't pan out. Dom Smith, I think, is another really good recent
28:11
example of this. But so so basically, which is basically to say,
28:18
like I think, we'd have to stick around and see what this new staff
28:22
can do. And then the flip side, also, as I mentioned before,
28:25
is I wouldn't be surprised if you know Akunya or Gilbert or Clifford.
28:30
Any of these folks were involved in some major trades this offseason because I do
28:37
think the Mets recognize their need to add, especially on the pitching side.
28:42
And this is not a terrible off season for pitching. There's you know,
28:47
there's no top shelf guys, really, but there's plenty of plenty of those
28:52
kind of like upper middle areas to work from. But even when Aaron Nola,
29:00
by the way from the Phillies is probably going to be a top three
29:03
free agent season, you know what the pitching situation is like, right,
29:08
but it's still but to some extent, it's still better than the last couple
29:11
of years, where like you had Verlander and you had like Rodan and that
29:18
was basically it like that is a really and this year you've got You've got
29:22
Nola, You've got Snell. There's there's a few other guys who are like
29:26
not quite as good as either of those two, but still kind of you
29:30
know, we're not players who aren't going to fill in the back end of
29:34
the rotation, but can be middle guys. And the Mets certainly need everybody,
29:41
you know, they need a front of the rotation to back of the
29:42
rotations. In the middle of the rotation. They've got two pitchers next year.
29:48
Yeah, so you know, I think the I mean certainly doesn't matter
29:53
what anybody says, the Mets are going to be making a serious run a
29:56
show, Heyotani, because what they've got to work with money and it caused
30:03
them nothing to beg and plead him to come here, and it might even
30:06
happen. But assuming that it doesn't, probably a safe bet. I do
30:11
wonder if they are going to try to make a play for a younger,
30:17
better pitcher than who is available in free agency, you know, someone else
30:23
to take that front spot who and I think they would, you know,
30:27
they would probably be in a situation where they were sending some money, maybe
30:32
doing one of those like pick up a bad contract at the same time deals
30:36
and selling out of this really flush farm system that they now have. I
30:41
think that's probably their backup to Otani kind of plan. Going to be interesting
30:45
to see where this mess organization and team goes in the future for sure.
30:48
And last topic, Maggie, just before we let you go here, just
30:53
a I guess quick answer here as we're running out of time. I just
30:59
wanted to get your feet back with regard to what happened with the Orioles.
31:03
Broadcaster Kevin Brown in that situation, he gave some viewers some stats they were
31:10
They were truthful stats on the air, not very flattering to the Orioles,
31:14
and the guy was suspended by the organization. Of course, this is blown
31:17
up, this particular storyline in Major League Baseball, and it's just one of
31:22
the most bizarre things that most of us have ever seen and think in sports
31:26
media in general. I don't know what were your thoughts about this situation,
31:30
and you know, what does it say about the Orioles As we're closing things
31:32
up here. I mean, it's such a treat anytime the Mets are not
31:38
the center of an embarrassing episode of Major League Baseball. So thank you to
31:44
the Orioles taking the heat off. But I mean, especially as a Mets
31:47
fan, it was kind of mind boggling. It is part because Mets fans
31:52
absolutely take for granted that they have the best booth in baseball. That is
31:56
also that the team again for whatever, and we're talking, you know,
32:00
even back when the Wilpons were We're running the show, and they notoriously you
32:07
know, picky about how they were presented. But even so, they always
32:16
let the Mets booth, radio NTV go pretty easy, like have you know,
32:23
have a lot of freedom to get into this stuff. So I mean
32:28
it's a little surprising to be reminded that that is not how it works.
32:31
And it was actually a good opportunity even for myself to be reminded that there's
32:35
a lot of situations where that where teams are not so accommodating. And you
32:43
know, and I think you know anyone who you can pull it up on
32:45
Google or something. Just Gary Cohen, the Mets play by play guy,
32:51
had a I mean you could call it a rant, a tirade, but
32:54
it was that that makes it sound a little more unhinged than it was.
