0:01

From the berkshears to the sound from

0:04

wherever you live in MLB America.

0:06

This is inside the Parker.

0:08

You give us twenty two minutes and we'll give

0:10

you the scoop on major League Baseball.

0:13

Now here's Baseball Hall of

0:15

Fame voter number seventy, Rob

0:18

Parker.

0:21

Welcome into the podcast.

0:22

I'm your host, Rob Parker, and man,

0:25

what a show we have for you today. We're

0:27

going to try to digest

0:29

and figure out what happened with the Mets.

0:32

Tim Britton, who covers

0:34

the Mets for the Athletic He stops by with

0:36

some answers. We'll do that plus

0:39

more.

0:41

Let's go.

0:47

Better up to lead off, it's getting

0:50

robbed and keep them up. Rob's hot

0:52

take on the three biggest stories in Major

0:54

League Baseball.

0:57

Number one, without question,

1:01

the big winners of

1:03

detrayed deadline.

1:06

Astros and the Rangers.

1:09

Those gotta be the two teams that jump out

1:11

the most, and they're fighting neck and neck in

1:13

the Al West to win

1:15

the division. I don't know how did the Astros

1:17

get Justin Verlander back? He left the

1:19

Astros went to the Mets for

1:22

a more lucrative deal. They

1:24

lost the guy who last year won the

1:26

American League Cy Young Award, winning Comeback

1:28

Player of the Year, and they wind

1:30

up getting him back. And guess what, Verlander's

1:34

pitching well right now. So

1:36

imagine adding a guy like this for

1:39

the last two months of the season, a guy's

1:41

familiar with the organization, nosey

1:43

team, just one with you, and

1:46

you get them back. I mean it's a tremendous

1:48

blow to the Rangers

1:51

and a great pickup for the

1:54

Astros. And I will

1:57

say the Rangers, I give them credit. This

2:00

is not your grandfather's Texas

2:02

Rangers because they

2:04

went out spent big money for

2:08

Simeon and Seeger up the middle of half

2:10

a billion dollars in free agency a couple of years

2:12

ago. Here they are in

2:15

the division race, despite

2:18

losing Jacob to Gram earlier in the year.

2:21

Guess what they go do? They

2:23

bring in Max Schurzer and Jordan Montgomery.

2:26

I mean, that's

2:28

when you're in That's when you're saying,

2:31

we want to win this division and we're willing

2:34

to fight against the Astros

2:36

who have had a stranglehold on the Al

2:39

West over the last five or six

2:41

years, and the Rangers are refusing

2:43

to give up.

2:44

Here we are in August.

2:47

Coming into Wednesday's action, they still

2:49

led the division, even

2:52

though it's minuscule, but still they still

2:55

lead. And that says a lot about

2:57

this team and that they are

2:59

still trying to win here. So I

3:02

think those two teams for sure were

3:04

the biggest winners. And this is

3:07

gonna be a hell of a race down the stretch

3:09

between the Rangers between

3:11

the Astros. I picked the Rangers

3:13

to start the season to win

3:15

the AL West, and back then people thought I

3:17

was crazy. I was sugar though, but

3:20

I'm gonna stick with them. I still believe that

3:22

they will somehow, some

3:24

way hang on even if they lose

3:26

the race, you know, lose the division for a few

3:28

days or a week or two, they'll get

3:30

it back and they'll win the AL West.

3:33

But the Astros are right there now that they

3:36

have justin Ferland in the fold.

3:38

Number two the biggest

3:40

losers of

3:43

the trade deadline, I'm sorry, or

3:45

two of the biggest franchises with two

3:47

of the biggest payrolls, the Yankees

3:49

and the Dodgers.

3:51

The Yankees didn't do anything. I mean,

3:53

how could they not do anything?

3:54

Their offense is dead, They're

3:56

struggling to stay in the race, Judges

3:59

back, and then it's

4:01

gotta be the Dodgers. The

4:03

Dodgers need pitching help. And guess what. Not

4:07

only did Justin Verlander to decide

4:09

he'd rather go back to Houston and come and

4:11

play for the Dodgers, but

4:13

also the Dodgers had a trade

4:16

in place to get the Tiger

4:19

star lefty Eduardo Rodriguez,

4:22

and the trade fell apart when Rodriguez

4:25

exercises no trade rights.

