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00:00Thank you all so much. I appreciate you all. Keep doing your thing, spreading some love and joy out there and not being too harsh on us old boys, because like I said, we don't want to stink either.
00:10So y'all have a great season as well. We'll catch up.
00:12You won't be harsh about what bag you bring. Only if it's well or not.
00:17Fair.
00:18John, a friend of the program is back again with a new team. Luke Weaver, for the first time as a Met, is joining the show.
00:26Yeah, he's not just a friend. I think he's a bestie of the show, right? I think he and Harrison Bader are our most frequent player guests.
00:33I think this will be his third appearance tying Bader. So great guy. Terrific with the media. We appreciate it.
00:41It's another little more evidence that the Mets get even better with the media.
00:45Yeah. Yeah. We'll probably get into that some during the show.
00:49We'll get into some news with the Mets about where Juan Soto was playing on the field.
00:55And if Francisco Lindor is playing at all this spring training and we're going to try a little something different on the show, we've got a bunch of questions from our listeners.
01:03Thank you so much for that, listeners. John and I will do our best to answer it.
01:06We'll play hit and error at the end if you stick with us on the show with Joel Soto and John here.
01:15Well, John, we've begun for real.
01:17Well, you're sitting, I believe, in your hotel room, Tampa.
01:22I'm sitting in my hotel room in Port St. Lucie.
01:25Yours looks nicer. You have a nicer room.
01:27I'm a little upset.
01:28This is, you know, I'm not too happy.
01:31Paris, Florida. I can't believe the lap of luxury I'm in.
01:35Anyway, we're here.
01:36The Yankees, of course, being the Yankees, haven't let reporters into their complex yet.
01:41The Mets, being the Mets, who are much more media friendly, have let people into their complex.
01:46And David Stearns, this is we're recording on Tuesday afternoon.
01:50And earlier Tuesday afternoon, he did a press briefing and it opened it up with two bits of somewhat significant news.
01:57Number one, Juan Soto will be playing left field this season.
02:01And more potentially problematic, Francisco Lindor is going for some testing on Wednesday.
02:08In the worst outcome, he's going to, he has a stress reaction in his left handmaid.
02:14And he's going to need surgery.
02:16The heel time to, from surgery to being able to play in major league games, is six weeks.
02:23Spring training is six weeks.
02:24And David Stearns suggested that their shortstop would be their opening day shortstop.
02:31I'm in the wait and see category when there's surgery and the player is 32.
02:37But, John, I have thoughts on this.
02:39I'm going to be writing it for the post.
02:40But at least let me throw it out to you before I kind of, like, give a little preview of what I'm writing.
02:45Well, if he can make it after a six-week layoff and, what, three days of spring training, I mean, we're going to probably get to the point where we don't need spring training for some guys.
02:56I don't know.
02:56It'll be, I would think it'll be pretty amazing.
02:59It'll be practice for next year when we're rushing after the lockout and whenever the CBA signs.
03:04Yeah, yeah.
03:05Well, I hope there'll be more than three days next year.
03:08You know, the guy's very, Lindor, a very reliable guy.
03:11You know, he's hardly ever injured.
03:14You know, I can see why he'd be optimistic.
03:16That looks mega optimistic, though.
03:18We'll see.
03:19If he does need the surgery, it's not a guarantee, I guess.
03:22But it sounded like they're announcing it today.
03:25I'm going for the look-see tomorrow.
03:27It sounded like they're thinking this is a real possibility.
03:30So that's unfortunate.
03:32Soto to left field.
03:34You know, obviously didn't have a great year in right field last year.
03:38So, you know, I can't blame him.
03:39Yeah, well, let's do Soto because I think this is the easy one.
03:44Soto has been practicing in left field all offseason because he's going to play left field for the WBC team, the Dominican Republic WBC team, because Fernando Tatis Jr. plays right field.
03:56And Soto has lots of experience in left field.
03:58He was the left fielder on the Championship Nationals in 2019.
04:01And by the way, he was Tatis' teammate in 2023 and played left field that whole season before coming to the Yankees.
04:08So, look, the Mets have insisted multiple times this offseason, John, that Soto has told him he's dedicating himself to being a better defensive player this year in the way he dedicated himself to being a better base runner last year and turns into like nearly a 40-40 player.
04:26And so, let's see.
04:28He's still in his prime years if he could do that.
04:30That doesn't concern me.
04:33The Lindor one's a little different.
04:35You mentioned, John, is like, you know, you would see Mr. Smiles in the fashion.
04:39I mean, Francisco Lindor is a tough guy.
04:43He plays through a lot.
04:44The four players who have played the most games over the last four years is Matt Olsen, the first baseman of the Braves, one, Pete Alonso, now of the Orioles, two, and three and four are Lindor and Soto.
04:56These guys are Ironmen.
04:58And the Mets have not had to know the name of their backup shortstop pretty much since the moment Lindor came to the team.
05:05And today I was the one who asked the question.
05:06I was like, well, who's your backup shortstop?
05:08And, like, Stearns didn't want to answer that question.
05:11He just kept going back to that he's going to be back.
05:16And even if he's back, like, do you really want to push it early?
05:18I mean, whatever.
05:20Can you survive with Greg Kessinger or Vidal Brujan for a few weeks?
05:26I guess so.
05:27But, like, for a guy who obsesses on depth, Stearns hasn't created a lot.
05:32There's not a lot there.
05:33Jet Williams was traded in the offseason.
05:35Might he have been a guy who got some shortstop time early on?
05:39I mean, he wouldn't even really talk about Stearns when I asked the question.
05:42Well, when I saw he was dodging, I was like, well, who's going to play shortstop for the next six weeks?
05:46I assume you're going to put a shortstop on the field.
05:49And it's just...
05:49What about Mauricio?
05:50Mauricio.
05:51He said Mauricio a little, which to me means Mauricio isn't a shortstop anymore.
05:56Like, maybe he'll keep playing a little bit.
05:58But the fact that it is in him a lot says a lot to me.
06:01John, and I just think it's part of a bigger issue, which is the Mets are going through a lot of change overall this offseason, right?
06:09They're changing about 40% of their roster from what had been a very stable group for a couple of years.
06:15And Stearns had said after the failure of last year that there was going to be change.
06:18There was a lot of change.
06:19And then there's a lot of positional change within that and leadership change.
06:24And the two cornerstones are supposed to be Soto and Lindor.
06:27And there's a lot of pressure on, to me, on David Stearns.
06:31John, would you dare say, I'm curious your thoughts.
06:34Is there more pressure on anyone in baseball than David Stearns to get this right?
