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00:03welcome to another edition of straight out of flushing's your boy dexter henry for the first
00:08time joining me here in studio it's my guy tyler ward newest co-host of straight out flushing
00:14tyler welcome to the show dexter thank you so much i'm excited to get this started um it feels
00:19like yesterday it was just under two years ago when you texted me you're like hey you want to
00:23come on for your segment i was like absolutely not a problem and here we fast started a couple
00:26years later we're co-hosting together and i think we're gonna have nothing strove an absolute blast
00:31talking mets this year you know what's crazy i it's funny you bringing that up i remember
00:35the day maybe it was the same day that i texted you for that segment my cousin who's a big
00:40mets fan
00:41huge fan of yours she you announced on your live stream that night think post game live he's like
00:46yeah i'm coming on with dex i recall this yes yeah she was like yo i just heard wardy sage
00:51coming on
00:51with you and i haven't even told her that she'll see this when she's episode but now we're doing
00:54the show together and man it's a lot of fun really glad to have you here and we're gonna have
00:58a lot
00:58of fun we have talked a little bit through the off season um we've talked about the mets and this
01:04was a very interesting off season for the mets but we are here in spring training you just came back
01:08from port st lucy first of all talk to me how was your trip how was your time down there
01:14did you like
01:16what you see and the vibe going around the mess what do you think of everything going on down there
01:19yeah i mean first and foremost anytime you get a chance to go there to florida it's always going to
01:22be a
01:22great time right always getting away from the cold getting away from the cold rain the peak of
01:26thinking a storm is going to happen again so you know i was very fortunate to see not only get
01:31down
01:31there when the weather was nice it was a little chilly the first day but then everything was good
01:35but my big takeaway from this trip was really getting a chance to see up front and center how
01:42this team is now trying to construct for the year especially when we look at guys working on defensive
01:46games that we're going to talk a lot about like beaty viento spichette the big storylines are really
01:51right in front of me talking about the guys getting rep reps early for world baseball classic
01:56guan soto included pitchers starting to get stretched out and acclimated are we worrying
02:00about velocity or not yet it's that time of year where normally guys aren't throwing gas so when you
02:05see someone do that you're like is that a problem is that a good thing um but i would say
02:10collectively
02:10my key takeaways from the spring train trip is that the mets look like that they're in good spirits
02:14right now big time every single time that i was around there by the clubhouse by the field i mean
02:19the vibes were always good which is always a nice sign and that's usually the case to begin spring
02:23training but something's different in the air this year and you can tell that breaking up that core
02:27that they previously had with alonzo with nimmo with mcneil with even diaz who no one really wanted
02:34to see go um maybe it won't pay dividends right away when looking at success rate but i think as
02:40the
02:40year goes on this clubhouse culture is definitely going to look pretty night and day from i think
02:44what we saw a year ago so it's funny because i think fans needed to hear that right like everything
02:49that went on with this team last year the offseason the vibes needed to be good here around the team
02:53so
02:54that's good to hear there but one of the things i think well at least i don't know about this
02:58i think
02:58you're very interested in this too with this team is okay there's a lot of positional battles now some
03:03of that makes people uneasy of course because people want certainty right but i think some of these
03:09positional battles i think it's a good thing i actually think this could be a good thing so
03:13one of the ones that comes to mind right now is all right outfield last outfield position right
03:19where's carson bench playing is he going to make this team talkman has got a chance here too we
03:24know tyrone taylor is going to be in the mix what do you think about this outfield positional battle
03:28and who do you think has the edge right now i know it's early but who's got the edge here
03:31well i would definitely say the edge right now is who you started with i really think it is carson
03:36bench listen like that i like that david stearns went all offseason like literally the entire
03:41offseason reiterating the media we're going to give carson bench every opportunity to basically
03:46run with right field i mean so much so that while i don't think this this was the clear factor
03:51behind
03:51it i think a factor into why the mets were so comfortable with juan soto staying and left this
03:56year was because they knew that would be a better direction for carson bench to begin his career i think
04:01that those things definitely went in hand with another uh you look at bench what he did in the
04:04minor leagues uh speaks for itself i the privilege i followed him every step of the way in the minors
04:08last year and when i tell you that this is a standout prospect that too is an understatement
04:13i mean a 280 plus average 50 above league average as a hitter in the minor leagues across three
04:18different leagues had a little bit of a hiccup when he was there in triple a but he dealt with
04:22ailment
04:23rebounded nicely towards the end of the season bench what i've seen so far in spring training and we saw
04:28this today at the time i was recording right now is just how much of a multi-tool talent he
04:32is he
04:32doesn't just beat you in one way where a guy like for example mark vientos who he really needs his