4:29

How the Dodgers were one of ten teams

4:31

that Rodriguez would have had

4:33

to approve a deal as

4:35

part of trades rights negotiated in

4:38

the five year contract he signed as a free

4:40

agent two years ago. Why

4:43

Los Angeles and the Dodgers are on that list

4:45

is mind boggling.

4:48

They are a blue blood in baseball.

4:50

They're always in the mix over

4:53

the last ten to fifteen years, in the mix

4:55

of trying to win a World Series and

4:57

having the resources and going after play.

5:00

And this guy is the franchise of

5:03

Jackie Robinson.

5:03

They have history, tradition, all

5:06

that stuff, and he

5:08

doesn't want to play for the Dodgers. There

5:11

must be something I'm missing, because

5:13

I'm surprised that the Dodgers would wind

5:15

up being on any list that

5:18

somebody didn't want to go play for.

5:21

I can't figure it out.

5:23

Number three, no surprise,

5:26

the AL and the NL

5:29

Player of the Month al

5:33

Sho hal Tani, who

5:35

just had an absurd month

5:38

when you think about the entire season that he's

5:40

had, hosted a two to eighty two

5:43

batting average, one point

5:45

two OPS and al

5:47

best nine home runs over twenty three

5:50

games, and alongside four

5:52

starts in which he struck out twenty nine batters

5:54

in twenty five in a third innings.

5:57

Heroics continue and

6:00

and you know what, the Angels aren't out of it. They're

6:02

still playing some pretty good baseball.

6:04

Show haes a big part of it. So he

6:06

won American League Player of the Month, and

6:09

the NL Player of the Month is

6:11

a guy who you know is

6:14

looking like he could be the comeback

6:16

player of the year. I mean, look at what he's done.

6:19

And that's Cody Bellinger. This is the

6:21

guy won an MVP,

6:24

a Rookie of the Year and

6:26

fell off. The Dodgers got rid of him,

6:28

he went to the Cubs. He struggled, and

6:30

this past July he

6:33

had slash numbers were crazy four hundred,

6:36

four point thirty two, six ninety

6:39

that was his slash line with a one point one

6:41

two to two ops, eight home runs

6:44

and twenty four RBIs.

6:47

This is like the old Cody Bellinger and

6:51

uh he has a received This is the second

6:53

time he's won a Player of the Month award going

6:55

back to twenty nineteen. This is twenty

6:57

twenty three. This is

6:59

like a blast from the past. But

7:02

Cody Bellinger, for whatever reason, in

7:04

Chicago with the Cubs is

7:06

playing some really good baseball. He's only twenty

7:08

eight years old, so maybe

7:11

his career is not totally on the down side.

7:14

He looked like the player of all this.

7:16

Past chalat number

7:18

four.

7:20

Here's a bonus for getting

7:22

robbed and we talked

7:24

about it. That trade deadline came and went, a

7:26

lot of players moved on. I think

7:29

sometimes fans don't realize that players

7:32

get attached. They're not just

7:34

like, well, wherever I go, I go and here's

7:37

the money, and it doesn't know it makes everything

7:39

better. But we talked to former

7:42

Major league slugger David

7:44

Justice and he talked about how

7:47

hard it is he's been traded a few times

7:49

in his career, how hard it is to

7:51

adapt and accept being.

7:53

Traded hands

8:00

who you're getting traded to. If you're going to

8:02

a team that's in contention, then you're

8:04

excited. Like when I got traded to the Yankees,

8:06

there was an excitement there because I knew I

8:09

was going somewhere in which we're trying

8:11

to win. But the part

8:13

that's challenging is, you

8:16

know, players are used to their routine, Like

8:18

I had a routine in Cleveland. I know my

8:20

Starbucks I go to in the morning. I know a

8:22

time I'm going to the stadium. I know the

8:25

route that how long it takes me to get to the stadium.