06:38That his theory of the world, which is let's not, like the two long contracts I inherited, Lindor and Soto are the ones I'm living with.
06:46Unless you're like a 25-year-old Japanese phenom or something along those lines.
06:51I mean, he'll give a lot of money short-term to Tucker or Bichette, but he doesn't want to go long-term yet.
06:56We'll see what that means with Tarek Skubal next offseason.
06:59But for now, that's what he's done.
07:01It's year three.
07:02Great success with kind of not his team.
07:05Lesser success.
07:06And this really feels like his team for the first time.
07:10Like this is fully his imprint.
07:12I think there's a lot of pressure that David Stearns' group get this right so that he doesn't lose any more glow.
07:19Well, yeah, I mean, I think he's only going to lose glow, though, if things don't go well.
07:26Right, right.
07:26That's what I'm saying.
07:27He's not going to lose his job.
07:29Right.
07:29You know, he's not in jeopardy for his job.
07:31He certainly has a big track record and a big contract, so I don't see that happening.
07:36I mean, he made clear he didn't love what happened last year.
07:40The fans obviously didn't love it.
07:41And he made big changes and got rid of the four longest tenured guys.
07:47You know, technically, yeah, he didn't really technically didn't inherit Soto.
07:52But I know what you mean.
07:53Right.
07:53Obviously, that was a cone deal.
07:54So I guess you could say inherited that deal.
07:57So, you know, he's willing to do long term, but in only extreme cases like Yamamoto, which would have been great if they had gotten Yamamoto.
08:04Obviously, he's probably the third best pitcher in the world.
08:08You know, I do think there is pressure on him, but not in terms of his job.
08:13So, you know, they're guys with more pressure because they have to worry about their job and he doesn't.
08:18Yeah, you know, John, well, it's obviously a big part of this season.
08:23Look, a big part of our show moving forward is we're going to try to set up shows where we take questions from our audience.
08:30John and I, I'll speak for John here.
08:32We're always appreciative of how many people listen and in this case, send in questions.
08:36We're going to answer a few of these here.
08:38Let's open it up with Carson Matthew on Twitter.
08:42He asked, on a scale of one to ten, what are your thoughts on Carson Bench starting in left field for my New York Mets?
08:47I guess I could say zero because Soto is going to be the left fielder, but I would at no lower than 50 percent and as much as 75 percent that he'll be the starting right fielder.
08:59John, it seems to me that Stearns wants to make an imprint with young players by breaking in a few every year.
09:07And the Mets internally see Carson Bench as one of the ten best prospects in the sport, and they want him to break through.
09:14I think if he shows it in spring training, he's going to be starting against Paul Skeens on March 26th.
09:20What do you think?
09:21Yeah, I think you're right.
09:22I think Bench will be the right fielder.
09:24So I think that the answer is yes to that because we didn't know when, obviously, when he sent that question in that Soto was now moving to left field.
09:31So, yeah, they believe in Bench, another Oklahoma City, sorry, Oklahoma State guy.
09:37I'm getting NBA mixed up like you, like Utah, I love the NBA.
09:41But Oklahoma State guy like McLean, another huge prospect for the Mets, and they really believe in him.
09:48So hopefully the proof's in the pudding.
09:50We'll see.
09:50This year, I do believe.
09:51Yeah, next question is from Ryan underscore H67, also from Twitter.
09:58What are your expectations for the Mets this season, and do you think they lack something to be a winning team?
10:02Why don't you take that one first, John?
10:04Yeah, I mean, I think they should be, the expectations should be similar last year.
10:08I mean, in terms of the expectations there were last year, not how they finished.
10:12I think they look like about a 90-win team.
10:14I know they had 91 last year.
10:16I think they're probably about the same this year.
10:18Obviously, the Dodgers are the heavy favorite.
10:21They've, you know, made a lot of changes.
10:24They don't have as much power.
10:25They have more contact, a little better defensively.
10:28I like the rotation a little bit more.
10:30I like the bullpen a little bit less.
10:33All in all, they look about the same to me.
10:35Now, you know, hopefully for their sake, they don't have that kind of slow drip disaster that we saw over the last four months of last season.
10:44I don't know that anybody can repeat that, but they should win 90 games, but they should have won 90 last year.
10:51Yeah, you know, one thing to keep in mind is we could get myopic and fans could get myopic at this time of year.
10:56I did notice Spencer Schwellenbach is going to miss significant time for the Braves.
11:01He was supposed to be in their rotation.
11:03They have a lot of injuries to begin the year.
11:05You know, their catcher, Sean Murphy, a few of their pitches, et cetera.
11:11Their shortstop, Kim, won't begin the year.
11:14So that's that.
11:15Dave Dombrowski of the Phillies mentioned that Zach Wheeler will not start the season in the Phillies rotation.
11:21They're out still looking for starters.
11:22So that's the two teams they probably are going to have to beat out again to do something.
11:27Having said that, John, the one thing I would say is I'm not comfortable with the bullpen right now.
11:32I think fully healthy.
11:35They have really good left-handers in Minter and Raley.
11:38And then I have a lot of questions about everything else.
11:41I know the underlying numbers on Devin Williams were good last year, but Devin Williams was not good last year.
11:47Luke Weaver was not nearly as good last year as the year before.
11:52Let's see if they could stabilize the back of the game from the right side.
11:56And with Edwin Diaz gone, who felt like a guy who was on the doorstep, if they were probably a little more loving and aggressive to bring back, and they didn't, that's a big question I have for the Mets.
12:10I'm going to spell the back end of this because I don't want to get anyone in trouble.
12:16So Richard Cuccia, you pronounce it how you'd like on Twitter.
12:20The lack of quality at bats at the bottom of the Yankee board.
12:23I'm going to call it Cuccia.
12:23Cuccia.
12:24Okay.
12:25Richard Cuccia.
12:27The lack of quality at bats at the bottom of the Yankees order is the one thing that bothers me about having the same lineup as last year.
12:34And I want to add this.
12:35Big fan of the podcast.
12:37Exclamation point.
12:38I like Cuccia.
12:39Thank you, Richard.
12:40Thank you, Richard.
12:41John, go ahead.
12:42Why don't you take that?
12:43I mean, I think it's typical of any lineup.
12:46I mean, you're not going to have superstars at the bottom of the lineup.
12:49Ryan McMahon is good against righties, not lefties.
12:53They'll have Ahmed Rosario, who's good against lefties.
12:56They'll have, obviously, shortstop is not, Volpe has not lived up to the expectations.
13:03He wasn't as good in year three as he was in the previous two years.
