00:00In the card, everybody's going to say, okay, Dex and Anthony, when are you guys going to add a bat?
00:05When are you going to add a big bat to this lineup?
00:07Because some of you guys out there will say you can always have some more offense.
00:12And I guess the question here, Anthony, is is this lineup missing, I don't want to say missing star power because they've got stars here, but do they need another bat?
00:21And you mentioned a name earlier in Byron Buxton, who fills a need in center field.
00:27We also know he can give you a little bit in terms of the power and hitting as well, too.
00:33But then on this market, you've got Kyle Schwarber, right, who we know could absolutely bring the power.
00:38We've seen it.
00:39Unfortunately, the Mets have been on the receiving end of that from his time with the Phillies.
00:42And then, you know, you've got Alex Bregman, who can also maybe fill a need if you're not going to go with Beatty at third.
00:48But does that also block him?
00:50But he's somebody who can provide power, although he's a lot older.
00:54So I would have some concerns there.
00:56Any of these names, any other names, do the Mets need a big bat?
01:01Is this something you've got to keep in the card or something you put back on the shelf?
01:06No, we're keeping this in the card.
01:08And I'm not even talking about a trade for Byron Buxton.
01:11I want Kyle Schwarber on this team.
01:15I want to take him from the Phillies.
01:16I've wanted him ever since he was in Boston.
01:18I want that offensive production.
01:20Could you imagine him in the lineup with Lindor, with Juan Soto, with Pete Alonso?
01:27And I'm saying, yes, both of those guys I want.
01:30Because maybe you can get Kyle Schwarber on a shorter-term deal.
01:34He'll be the DH.
01:35And by the time his contract is over, maybe it'll be time for Pete Alonso to move from first base and finally be DH.
01:43Alex Bregman would be nice to get, but I think I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt, and I can't believe I'm saying this.
01:51I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt to Brett Beatty of how well he played in the second half of the season, offensively, defensively.
01:59If that's one less player and money you need to spend to focus on other things, I think I'm going to keep Brett Beatty at third.
02:08So give me Kyle Schwarber.
02:09That's the guy I want.
02:10That's the power I want.
02:11Have a little bit of a type of bash brothers with him and Pete Alonso.
02:15That would be a way to me to replace Brandon Nimmo's offensive production.
02:20Oh.
02:22I was thinking about putting this on the shelf.
02:24And now you got me thinking about it.
02:26Do I want to put this on the shelf?
02:31Do the Mets need – well, there's bats they need at parts in the lineup.
02:36And you actually bring up a really good – what really made me consider it was your plan with Schwarber and putting him at DH.
02:42Because it's fair to question, do the Mets have an answer at DH in their lineup?
02:47And if you don't fill the DH spot with somebody who's serviceable, that you can trust, you're potentially talking about Mark Vientos there again.
02:58And some Mets fans out there watching this discussion may feel differently about Mark Vientos.
03:02I'm leaning to Vientos as a player that it might be time for the Mets to move on from.
03:08Might be.
03:09At least definitely for any positions of playing in the field.
03:13That's for sure.
03:14DH is probably his position, but can you do better than that?
03:17Schwarber is absolutely better than that.
03:20We know that for sure.
03:22It would boost the lineup.
03:23It would not, I think, put as much pressure offensively on someone like a Marcus Simeon,
03:27who would be coming to this lineup that should be much further down in the order,
03:31that is not the hitter that he once was, but is still a fantastic defensive player.
03:37I – you might have convinced me, Ant.
03:39You might have convinced me here.
03:41I think I'm going to go with keeping the big bad addition in the card.
03:45With that being said, it would have to be Schwarber because I don't know if there's another name out there
03:52that I'm inclined to be like, okay, that's a guy you're going to sign that you can plug right in
03:59and fits perfectly, right?
04:01Like, I don't – I just don't see it.
04:04Bregman, I'm kind of with you.
04:05The age is a concern for me.
04:07And I've also – I'm with you.
04:09I've seen enough from Beatty where I'm actually okay with him at third.
04:12I thought he played good defense.
04:14I thought he hit well.
04:15It was unfortunately got hurt at the end of the season, as you mentioned.
04:18But if it's Schwarber, I'm here.
04:22I'm here for it.
04:24If you get him on a shorter deal and you get him and Pete, look, in terms of offense
04:29and then we'll see whatever happens at the outfield.
04:32See, see, Anthony – and let's bring Anthony back up on the screen.
04:36Anthony, you swayed me.
04:39But, see, now I'm going to blame you.
04:42I'm not really blaming you, but Mets fans are now going to be dreaming
04:45when they hear this from you.
04:46They're like, I can see it.
04:47I can see Pete.
04:49I can see Schwarber in the lineup.
04:51I can see good things for the Mets offense.
04:53I like the dream.
04:54I like the vision.
04:55I'm with you.
04:56I'm going to keep – I like it.
04:57I like it.
04:58Listen, this team struggled with runners in scoring position.
05:01We saw it all season long.
05:02Outside of that big August that they had, they struggled with runners
05:05in scoring position.
05:06Who was the best player for that?
05:08It was Brandon Nimmo, and he's gone now.
05:10This team, as much as I love the run prevention
05:12and the defensive philosophy, you still have to score runs to win.
05:16And if you have Pete Alonzo, who's already proven here in Queens,
05:20we know Kyle Schwarber could probably hag it here in Queens as well,
05:24especially to right field.
05:25We've seen him hit monster home runs.
05:27I think that having those two in the lineup, I think it's a huge positive to me.
05:32But that's the only big offensive bat that I really care about right now
05:36is Kyle Schwarber, outside of Pete.
05:38We might have to just change what we're keeping in the card to sign Kyle Schwarber.
05:43That might be it.
05:44That might be it.
05:46But listen, if they could add another bat – and you know what?
05:49And I also will – as I'm thinking through of this,
05:52which is the fun of this exercise, you know, one of the things I think you talked
05:57about a lot in your podcast last year, I talked a lot about on this show,
06:01particularly in the beginning of the season for the Mets,
06:04was how top-heavy the lineup was, right?
06:07You know, you had the Fantastic Four.
06:09They were producing.
06:10You felt like you didn't know what they were going to get beyond that,
06:12and that was a huge part of the problem.
06:15I'm going to say the same thing that I just said with the pitching rotation.
06:18If you can just make things a little bit deeper in the lineup, right,
06:21where one guy is maybe not hitting higher up in the order,
06:25now it takes some pressure off a guy like Francisco Alvarez, right,
06:29who now maybe is sitting in the sixth hole and feels a bit better
06:33about how he's going to produce.
06:34Or Brett Beatty, who could be hitting seventh or wherever he may be hitting.
06:38These are guys who now can relax a little bit,
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