8:27

When you get traded, it's like your whole life

8:29

is disrupted, and every team expects

8:32

you to be there the next day because I know,

8:34

usually Makeball gives you a couple of days sometimes, right

8:36

I know, you know, they expect you to be there the next

8:39

day. They expect you to go five

8:41

or five, they expect you to come in

8:43

bowling tell us. So there's a little bit of pressure

8:45

because you know you want to you want to come in and

8:48

do well. You want to you want everybody to see

8:50

why they traded for you. So there's a level

8:53

of pressure there. So there are teams that are challenging,

8:55

definitely, the living conditions, because when

8:57

you get traded, you got to get out of one

8:59

place, you got to find a place to live. They usually

9:01

put you in a sale for a week. I mean

9:03

a lot of things are kind of crazy in the very beginning of

9:06

a trade, specially during the season, but

9:08

eventually you know it works the self out.

9:10

But if you get traded from a real good team to

9:13

a team that you know is not going to play in the playoffs,

9:15

that point really sucks.

9:19

It's time for the pocket protector centrum,

9:22

the analytic numbers you need to know.

9:25

Well, maybe Anthony Masterson

9:27

is his name, BS

9:29

analytics is his game.

9:31

What do you got for me, Anthony?

9:33

The trade deadline has coming gone, and with it some

9:35

fans hopes and dreams. Okay, just the Mets,

9:37

but it got me thinking about some of the greatest deadline

9:40

acquisitions in recent memory and how many

9:42

times it's the minor move that makes the difference.

9:44

Who could forget the Red Sox trading a minor leaguer

9:46

for future World Series MVP Steve Pearson

9:48

twenty eighteen. But those guys don't

9:51

make headlines. How about the Tigers getting

9:53

Doyle Alexander for little known pitching prospect

9:55

John smolt in nineteen eighty seven. We all

9:57

know Smolts went onto the Hall, but Alexander

10:00

went nine to zero with a one to five to three ERA for

10:02

the Tigers, finishing fourth in the Cy Young

10:04

vote after just eleven starts in the AL

10:06

We know JD. Martinez is a World Series champ

10:09

with Boston, but he was one of the best deadline

10:11

deals in history in twenty seventeen, going

10:13

from Detroit to Arizona with the d

10:15

Backs. He hit twenty nine homers and drove

10:17

in sixty five both records for players

10:19

traded in July or later, including

10:22

a four homer game that helped d Backs at the playoffs.

10:24

Hall of Famer Fred McGriff willed the Braves

10:27

from eight games back of the Giants in nineteen ninety

10:29

three to the n West title, hitting nineteen

10:31

home runs and accumulating three point two

10:33

wins above replacement Randy

10:35

Johnson went ten to one with a one two eight

10:37

ERA and eleven starts for Houston in nineteen

10:40

ninety eight, though he went oh and two in the NLDS

10:42

that year, even allowing only three earned

10:44

runs in his two starts. And of course

10:47

there's Manny Ramirez. The birth of Manny

10:49

Wood in two thousand and eight after a deadline

10:51

deal from Boston, helped the Dodgers to the NLCS

10:54

for the first time in twenty years, as Manny

10:56

hit three ninety six with seventeen

10:58

home runs in just fifty three games, proving

11:01

so valuable he finished fourth in the

11:03

nl MVP voting that season. Who

11:05

will have that kind of impact this year? How about

11:07

Justin Verlander again?

11:09

Really turned money into more

11:11

money. Now it's time for betting on the

11:13

basis with Dave Gascott. Love

11:15

that money, Love that money.

11:17

Well, Rob, we can officially say goodbye to

11:19

the twenty twenty three New York Mets as they

11:21

ship off both Justin Verlander and

11:23

mag Scharzers. Sure's are going to Texas

11:25

and ver Lender back with the Houston Astros.

11:28

We're in New York against the Yankees on Friday

11:30

night and I'll take the Astros in that contest.

11:32

Luis Severino this season he's

11:34

been got awful a two and five record with an

11:36

ERA at seven and a half almost seven to

11:38

forty nine of me exact versus Hunter Brown.