13:06I mean, I think Wells is above average catcher, a hitting catcher, even if he isn't what people were hoping for offensively.
13:13He's obviously done it defensively, but offensively, I still think he's above average for a catcher.
13:19So I don't think that's a big concern.
13:21My concern with the Yankees is, as your concern is with the Mets, and I agree with you on that, is the bullpen.
13:27I think neither bullpen is fantastic.
13:30And, you know, I said in the middle of last year, I had some scouts telling me the bullpen's not so good with the Yankees.
13:35And it proved to be not what it should have been.
13:38It should have been better with the names that they did have.
13:41Yeah, I think there's a lot of duplication at the bottom of the Yankee lineup in that it's low batting average, high strikeout.
13:47But the end result is the Yankees led the league in scoring last year.
13:51I think they're returning eight guys who hit 20 homers last year.
13:54So some of that will be from the bottom of the lineup.
13:56I think a full year at Caballero's speed will help.
14:00The righty diversification of Rosario for a full season and Goldschmidt back should help.
14:06Does Rice take a big step forward?
14:08John, I'm with you.
14:09The identity of their bullpen is more concerning to me when I look at the Yankees than the lineup.
14:15I think they'll score plenty of runs.
14:16I think they'll be a top five offense again.
14:19This is from Zach Goldstein, 24, also from Twitter.
14:21Why haven't the Yankees targeted the bullpen this offseason?
14:24Oh, well, he's reading our mind.
14:25They say they aren't running it back, but that's most of their offseason.
14:29But their pen looks really shaky.
14:31And I don't think it has much after the top three names.
14:34John, do we need to go any further on this?
14:35Do you think we covered this?
14:37I think we covered that.
14:38He's perceptive.
14:40I think we all have concerns about the bullpen, both bullpens.
14:44Right.
14:45Broadcasting Max on Twitter, John, asked,
14:47if you guys had to pick two teams that made the playoffs last year that you think won't get to October this year,
14:54who would they be?
14:55Well, I'll start with the Reds.
14:57You know, it was a surprise last year that they made it.
15:02And, you know, I'll throw out the Phillies.
15:04They're getting a little bit older.
15:07So I'll go with those two in the National League.
15:09We got to think the Mets are going to make it, right?
15:11So they're going to take one spot.
15:13I mean, I'm not going to say the Phillies are, you know, not going to make it for sure.
15:16But if I was asked two teams, those are the two I'm going to pick.
15:20Yeah, I think the Reds are kind of like chalk on this.
15:23So I'm going to go ahead and pick the Reds also.
15:28You know what?
15:29You picked the Reds.
15:30So I'll say Cleveland.
15:32Why don't I pick two teams who somehow figure it out every year and will probably figure it out this year,
15:37which is Cleveland and Milwaukee.
15:39Like, I don't know how Milwaukee keeps bleeding players and still wins 90-something games,
15:44whatever their secret sauce is.
15:46Cleveland also, I guess, part of the magic is they're both in central divisions,
15:51which are not as powerful as the coastal divisions, you know, are.
15:56But at some point, I'll say the magic will run out for both teams,
16:00both of whom did less than more or gave up more this offseason.
16:05And I just think at some point that's got to catch up to you.
16:08So, yeah.
16:08I mean, I want to give Milwaukee some credit.
16:11I think that they, yes.
16:13Yeah, I mean, they were dominant against, you know, every division.
16:18They have the best team in baseball in the regular season, right?
16:20It's not just the central.
16:22But, I mean, certainly it's easier to be in the central, slightly maybe.
16:26But I don't think it's a huge deal.
16:28Maybe in the American League it's a bigger deal.
16:30I don't think it's that big a deal in the National League.
16:33The Cubs are a good team.
16:35You know, the other teams are working on it.
16:37We'll see.
16:37And I think this is going to be our final one from at Mike Rhee, 602-59113.
16:46I hope we're not giving, like, your social security number, Mike Rhee.
16:50Maybe it's his phone number.
16:51He lives in Phoenix.
16:52Yes.
16:53And the question is, what's a day in the life of an experienced professional rider like,
16:59especially during the offseason?
17:01John, just let me â I'm going to let you answer this.
17:04But I do want to throw flowers here.
17:07Like, John came on the Yankee Beat in 1990.
17:10That was my second year.
17:12In some way, we've worked against each other or with each other at multiple places since then.
17:18I'm here to â part of the answer is nobody works as relentlessly and competitively as John Heyman.
17:27I just â even now, with us both in a more advanced age, you're fire to get it, get it right, get it first, be informative.
17:41Like, now I get to see behind the scenes much more than I ever did before.
17:45It's, like, people should know who, you know, buy the post, you know, either online or in the newspaper or watch us on MLB Network.
17:55John is tireless.
17:57And the word that comes to mind all the time is relentless.
17:59And I love relentless people.
18:01He's relentless when it comes to gathering news.
18:04Thank you very much, Phil.
18:06That's very nice of you.
18:07I'm glad you said more advanced age.
18:09I would say I'm the most advanced age.
18:11You're a young whippersnapper compared to me.
18:14So, yeah, I mean, I find doing â I do weird things like take the phone and put it so I can see it while I'm in the shower.
18:23I don't actually take the phone into the shower, but I can see if I'm getting any texts while I'm in the shower and I have jumped out.
18:29I mean, when I was in Japan on a vacation, you know, I slept with it on my head, basically, so I would hear it to wake me up if there was anything going on.
18:39You know, it's a little â I'm a little crazy.
18:42There are several of us out there who are like that, and, you know, it's certainly become a lot more competitive.
18:48We used to be able to wait for things a little bit, but now it's, you know, seconds, and then you, you know, as soon as somebody gets it first, then everybody will generally, if you have some kind of source, you'll be able to follow it.
19:02But it is quite a competition, and, yeah, I am a little crazy, and I appreciate the flowers, Joel.
19:09Yeah, no, well-earned ones.
19:13You know, the only thing I'll add to it is for people who take this ultra-seriously, and I think John and I fall into that bucket, and I won't speak for John here because I'm about to say something, is like it is not exactly a child the job.
19:29Your children are more important.
19:31John and I are blessed.
19:32We both have great children.
19:34But it is like having a child a little bit.
19:37It's just with you.
19:38Like if you're asking me what's a day in the life of an experienced professional writer like, it's just that I'm never not thinking about it.
19:45I'm never not thinking about who I should call, text, who, what I should write, how I could do it different than it's been done, what's the competition doing, you know, what are my colleagues.
19:58I just am 24-7.
20:01It's not healthy, I don't think.
20:04But it's just with me all the time.