33:00
I mean, it was just a really like a very uh well spoken because
33:05
that's Gary description of the situation and why it's appalling, and you know why
33:13
it's not. It's not the only time that this has happened, or you
33:16
know, maybe the most public time that this has happened, but this is,
33:20
you know, not unheard of. But it's really worth a listen because
33:23
he says it so much better than I ever could. But you know,
33:25
especially it just as a Mets fan. It just it was one of those
33:30
stakes where just like your jaw dropped, is this actually happening exactly? And
33:32
it's the Orioles, Like, I'm sorry. It was the fact that they
33:36
were terrible for years? Was that a secret? Exactly? Exactly? It
33:39
seems pretty well known, exactly. H Maggy Wiggan again folks from a pod
33:45
of their own. Herner co host do a fantastic job, and Maggie,
33:50
I'd love to have you on at some other point down the road. Love
33:52
talking baseball with you, and we will certainly have you just before just before
33:58
we go, though, I do want to ask all of your listeners to
34:00
stay tuned because we're going to be starting the lead up to our big fundraiser,
34:07
Dollars for Dingers, which is every September, and we have it's a
34:10
pledge drive where you can pledge money to the Domestic the National Domestic Violence Hotline
34:16
for every home run the Mets hit. We can also adjust it for other
34:22
teams fans and make little tweaks there, so that's something I would love everybody
34:25
to be involved in. We also have a raffle and a live event at
34:29
City Field, so just stay tuned for that because we're going to be ramping
34:34
up a lot of the announcements and prizes and all that cool stuff in the
34:37
next couple of weeks. So it's a really great time to be tuned into
34:40
a pot of their own, awesome pot of their own. And again,
34:44
follow Maggie on Twitter at Maggie one six two. She's a great follow and
34:49
you're gonna be able to get that detailed information about the good things they're doing
34:52
on her Twitter feed for sure. And I want to have you on down
34:57
the road. Let's talk about the best booth in baseball because we may have
35:02
a debate about that. Perhaps Okay, we may have a debate on that.
35:08
But anyway, it was great talking to you, Maggie. Fantastic as
35:13
always. Come back and join us down the road, my friend. Hi,
35:15
Well, thank you so much, Jeff. Maggie is always great to
35:19
talk to when it comes to Major League Baseball, specifically the New York Mets.
35:23
This team is really going to be going through some transitions, not just
35:28
in the short term, not just as they look towards twenty twenty four,
35:30
but really I love the conversation about the farm system and just how important farm
35:36
systems are to the development of teams and it's a long term thing. Being
35:40
Philadelphia Phillies fans, folks, we absolutely know what that is like. Thankfully
35:46
the Phillies have invested some dollars into the farm system just in terms of player
35:51
development, personnel, just in what is happening, whether it is in Reading
35:54
Double A, Lehigh Valley, Triple A as well. It's it's something where
36:00
I think we are going to see some transitions with certain teams and that's probably
36:04
being one of them in the future as it pertains the pertains of the Farm
36:07
system. So that being said again, it was great talking to Maggie and
36:10
it's gonna do it for us here on Opposition Territory. We've got a great
36:14
regular show coming to you dropping this Thursday morning, and we got some great
36:21
conversations. We got great conversations. Make sure you're following us on the Twitter
36:24
dot com at Philadelphia PST. Can follow me at Jeffrey Underscore Warren. We
36:29
are on Instagram as well. Just search out Philadelphia Sports Table and if anything
36:34
ever happens to your podcast feed or if you want to take a look at
36:37
or I should say, listen to some of our PST special podcast where we
36:40
did some movie reviews, talking about some music. Head on over to Philadelphia
36:45
Sportstable dot com. We've got all of our shows over there. Take care
36:47
of folks, and we will catch you next time.