11:41

Browns five seven and seven with

11:43

an ERA of four to twelve, but I'll take the Astros,

11:45

a much better team and more explosive

11:47

this year than the New York Yankees. Meanwhile,

11:50

Tampa's in Detroit against the Tigers. Tigers

11:53

also doing some fire sales as well. Zach

11:55

Lttel pitching for Tampa in that

11:57

contest. So why they pitched a handful of

11:59

game so far this year, but Tampa trying to keep

12:02

pace with the Baltimore Warials. I will

12:04

take Tampa in Detroit against

12:06

the Tigers. Cubbies aren't playing bad

12:09

ball. They're against the Atlanta Braves at home,

12:11

KYLEA. Hendricks versus Max Free and that pitching

12:14

matchup. I'll take the Cubbies at home

12:16

against the atl Chicago try

12:18

to do all they can the National League Central

12:20

Division while the Braves try to run away

12:22

with the American League East.

12:24

When Rob was a newspaper columnist,

12:27

he lived by this motto, if

12:29

I'm writing, I'm ripping. Let's

12:31

bring in a writer or broadcaster, old

12:33

or new.

12:34

All right, now, let's welcome into the podcast.

12:36

Tim Britton. He covers the Mets for

12:38

The Athletic And.

12:39

My, oh my, Tim, what

12:42

a couple of days you've had and

12:44

the Mets have turned into the mess MBSs.

12:49

What went wrong here and why

12:51

did the Mets just decide that this cannot

12:54

go further and decide to dump

12:56

all their star pitching.

12:58

Yeah, I mean, so much has gone for the Mets in

13:00

the twenty twenty three season. I think you go back to the World

13:03

Baseball Classic, Edwin Diaz suffering

13:05

that injury that seems to be kind of like that first

13:07

push of the rock getting it down the hill in the wrong

13:10

direction for them this year. You know,

13:12

Justin Verlander missed the first month of the season. Max

13:14

Scherzer struggled his

13:16

first couple of weeks, you know, he had his sticky stuff suspension.

13:19

It's been kind of an everything that could go

13:21

wrong has gone wrong situation for them, and

13:24

just the talent level on the team that hasn't

13:26

lived up to what they thought it was last year,

13:28

and they decided that the best course moving forward

13:31

was to kind of reset things, to get

13:33

prospects that they could you know, basically pay for prospects

13:35

and trading Verlander and Schurzer and

13:38

see if they could reset things for you know, a couple

13:40

of years down the road from now.

13:42

I think you're spot on just so many things

13:44

right out the gig. This team won one hundred and one

13:46

games last year, and you

13:48

figure, because I know a lot of people are ripping the

13:51

Mets. Oh you know, you can't buy a

13:53

championship, and the owner went out

13:55

and spent all this money.

13:56

You won one hundred and one games, and you add the

13:58

American League SA Young Award when a

14:00

comeback Player of the Year, you would

14:02

think you'd be better, Am I right? Tim?

14:05

Yeah?

14:05

I mean, and you look at it. It was so many things

14:07

that went wrong this year. They went right last year

14:10

that probably wasn't a true talent one hundred and

14:12

one win team. You had a lot of players

14:14

playing, you know, even if they weren't career best

14:16

seasons, they were seasons close to it for

14:18

them. And then this year a lot of those guys

14:20

have taken pretty large steps back. You look

14:22

at a guy like Starling Marte, who was such an integral

14:25

part of their lineup last year, he just

14:27

hasn't found a rhythm really at all, four months

14:29

into the season. He's missed some time lately as well,

14:31

So I think, you know, you look at this roster as

14:33

a whole, and it's so many

14:36

steps back by veterans that makes you question

14:38

you know, man, we're bringing back the same group again in

14:40

twenty twenty five, in twenty twenty four, what really

14:42

can we expect out of them? And that's why they decided

14:45

to push the time frame a little further beyond that.

14:48

How about when it comes to Scherzer

14:52

and Perlander. Obviously, whenever

14:54

you sign or you have older

14:57

pictures, this can happen. I

14:59

mean, god, break down, guys

15:01

can not perform as

15:03

well. You know, you never know. But

15:06

in this case, why not

15:08

say, well, just it was a bad

15:10

year, things didn't go right for us. We'll

15:12

hold on to them and try again

15:15

next year. Or do they just realize this is broken

15:17

and can't be we're paid?

15:19

I think this reasonable question. I think that was That's

15:21

a route they could have taken over this last

15:23

week. You know it's I know, people

15:25

say, you signed a thirty eight year old pitcher and Max Suers,

15:28

or in a forty year old and Justin Berlin, what do you expect?