20:07I can't shake it, and I'm, yeah, I'm just bad at not having it with me, and like for better or worse, that's my life.
20:20You know, it's the godfather.
20:21This is the life we've chosen, but it is obsessive, and in some ways, John and I have done this for a long time and have advanced to certain places,
20:33and I think we're both working harder than we've ever worked in more, including places like this, you know, like whoever thought we do podcasts, webcasts, you know, like online only, like it's, the workload is somewhat significant, and we're blessed.
20:48My father was a truck driver.
20:50I always pointed out I'm blessed to do this, but it is a child to some degree that never leaves me.
20:56Yeah, you know, with more things, it's got, the job has gotten, I don't want to say harder, but more time consuming, right?
21:04We didn't have, until 2008 or 2009, we didn't have Twitter, certainly weren't a podcast, the MLB network started around that time, and yeah, it's a lot, it's a lot.
21:17And now, certainly Twitter makes it very difficult, because then you are racing to get something and, you know, don't always have time to check with a million sources.
21:29It's the worst journalism.
21:30I don't think it's been, I can't say anything positive about Twitter.
21:33One of the negatives I would say is, it's hurt mental health and it's hurt journalism.
21:39So, I think it's a net negative, but this, again, this is the jobs we've decided to do, and you've got to live with it, and we're appreciative of the people who follow us in every way, including on this podcast and including sending these questions today, and we hope to continue to do stuff like this moving forward.
22:00But when we move forward on this show, we'll be joined by a friend of the show, somebody who's been with us a couple of times, the new reliever of the New York Mets, Luke Weaver.
22:14John and I are so pleased to be joined by the relief pitcher, excellent relief pitcher, Luke Weaver, formerly of the Yankees, now of the New York Mets.
22:24And I want to say this, besides being an excellent pitcher, a really good guy, I walked up to Luke in the clubhouse today, and I said, we are in distress.
22:34We've had some stuff to go through.
22:35Can you join us on the podcast?
22:38And it took Luke less than, I felt like, one second to say, sure.
22:42And so, here we are, Luke.
22:45Thank you so much for joining us on the show.
22:48Yeah, John, Joel, thanks again for being on, and happy to be a conversationalist here.
22:55Why don't we begin the conversation here?
22:59At a decently high level for the first time, you were a free agent this offseason.
23:04You've had to pick some teams maybe in the past, but not in a position of strength where you're coming off of good work for multiple years.
23:12Can you take us through a little bit of, like, what the experience was like, what it was like maybe even leaving a place where you revived your career and had success and seemed to have a good time to go across the bridge from the Bronx to Queens?
23:27Yeah, really, really different, you know, perspective.
23:33It felt like for a while there I was kind of fighting to stay above water and, you know, very limited in my, I guess, you know, the momentum and things that I could kind of get shifted to my side.
23:46And this was a pretty neat experience.
23:49You know, I was very grateful and humbled by it, you know, for the attention, just for the conversations, getting to meet some of these teams, front offices, and even coaches.
24:00And so it was a cool experience.
24:04My guy, Brett Knieff at Excel, long-time friend, agent, he did an amazing job, and it was a pretty cool just experience for me and my family.
24:14So no negatives, and it obviously ended up in an amazing spot with a great team and a lot of success to be had.
24:22Yeah, you know, I'm very interested in this.
24:24I know the previous time, and again, signing with the Yankees worked out fantastic for you,
24:29but you didn't have a lot of choices, and you had a sign where you gave them an option,
24:34and you had that spectacular year a couple years ago, and of course they picked up the option.
24:40Very different this year.
24:41Can you, a little specifics on how it went, were there other teams,
24:45and if you could name some of the other teams without naming the money that they offered maybe,
24:48but some of the teams that you were maybe close to going to and how it ended up being the Met,
24:53and were the Yankees involved at all?
24:55Well, because to me it looks like they could still use some help in that bullpen.
25:01Yeah, I've obviously have moved on to my now team and focused on them,
25:08so I don't know what they're looking for, but wish them the best.
25:12And yeah, it was, like I said, a fun process.
25:15It's a lot of teams checking in, you know, from all different across the league.
25:21It just depended on the timing on which they were looking for relief pitching.
25:26We kind of saw the market pretty early start to hit some relief pitchers,
25:30and then the dominance started to kind of fall,
25:33and we know with different positions that timing just comes in different waves.
25:37And so the cool part for me was it was kind of happening,
25:41so the conversations kind of stayed afloat for basically the entirety of the offseason
25:48up to the point I've signed.
25:50And yeah, there was, you know, double-digit teams that were checking in,
25:55anywhere from, you know, one-year deals and, you know, limited on multi-year deals,
26:01so for obvious reasons, and it's hard to get that as a reliever.
26:06So, yeah, you know, naming a few, and the Tigers, the Cubs, you know,
26:15obviously the Mets, the Yankees, you know, we had checked in with them,
26:19but it was more of just a, you know, do your thing and, you know,
26:24we'll see where that bridge, you know, we crossed there at that point,
26:27and obviously it just never really got to that point.
26:29And so, yeah, no harm done, just part of, you know, how it goes.
26:34And so, yeah, I mean, there was just a lot of great winning ball clubs
26:40that were in the mix, and that was just a priority for me was to be able to,
26:45if I had somewhat of a say, I just really wanted to be on a successful,
26:49wanting-to-content ball club that wants to do everything possible to win
26:53and getting to taste that the last couple years after.
26:58And even a bit in 2023, even though that was a chaotic year,
27:02there was some successful baseball with those teams that were happening.
27:06But, you know, prior to that, there wasn't necessarily the type of success
27:10that I was hoping to have and feel that real dominant winning type of feel,
27:17that the good vibes, the smiles, the negativity at a minimum.
27:22So all that to be said, yeah, it was just basically a perfect situation
27:27to come, you know, to the Mets.
27:29And obviously we see what the rest of the offseason built for them.
27:33And there's a lot of high hopes and a lot of, you know,
27:38strong vibes that are going on here early in camp.
27:41Luke, I think you and I talked about it late in the season last year,
27:44and I think you talked about it last time you were on the podcast with us.
27:48Did anybody or did you even think about starting pitching?
27:52Did anyone comment you?
27:54You know, it felt to me a little bit like Brad Keller,
27:57who I think has similar representation to you,
27:59was kind of weighing through some of that.
28:02Were you weighing through that or are you a relief pitcher now
28:05and that was what was focused upon?
28:09Yeah, you know, it was definitely discussed,
28:11but not at a substantial level.
28:13It was more of a check-in.