15:30

Well, the forty year old Justin Erlin won the Cy

15:32

Young last year. He's been the third best pitcher in baseball.

15:34

The last month and a half, thirty eight year

15:36

old Maxuers had the lowest ERA of his career

15:38

last season. It's it's not like these guys were already

15:41

in decline. But I think the Mess looked

15:43

at it, you know, both of their stuff, that the

15:45

stuff that each pitcher has has declined a little

15:47

bit this year. I think they said, you know, the

15:49

odds of these guys being healthy A

15:52

and B as good as there they usually

15:54

are next year when they're thirty nine and

15:57

forty one is probably not that

15:59

high. And you know, in

16:01

this instance, if you consider the money spent the

16:03

way the Mets have, you could maybe trade

16:06

them in for prospects who help you on a different

16:08

timeline. I think it's it's arguable

16:10

whether that was the right move, but when they

16:12

decided to go for it, they went all in on that decision.

16:15

Our guest is Tim Britton. He covers the Mets

16:18

for the Athletic Anybody

16:21

else other than Buck Showalter

16:24

would have been fired during the season.

16:25

I mean, it just was really bad.

16:28

And Buck is a veteran manager and a

16:30

good one and won one hundred and one games last

16:32

year, so I understand why he got

16:34

the benefit of the doubt to see if it could turn

16:36

around.

16:37

But can he survive this? And I

16:39

have to ask the same question about the GM after

16:42

such a disaster.

16:44

Well, I think that they gave Billy Eppler kind

16:47

of the latitude to make trades this large

16:50

at the deadline suggest that he's going to be an integral

16:52

part of this front office moving forward. You know, Steve

16:54

Cohen said in late June, they're still

16:57

looking to hire a president of Baseball operations.

16:59

They've been looking to hire or president of baseball operations

17:01

since he came aboard, basically in late twenty twenty.

17:03

So, you know, Billy Eppler might not be the

17:05

chief baseball decision maker by this time

17:08

next year, but I think he'll still be part of the decision

17:10

making group, a key part of it. With Show Walter.

17:13

He's got one year left on his contract after this season.

17:15

You know, it's an interesting debate. Does the

17:18

decision not to punt on twenty

17:20

twenty four but maybe not to be a serious

17:22

World Series contender, does that make them more likely

17:25

to bring him back and you know, find someone else

17:27

at the end of his contract in twenty twenty five, or

17:29

do they say this is the chance to get someone

17:31

else in who fits our timeline a little bit better,

17:34

someone who integrates young players at a different

17:36

level than than Buck has over his past couple

17:38

stops and decide to go in a different direction.

17:40

There popball fans in New York.

17:43

I mean, they were optimistic after last

17:45

year, even though it was disappointing when

17:47

they lost to the Padres. But the Padres had

17:49

something going at the end of the year. They beat the Dodgers,

17:51

they beat the Mets. But I

17:54

just wonder, where's the

17:56

fan base. You know, you got the big time

17:58

Mets fan owner

18:01

with deep pockets and we're going forward

18:03

and look what we did and a

18:05

dud.

18:06

Are they bummed out? Well?

18:08

I think actually the last couple of days have given

18:10

them some cautious optimism because

18:13

they, you know, Schuzer and Verlander were guys

18:15

who have not necessarily endeared themselves to

18:17

the fan base because they've barely been here. I mean,

18:19

Justin Verlander made sixteen starts as a New York Met.

18:21

It's going to be a very weird lip in his Hall

18:24

of Fame career. So it's not like,

18:26

you know, it's not trading Tom seaver in nineteen seventy

18:28

seven for the Mets. It's not trading someone

18:30

who was more entrenched with this organization.

18:33

So there is a plan now that that's a little bit

18:35

more obvious, But I think the real question is going

18:37

to be what happens this offseason. Do they go

18:39

right back into free agency and dive in and

18:42

try to sign some you know, there's obviously show Heyo,

18:44

Tony, there's obviously some pretty big free agent

18:46

pictures out there, and that's where the need is on this roster.