28:14And, hey, what's Luke thinking?
28:16What's he prefer?
28:18You know, I think when we last talked,
28:20it was a question that kind of brought, I think,
28:23a lot of teams on to that statement.
28:25And I think it was really just a genuine interest for me of,
28:28hey, if this is something teams want any part of,
28:32like would love to have a discussion on what you think that looks like.
28:36And teams really were just checking in.
28:39And they all kind of saw me as a reliever,
28:41someone that, you know, wanted to kind of stay in the realm I was doing.
28:46And so, you know, I think it was more of just checking that box of,
28:50okay, he doesn't have the preference.
28:53You know, I think ultimately I wanted to kind of stay doing what I was doing
28:57because I just kind of found that niche and kind of how to attack it
29:01and to be more efficient and to really just see myself even getting to a better level with it
29:06and starting what had kind of been a reset, so to speak.
29:09But I did feel capable kind of with this resurgence that I could do a better job
29:15in my past offerings.
29:17You are a Floridian, and I remember the first time that we had you,
29:22you mentioned that you were surprised how much you like New York.
29:25So now you're staying in New York.
29:27So what is it about New York that you like so much?
29:30Well, you know, I think a lot of people get wrapped up in the city of New York.
29:36Like, you know, all the many things.
29:39I mean, I think there's infinity of things I'm going to do.
29:41It's an amazing place to think like, well,
29:44it has limited or a limitless amount of things to do yet.
29:48I can't think of anything to actually do, you know, so it's like overwhelming.
29:52But I think where I would shift is, you know, I've spent my time in the city.
29:57It's a very neat place.
29:59But living, you know, north of the city up in Westchester
30:02and getting to more of the suburbs and all the small downtowns and bigger downtowns
30:08and really just the kind of the more of the Florida feel, I guess,
30:12where I just I'm seeing trees, I'm seeing neighborhoods,
30:15people walking their dogs, deers in the backyard.
30:18Like, it's not the part of New York you really kind of focus in on
30:21when you're especially when you're looking at, you know, Yankees, Mets,
30:24you're just kind of dialed into the city of it.
30:26And yeah, it's just it's real, real pretty.
30:29It's got really beautiful landscapes, great, you know, golf courses.
30:33I can stare at and I don't get to play them really that much,
30:36but I do enjoy it and I do enjoy the aesthetics.
30:39But yeah, it's just a place with has a lot of opportunity and a lot of things to do.
30:44So it's it's grown in ways that I never thought it would.
30:48Luke, there were a lot of resources, if you want, from like former teammates,
30:53Carlos Mendoza, Clay Holmes, Juan Soto.
30:55How much did you use or not use that to figure out if this was a move you wanted to make?
31:01And did did anyone say anything that really resonated with you?
31:03Yeah, well, back in my time with the Yankees, with Clay, like it was as close as I can be.
31:09Obviously, every day we're down there in the trenches.
31:11We're throwing, we're talking, getting ready, trying to screw things up too bad.
31:16But just a real a real life of resources there.
31:22Like, you know, Clay was easy to talk to.
31:24Very blonde, just making sure that some of those answers that I had or questions I had were answered.
31:31And obviously, knowing Juan was there, like, you know, I know Juan.
31:36I believe him to be an awesome teammate and everything, you know, in between.
31:42And so and then Mindy was it was short time in 23.
31:45But I can I got enough to see that.
31:48And then you watch from across the field the next couple of years later.
31:51And he's the real deal.
31:53You know, he's a communicator.
31:55He's someone who cares a lot.
31:56He's got he's got an intensity about him, but he's not to a way where it kind of comes in between the relationship.
32:03Right. It's a there's a great balance, it seems.
32:06And that seems to be consistent throughout the discussion.
32:09So Justin Willard, young, hungry pitching coach who wants to put his mark.
32:15And he's got a longstanding resume just in his time, you know, on on different big league staffs and organizations.
32:24So it's been great with him so far.
32:27Yeah, you can kind of get on the list.
32:29So the culture they're building and they're kind of looking into the future, especially just now in the present, seems to all be aligning very well so far.
32:36So what's your impression about what your role is?
32:39Is you a setup man?
32:40Are you the setup man?
32:41Might you do some closing?
32:44Is Devin Williams more likely the closer?
32:46Have they said anything to you or just say, oh, I want to be a bet and that's it?
32:51Yeah, it's a bit early, John.
32:52I mean, I think I think with anything right, we just show up.
32:56We try to do our best to be successful.
32:58They obviously believe highly in Devin, as we all do.
33:02I especially do.
33:03You know, financially, they believe that same thing.
33:06So, you know, he's earned every penny of that and he goes out and he just goes dominate.
33:11That's that's what I expect.
33:12And that's what I hope to do as well.
33:14You know, that's we'll let Mindy kind of take over that and Justin and those guys.
33:18And, you know, I told Devin that last year and, you know, Clay the year before.
33:25Like this isn't this isn't about winning jobs.
33:29This isn't about like me overtaking this or you overtaking me in this.
33:34Like this is about us just as a unit being as successful as possible and anything else becomes out of our control.
33:41Like I don't pick.
33:43You know, everybody wants to throw the ninth.
33:44Everybody wants to throw the eighth.
33:45Right.
33:45We have specific wants, but the needs of the team are far beyond us.
33:50And I think when you embrace that and, you know, at 24, when I was the long guy and just trying to fight to go throw three innings out of the pen or whatever.
33:59And, you know, I didn't sit there and think that I was going to be closing games in any capacity.
34:03I didn't think that, you know, I'd hope to, but that wasn't kind of my long term goal.
34:09It was really just to kind of show up today and to try to be successful.
34:12And when you stack all those bricks and you end up building a decently nice little house and, you know, you don't want to get too comfortable in it because, you know, I don't know.
34:22Maybe you got to move.
34:23But at the end of the day, that's kind of just the way, you know, I try to make sure I communicate with my teammates.
34:29It's just like I'm here for you, whatever you need.
34:32And I hope the same way goes both ways.
34:34You mentioned his name.
34:35You mentioned you believe in him.
34:37Why?
34:37What is it about Devin that you learned playing side by side, sharing a bullpen with him that makes you feel that this is, you know, again, the underlying numbers were good on Devin last year.
34:48The macro numbers were not in his only year as a Yankee.
34:51Why do you believe in him so much?
34:54Well, I don't I don't think you should ever be defined by, you know, certain moments.
35:00I mean, yeah, you're going to you're going to be defined by them.
35:03But I don't think that's fair to say.
35:05Just like if you're looking at my career, like, you know, I haven't forgot all the past things that I've had to go through in order to try to get to where I am.