18:49

Or do they do what they've been saying they're going to

18:51

do and take a more conservative approach, see

18:53

what they can sign up up for smaller short

18:55

term deals and see what pans out

18:57

there, and then try to be better in twenty twenty five,

19:00

twenty twenty six. I don't know if the fan base

19:02

is of that patient here in New York.

19:04

I was going to say, you know, when I hear people

19:06

say, oh, they should strip it down, do what the Astros

19:09

did or whatever. I don't know if you could

19:11

do that in New York. You can't tell people that, hey,

19:14

come back in five years, come see us

19:16

in five years, because people

19:18

expect you to compete to a certain

19:20

degree. Not not that you've got to win a World Series,

19:23

but nobody's looking for the Mets to scale

19:25

back to the point where they're

19:27

unwatchable and you just you got kids

19:29

out there.

19:30

Am I misreading it?

19:32

No?

19:32

I think you're right. I think the front office knows

19:34

that that's Billy Eppler has said it's

19:37

not a rebuild. He's not going to go on a five to seven

19:39

year process. You know. I think we can semantically

19:41

debate whether it's a rebuild if it's a three year process.

19:45

You know, but fans

19:47

might look at what the Astros did or the Cubs did

19:49

and said, oh, like, I'd be okay with that, But

19:51

they didn't live through those years in Houston

19:53

and Chicago when they were losing one hundred and five plus

19:55

games year in and year out. That's

19:58

a tough thing to go through, especially when you don't know

20:00

that it's going to come out on the other side of the championship.

20:03

Tim Britton from the Athletic joining

20:05

us here on Inside the Parker. He

20:07

covers the Mets, and you mentioned show he

20:10

Tani and I want to get to him because Bob

20:14

Nightingale, the baseball columns

20:16

for USA Today, does a great job. He

20:19

tweeted out that the Mets

20:21

are off o Tani's list, and they're

20:23

not. He wouldn't be interested especially

20:25

with what happened this year. Do you think that that's

20:28

real legit or you know,

20:31

nobody really knows at this point.

20:32

I mean, I'm never going to presume to know what showe

20:35

Heyo Tani wants. I don't think anyone does.

20:37

He hasn't kind of made a whole list of printeria.

20:39

I think there is the assumption that he wants to win

20:42

now and in the present tense, and

20:44

that would be one of the reasons he would leave Anaheim

20:46

is to win now. And if the Mets

20:48

are in d taking a little bit of a step back, even if it's

20:50

just for twenty twenty four, might be a little bit

20:52

harder for them to for them to sell him

20:55

on the vision of like, hey, come here, win a World

20:57

Series right away, in the same way that you know,

20:59

the Dodger can pitch

21:01

that Teham a little bit more easily with their successive

21:03

l The.

21:05

Other thing is, and I know we talk about the pitching

21:07

and whatnot, but the hitting,

21:10

and you mentioned it.

21:11

Even Francisco Lindor.

21:14

He had a really good year last year when they won one

21:16

hundred and one, but his tenure in

21:19

New York just hasn't really been that good. Or lived

21:21

up to the contract. What do the

21:23

Mets do with him? I mean, when

21:25

can they go from here a home dinner, maybe a

21:27

show. I mean, I don't know what to do.

21:29

You can do all that in New York. At least he's

21:32

signed through twenty thirty one, so you know, it

21:34

doesn't matter how far you're pushing the timeline back. He's part

21:36

of this organization for a while

21:39

now. You know, it's been an up and down

21:41

tenure for him so far. I think because of

21:43

the presidency brings as a

21:45

plus defender at a premium position at short stop,

21:47

that he is pretty much in the

21:49

lineup every day. I think he's had one stint

21:53

on the injured list in his three years here that

21:55

that makes him a valuable player, even if

21:57

he's not the superstar player that you want him

21:59

to be for his contract. And he's had stretches

22:02

this season where he's carried the offensive

22:04

load a little bit. It just hasn't been the same consistent

22:07

offensive production that we saw from him last year.

22:10

One last thing, Ronald Lacunya's

22:12

brother was traded to the Mets, and

22:14

I mean, of course Mets fans here Acuna

22:17

and go, oh my god, maybe we got something,

22:20

give me the you know, scouting

22:23

report on him, and you know,

22:25

tell people who don't know who he is, and

22:28

you know what the people are saying about his possible

22:32

future in the major league.