35:15And, you know, one blemish and not even a blemish.
35:18Right.
35:18Like there is there's some moments that are hard during the season, but he did in strong, really, really strong, actually.
35:25And, you know, people can kind of get wrapped up in whatever they want to.
35:29But, you know, we just focus on what we got today and how good I could be today.
35:33And, you know, he's got years and years of a resume that make him one of the best pitchers on the planet.
35:40So I don't I truly you know, I look at this this guy and I just see a dominant reliever that everybody, you know, looks at his airbender, looks at his stuff, you know, looks at his demeanor, looks at success.
35:52And it's like, I mean, what are we even talking about?
35:54You know, it's just it's a bit silly, in my opinion, because, you know, he's just a dude trying to go out there to do his best.
36:01And, you know, he's earned a nice payday to go out there and to do even better.
36:06And he will do that.
36:08And if he doesn't, it's not like he's not trying or I'm not trying.
36:11We're just, you know, two dudes trying to do our best.
36:14And that's it.
36:14So that's why I believe my impression of you and a lot of relievers is that you always say that you're available, even when you're really not doing that great.
36:25Do you ever regret that?
36:28Do you ever think maybe I shouldn't say I'm available or is it just your nature to say I'm always available?
36:34How many games a year do you think you say, I really I'm not going to make it?
36:38I mean, I think it's very few.
36:39Right.
36:40I mean, that's my.
36:41Yeah, it's a fine line.
36:43It's really is.
36:44I mean, it's it's our job to make sure we're communicating and being very honest and upfront.
36:51But there's moments that just make that hard.
36:55And it could be a situation.
36:56It could be how the rest of the bullpen is lining up from a health standpoint.
37:02You know, guys being up or down.
37:04Does someone need to step up?
37:06Yeah, there are moments during the year games that it doesn't necessarily help you.
37:10And then there's moments where you thought it was going to be impossible.
37:13And it ended up being pretty good.
37:16And, you know, I think that's where you just got to rely on making sure, like I said, you communicating with your coaches, being real good, a real good self-evaluator, knowing like, OK, like I can give you 80 percent out of 100.
37:31But like, do you think an 80 percent of me is good enough to do the job for us to win tonight?
37:37And, you know, I can't just sit there and be like, I'm down.
37:42I'm not throwing like, you know, I guess you technically could refuse this road.
37:47But that's not a culture.
37:48That's not that's not a precedent I'm trying to set.
37:51And I'm trying to make sure that it's like we have a two way street of respect and that communication is loud and clear.
37:59And by doing that and keeping, you know, relievers safe over the course of the year, you know, you're picking moments.
38:07You know, if you're Mindy, you're picking moments to to make sure, like, how does this look down down the road?
38:13Is this a big game now?
38:14And there's a lot of pressure and a lot of decision making that managers have to do.
38:18And, you know, it's easy for you guys to look at it.
38:22It's easy for us players to look at it and to second guess it when it doesn't work or, you know, it's always louder when the decision doesn't pan out.
38:30People get real quiet on giving credit due when, you know, things are successful and, you know, big moments, they might give that credit.
38:40But ultimately, it's always about the bad part.
38:42And I think that's where it gets, you know, we just want a little bit more balance in the world and that.
38:48Yeah, you know, I want to really thank you for coming on because we really were in a pinch and you're always available, just like when you're pitching, you're always available to us.
38:56And I'm just curious, you know, has this media has always been natural to you?
39:01Are you going to be a sportscaster, a broadcaster when you're done here?
39:05And what, I mean, the Mets are very media friendly.
39:09You know, we get help from the PR department if we need it.
39:12You know, you've just been there for a day or two now, so you may not have noticed that.
39:17How was it for you with the Yankees?
39:19You know, I always came to you and Jazz Chisholm in the clubhouse because you guys were always available and willing to talk and chat whenever, even if it was just a kibitz.
39:29Did you notice that it's different in terms of, you know, it feels to us like we're the Yankees, we don't have to do anything.
39:36Did that ever get conveyed to you that you didn't really have to cooperate?
39:41Because you always did.
39:42You know, I didn't, you know, I don't, I don't really know the answer to that question.
39:48I can only answer on my own.
39:50Like, I didn't grow up through that organization.
39:53You know, I didn't, and I grew up way back as a Cardinal.
39:57You know, I was a young guy coming into a very mature locker room.
40:03You know, I had to grow up pretty fast when it came to all that stuff.
40:06You know, through a lot of the failure that I've had, like, I've had to grow a lot of tough skin, thick skin.
40:14I've had to face you guys and, you know, try to be honest and, you know, and not when I necessarily wanted to be, you know.
40:23I think it's easy to guard and protect yourself and give answers that can be, you know, of excuses.
40:31And I think, man, it just comes a time where when you realize that people just want you to just be straightforward, like, hey, I stunk today.
40:42I'm going to do everything I can to be better so you don't have to watch me do that again.
40:46Like, don't think for a second, like, we don't want to be good and we didn't want to disappoint you either.
40:52But I think by just hearing those words, not that I'm doing it for the fans or for you guys, I'm ultimately doing it for myself because now I'm taking accountability.
41:03And I just, I sleep better by knowing, like, I can move on faster.
41:06There was this thing that where, like, you watch good outings, you watch bad outings, right?
41:13You scout videos, you do those, everything in between as a player, right?
41:18Hey, I'm pitching well.
41:19I'm just going to ride the wave.
41:21I don't really need to watch much.
41:22I know what I'm feeling.
41:24Bad outings.
41:25I don't want to really watch that.
41:27I'm going to move on, flush it.
41:29I don't really want to relive those moments.
41:32Well, when I started realizing probably halfway through my career that when you don't watch anything, you can never move on truly past it because you're always guessing and trying to fill in those moments.
41:44So I started watching every single outing no matter what.
41:48And I tried to watch it as soon as I could because all it did was just allow me to kind of close that chapter and move on.
41:53So bad ones became like that was the reason it was bad.
41:58The pitch wasn't actually a way.
41:59It was actually kind of more middle.
42:02And, you know, the guy put a good swing.
42:04Okay.
42:05Check.
42:06Hey, I pitched really well.
42:08Like, why did I pitch well?
42:09Oh, well, I kind of got away with a couple of these.
42:12And, you know, or I was just I just dominated their face and I'm I'm nasty and it was good today.
42:17I think just those simple little check marks really allow you to move past it and just make it easier to not dwell and to lose sleep and to stay up till 4 a.m.
42:29Thinking about why you blew the game.