22:34

It's luis Anhelacuna. He is an

22:36

infielder at this point. He's actually a shortstop who

22:39

the Mets have sent double a. There's the idea

22:41

that he might move around defensively, play second base

22:43

or even center field down the line.

22:46

A guy who looks a lot like his brother in terms

22:48

of his swing, but doesn't have quite the same

22:50

power as Ronald does. So I don't

22:53

think you're going to project you know, forty home or

22:55

eighty stolen based season the way around.

22:57

Lacuna Junior is on pace for this year. But a guy

22:59

that the Mets think and be a solid regular for them.

23:01

He's probably the best prospect they got back

23:03

in the last week to ten days and the guy they're pretty

23:06

excited about, feeling that he could

23:08

be ready, you know, by the end of twenty twenty four or

23:10

early twenty twenty five.

23:12

His name is Tim Britton, and man who got

23:14

information for us on the Mets,

23:17

or as I call him now, the mess MBSs.

23:20

My goodness, gracious, I thought

23:22

they bounced back. I just thought they had too

23:25

much talent, especially when you

23:27

have pictures like that at the top of your rotation.

23:29

I just cannot believe they're not. They

23:31

fell out of it and aren't making the playoffs. But thanks

23:34

for your insight. We appreciated, Tim, and

23:36

I guess for the rest of the season you could

23:38

bring that mop with you and mop things up because

23:41

that's that's where the Mets are added anytime.

23:44

Thanks for having me round.

23:47

Now bring in the closer,

23:50

right. You know, here's why MLB

23:52

is better than the NFL or NBA,

23:55

and it isn't even close.

23:59

Reason number of five and fifty

24:01

five. Why Major League Baseball is

24:03

better than the NBA and

24:05

better than the NFL. It's

24:09

because the game is better. I'm sorry.

24:12

And you know what when I say

24:15

to the game is better is because

24:17

of some of the changes that

24:19

have changed the game and

24:21

made it more appealing. Major

24:24

League Baseball's attendance is up nine

24:27

percent. I

24:29

think you'd be hard pressed to find the NFL

24:32

or the NBA to say that they ever had a

24:34

nine percent increase on attendance

24:37

and the games which we know with the rule

24:39

changes, the pitch clock and

24:42

no shifts and larger bases.

24:45

The games are average are

24:47

now two hours and thirty nine minutes,

24:50

not the four hour jobs, and people

24:52

are showing up in droves at

24:55

the ballpark. The best attendance

24:58

in Major League Baseball. It's nineteen

25:00

ninety eight, since the

25:02

steroid era when

25:05

everybody was hitting home runs out the park. The

25:08

changes have worked and

25:10

people are enjoying their experience at

25:12

the ballpark.

25:13

Even though it's shorter.

25:15

Sure you have shorter beer sales,

25:17

and you don't have a lot of time

25:19

to mess around doing anything else. If

25:22

you blink, you might miss six innings. I mean,

25:24

that's how fast the game is moving. But

25:26

the pace is right.

25:29

It's not too fast, it's not too

25:31

slow. It feels right.

25:33

You know. I've been to a.

25:34

Ton of games this summer all over America,

25:37

and I've enjoyed it, and

25:40

fans have enjoyed it. If you're the commissioner,

25:43

Rob Manford, you've got to be thrilled

25:46

to make major changes in the

25:48

game and

25:50

see these kind of attendance numbers.

25:53

Streamings up, TV waitings

25:55

are up. There are a lot of young

25:57

stars in baseball. I just

26:00

we'll wait and see. In the NFL and

26:02

the NBA, but I cannot imagine

26:05

neither one of those sports

26:07

showing a growth in attendance

26:10

at the stadiums of nine

26:12

percent. It is truly remarkable

26:14

when you think of where we were a few

26:16

years ago with the pandemic and no

26:19

fans in the crowd. It's incredible. In

26:28

the words of New York TV legend the

26:30

late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for

26:32

your time this time until next time,

26:34

Rob Parker out DK Davin.

26:37

This could be an inside the

26:39

Parker See you next week, same bat

26:41

time from same Matt station.