42:31You know, I think it's just and that goes for any sport, any job.
42:34I think it's just attacking the weakness and understanding it and then understanding why you were being good.
42:40It just allows you to kind of grow.
42:42And when you grow, I guess you end up just being 175 pound 6'2 reliever who, I guess, tricks people into thinking you can talk to the media well.
42:51Well, actually, you led me almost perfectly to the thing is where you're being, you know, self beating yourself up here kind.
43:02But anybody who's listened to any of our interviews, including this one, is you're un-cliched.
43:07You kind of give these long, full, interesting answers.
43:12And I don't mean to play armchair therapist here, but, like, sometimes when you are talking to me, like, I'll ask you, like, hey, what happened here?
43:20And you don't go ask.
43:21Sometimes you throw the ball hangs.
43:22You give these incredible detailed answers where you're going through.
43:26I was thinking this pitch and that.
43:28Is there a possibility that Luke Weaver thinks too much?
43:32Yes.
43:32And maybe it's his own worst enemy because the stuff you go through when I â I can only imagine what you tell your teammates and pitching coach because, like, it's unbelievable how, like â
43:47It's the tip of the iceberg, man.
43:48I'm telling you, I'll be there.
43:49You are.
43:50Like, you'll go through, like, sequences with me where you'll be like this.
43:53I was thinking this.
43:54Then I threw this.
43:55I should have thrown this.
43:56I don't even think I'm that smart compared to some of these guys, too.
44:00Like, I think I've evolved and I've gotten smarter.
44:02But I think at the end of the day, it gets even deeper than that.
44:07And that's crazy and scary to think with some of these players.
44:11And it's really fascinating.
44:13I've learned a lot from veteran players and even, you know, younger players.
44:17And as an older player now, and I'm kind of, like, hearing you almost like when I hear young players, I'm like, whoa, dude, you're thinking too much.
44:25And I'm like, okay, don't be a hypocrite, right?
44:27But, yeah, I kind of â I'm a big overthinker.
44:33I'm way chill now.
44:35Like, I overthink golf now.
44:37I think about â I watch YouTube golf.
44:39I watch golf.
44:40I just â I delve so much into golf, so I don't have to do that in baseball.
44:44So I try to keep it simplified.
44:46I try not to overthink too much and just accept it.
44:49And I think kind of what I said before you just talked was really, you know, talking through it is just a great way to make sure it leaves the body and the brain.
45:01And we don't have to think about it anymore.
45:03And I think that is ultimately what I finally got to because you lay there restless for hours after the game.
45:08And you're just â you're kind of just constantly guessing on what you thought happened.
45:14And until you just sit there and watch the outing and know, then you're just wasting your life.
45:20Like, you're getting bad sleep.
45:21Now I got to pitch tomorrow on less rest and, you know, an unconfident brain.
45:26And, you know, I don't want any of that.
45:28And so all that to be said, yeah, it could be worse, but it could also be better.
45:34You know, I have a silly question.
45:36And I apologize for this being my last question.
45:38But, you know, you were photographed going into the Mets facility, I guess.
45:44I hope this got brought up.
45:45Yeah.
45:46You know, most free agents, when they have their old bag and they bring it in and they discard it soon after when they get the new bag, you got some criticism for bringing in the Yankee bag.
45:56What do you think about â did you hear the criticism and what do you think about that?
46:00Yeah, I thought it was a bit silly, personally.
46:05You know, I understand why people are, you know, I wouldn't say an uproar, but why they're talking about it.
46:13Like, I get it.
46:13But, like, to your point, it's very common to bring your old bag to your new team.
46:19You know, they don't first-class airmail, like, a new bag.
46:25So I didn't get a new bag from the Mets, like a duffel bag to bring in.
46:29I personally just didn't have, like, besides maybe a couple, you know, grocery bags or something.
46:35I just didn't really have anything to put my stuff in, right?
46:38And I think it's one of those things where, you know, part of me is like, yeah, like, I don't necessarily want to take the Yankees bag because I'm not a Yankee, but I know that this is just a normal process.
46:49And so I just need people to take a deep breath, know that I love the Mets now.
46:55I'm a Met.
46:56I love where I'm at.
46:57I love the teammates so far.
46:59I hope to win as many trophies as possible here, and I hope to do that with the fans behind us and rooting for me and doing so.
47:08So the bag meant nothing.
47:10Yeah.
47:11We live in a grievance society.
47:13People are not happy unless they're miserable, and they come up with a reason to be miserable.
47:17Luke, I've covered the game, unfortunately, because I'm old, for 40 years.
47:21Whenever a player goes to a new place, he brings his old bag.
47:24Like, that's just it.
47:26And, like, to see this as some Romeo and Juliet portrayal of, like, just the age we live in, and I'm, yeah.
47:36I'm glad people care.
47:37I'm glad they care, you know.
47:39Like, they wouldn't be saying nothing if they didn't care, you know.
47:42Like, you know, like, it's, they're having a little fun with it, you know.
47:46I hope they're not too serious about it, ultimately.
47:49Unfortunately, I would have brought a Mets bag if I had one, or, you know, something cool or personality-driven.
47:56I just didn't have any of them.
47:58So for the next go-around, I don't think, well, I don't think I'll have a bag of the Yankees bag anymore.
48:05So they will be okay.
48:06We'll move on.
48:07I'm happy.
48:08I got some orange and blue on here, and we'll all be well.
48:11So, yeah, why don't we leave it on that?
48:15It was a good answer.
48:18You're a good man.
48:18Dumb question, good answer.
48:22To join us today.
48:23You are a friend of the show, and we do appreciate it.
48:27We're being sincere.
48:28This was a me walking over to your locker, and you in, like, whatever a nanosecond is, it felt like, yeah, that was a yes.
48:37And we appreciate you every time you join us, including this one, Luke.
48:40And we hope you have nothing but a healthy, great season.
48:43Thank you all so much.
48:44I appreciate you all.
48:45Keep doing your thing, spreading some love and joy out there, and not being too harsh on us, old boys, because, like I said, we don't want to stink either.
48:53So y'all have a great season as well.
48:55We'll catch up.
48:56You won't be harsh about what bag you bring.
48:58Only if it's well or not.
49:01Fair.
49:01Fair.
49:02Fair, fair, fair.
49:02Thank you, Luke.
49:03Sounds good, guys.
49:04Thank you, Luke.
49:04You're the best.
49:05All right.
49:05See you.
49:06Appreciate it.
49:10John and I, of course, thank Luke Weaver for joining us on the show.
49:16John, hit or error?
49:17I'm going to give a hit to the Detroit Tigers, bringing back Justin Verlander.
49:21Started there.
49:23He's the first ballot, obviously, Hall of Famer, an all-time great, beloved in Detroit.
49:28It's great to see him go back there.
49:30Boy, they have enhanced that rotation, haven't they, in the last couple weeks with Frambois Valdez.
49:35And now, Justin Verlander, they are a team to be reckoned with.
49:39That whole staff is pretty good.
49:40They, I mean, got Finnegan and Jansen, too, for the bullpen.
49:44So, they look like a really, really good team to me.
49:47You know, I'll give a mini hit before I do the one.
49:50As a mini hit, we kind of covered it earlier.
49:52I'm in Met Camp.
49:53I'll give a mini hit.
49:53Instead of giving an error to, say, a team that isn't letting reporters in yet, I'm going
49:57to give a hit to the Mets for being more fan-friendly, because if you let reporters in, they could
50:05be fuller in their reporting and in their coverage.
50:08And that's good for the people who pay everybody's salary.
50:11So, a mini hit for the Mets, as opposed to an error to, say, any other New York team that
50:15isn't doing that.
50:16John, I'll amen.
50:18You know what, I just want to say, I saw that when I was leaving today, I mean, I stood in
50:23that plot of grass in the parking lot, not allowed in, and I did see Judge field some
50:31balls and make some throws.
50:32He did look good, but I stood there for two hours.
50:35We have another guy there.
50:36We, you know, we cover everything like a blanket, right, to use a cliche.
50:42So, I left to write my story.
50:44When I left, I saw, like, there were, like, 15 people waiting to get autographs.
50:48I can't, I mean, there's no opportunity.
50:53I'll be shocked if more than two of them get an autograph.
50:56There's just, the Yankees just feel like they're the Yankees, and they can do what they
51:00want, and they, you know, they, I mean, to lock reporters out of, it's a minor league
51:06complex or development complex, I don't know what they think is going to be uncovered when
51:11guys are, you know, practicing to start spring training, but it's really, I think it's, it's
51:17really silly.
51:18It's been going on for 30 years, right, in that complex at Himes.
51:22There were some times we were, we were let in, right?
51:25It's become more restrictive as time has gone by.
51:27Yeah.
51:28Crazy.
51:30They've been less, and again, John, I always try to make this point.
51:34It's less fan-friendly.
51:35They could point out whatever it is.
51:37It's just less fan-friendly.
51:38I'm not collecting information to sell it like heroin on the corner.
51:42I'm putting it, you know, online in a newspaper, talking about it on podcasts, webcasts, television,
51:47whatever we're doing, and that's because I sense there's an insatiable hunger by fans
51:54of these teams to know what's going on with their teams, and to your point, you know, I
52:00talked about this yesterday on the webcast.
52:01I'll talk about it here.
52:02It's like, you just said it.
52:04The New York Post is double-teaming these two places.
52:07Whenever I hear somebody say, oh, paywall, I'm not going behind the paywall for this
52:12stuff, I'm always like, well, from the Gutenberg press till 30 years ago when the internet came
52:17along, you paid for a newspaper.
52:18If you'd like original coverage and not these aggregator schmucks who get everything wrong
52:26and steal the information and portray like they know something that they don't, by the
52:32way, those will go away if you don't have original reporting.
52:36Like most of the stuff you hear on radio and TV, like we're writing the original script so
52:40they know what to like talk about.
52:41And so like, you know, it is an appeal to like, we just watched a lot of our friends
52:47lose jobs at the Washington Post sports section.
52:50If you're not like paying for a newspaper, paying for a subscription online in some way,
52:55supporting us on the podcast, supporting us in these other venues, you know, we're not
52:59going to double-team these places.
53:01We're not going to be able to keep doing it.
53:03It's a strong appeal.
53:04I think journalism is an important part of our country, of our First Amendment, to be able
53:09to do things like this.
53:11And I strongly appeal to people who can afford it and used to buy a newspaper to go ahead,
53:19if you like the product, to pay for the product.
53:22These, you know, we're both talking from hotel rooms on the road.
53:26The hotel rooms are not gratis.
53:28You know, the rental cars are not gratis.
53:30The airplanes to get to and from are not gratis.
53:33These things have to be paid for.
53:35And if you like this, support us.
53:38Right.
53:39Not your luxurious hotel room.
53:41That should not gratis.
53:42But I'm in a dump.
53:44But no, it's not true.
53:47Absolutely.
53:48You know, on Twitter, there's a lot of things that are offensive.
53:50But I'm always offended when somebody gets so upset that it's something is behind a paywall
53:56and complains about it.
53:58You know, people are expected to be paid for their work.
54:00That's just true in any line of work.
54:03And capitalism, right?
54:04Yeah.
54:04I mean, we're not doing this just â Twitter is free, right?
54:08So they want more free, you know?
54:11And we were giving it away for free forever.
54:13We didn't have that paywall until less than a year ago, right?
54:16And, you know, probably newspapers never should have given it away for free
54:22because then people expect it.
54:24Should have figured out a way to charge right from the beginning.
54:27Yeah.
54:28Because now â
54:29We changed that.
54:29We have a generation of people who think they shouldn't pay for information.
54:33And it's problematic.
54:36Anyway, we both got on our soapbox.
54:38And it's a good deal.
54:38It's not that expensive.
54:40Go ahead and get a subscription.
54:42There are people struggling, but those who aren't and like the product should pay for it.
54:47And, John, amen to your hit.
54:50I like the full circle of Verlander going back to Detroit and a three-time Cy Young Award winner
54:56teaming with Scooble as he tries to win a Cy Young for the third time.
54:59I think that's a great story and gives them a lot of depth.
55:03We mentioned Cleveland before.
55:05I think they're the defending division champs doing very little.
55:08Detroit, give them credit.
55:09They did some stuff in a flurry here at the end to get much deeper in their starting pitching.
55:14And they feel like the overwhelming favorites in the division.
55:18Our overwhelming favorite, like the segue, John, is Tommy Hogan, our producer.
55:23This was another week where John and I are both on the road.
55:26We're scrambling to do a guest.
55:28We're scrambling to find a time that works.
55:29And Tommy always makes it possible for us to kind of get this going and get it out.
55:35So we appreciate Tommy a great deal.
55:37Apple, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcasts, please rate and review us.
55:41The New York Post Sports YouTube page.
55:44Give us a view in all these places, comments and likes and things like that really do help
55:50us keep doing that, keep supporting us.
55:52And we'll keep bringing you spring training more if you stick with us on the show with
55:56Joel Sherman and John Heyman.
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