04:37bat
04:37solely his bat to have success benj is a complete 180 from that where he can make you highly real
04:43catches in right field like he did a couple days ago where he's going to throw all the way to
04:47home
04:47and going to avoid nick allen scoring from third like he did earlier today or it's going to be him
04:51stealing a bag seamlessly after nick moribido does his teammate a couple days ago or it's going to be
04:55him just getting a little bit of infield chopper to get down to first base in time or he's going
04:59to
05:00absolutely smoke a baseball 110 like carson benj brings so much variation to this mets outfield
05:05that i think is exactly why david sterns who let's not forget what did david sterns do with
05:10carson bench oh yeah it was his first draft pick ever as team president so when you think of leash
05:15when you think of someone who is going to be given opportunity without it being cut short
05:19he's the first player that i think of so here's the thing for me and we know this as people
05:24who have
05:25grown up rooting for this team for a long time we've seen a lot of positional players highly touted you
05:31know this warty right and you'll hear a lot of the things that you just said and then they don't
05:36perform do i guess my question is is this going to be different with him because the thing that i've
05:40seen thus far that excited me is the defense right maybe more than the hitting the defense okay this
05:44guy's got an arm in right field so it makes that move from soda going to left him being in
05:48right
05:48we've seen what he can do we had that beautiful throw the other day if the defense is that good
05:53and
05:53the mets have talked all this time this offseason about shoring up the defense if he can bring that
05:57as far as positional stability here in right field that could be huge but some mets fans going to be
06:03skeptical bro they're going to be like hey we've seen this movie before right we've seen this before
06:08with these positional players do you think there's something that makes him different because that's
06:11my main question here is there's something that makes him different i think there is something that
06:14makes him different and one it goes in hand with the new york mets let's not forget this right
06:18in order for a guy like ben to develop he needs that proper player development to get him to that
06:22point
06:23and that's something where over the years the mets have really severely lacked especially with
06:27position players you know if you look at outside of alonzo and mcneil you know mcneil was really
06:32this scrappy slap header that the mets were forced to call up later later into his um
06:37professional career in the minors because they really didn't have a better choice otherwise at the
06:41time alonzo forced his way in but clearly had the power what do you think of their younger
06:45core group now and guys like francisco alvarez brett beatty mark vientos ronnie maricio there's a
06:51lot of talent there but there hasn't been too much stability what can carson benge do to get his
06:56career started where there isn't as much fluctuation throughout his first two three years and what he
07:00can do is by sticking with his game i really do think that carson benge is the real deal he's
07:05a
07:05top outfield prospect in baseball but it's the way that he carries himself uh the big common consensus
07:10i've heard from people around the organization as well as actually with him is that he's never too
07:15high or never too low he's staying even keeled regardless of the results each day especially when
07:19you're in a heated position player battle where there's only one spot and you've got a veteran like
07:23mike talkman who i really do think is a lock to be on this team one way or the other
07:27breathing down oh absolutely i think he's a lock yeah we'll talk about him surely i think he's a
07:32lock i think you look at guys like christian pache off to a great start this spring that isn't making
07:36things easy for him tyrone taylor's reminding you that he's still there still there they have the p
07:41mj melendez has had a very hot start to sprain but even well with all those things happening
07:45that's noise that is not going to bother him and that's really why i do think that we're going to
07:50quickly realize carson bench even if he doesn't start the year great with the mets throughout the
07:54course of the year i am bullish that he's going to establish himself as the main go-to option in
07:58the corner so i like that i like hearing that a player is even keeled especially for a young player
08:03that's something you don't always see it's rare it's rare right it's rare you'll see that in the
08:07sport you mentioned mike talkman you and i got you and i were having a conversation the other day
08:12about him offline here talkman and i think fans will like this too i think the thing i look about
08:18him
08:18he's a professional right right this guy's going to be a pro on base is high i love that i
08:25know you
08:25like that too yeah the mets need guys are going to make they also need to drive people in we
08:30need to
08:30see that too but they need guys that are going to get on base you said he's a lock to
08:34make the team
08:34now some people might have looked at that and says well if he's a lock and he makes a team
08:38is he
08:38anywhere threat to carson bench but then you just told me carson bench ain't worried about that he's not
08:43worried about that at all right he's going to be calm with that i think competition is good i think
08:47that's dope for the team and dope for carson bench talkman just having him as fourth outfielder
08:54fifth outfielder if he's a lock where's that leave tyrone taylor right okay you see what i'm getting
09:00absolutely just questions he's a spring training questions i think i got the answers i just don't
09:05know if this is exactly how it's going to play out i'm just let me explain the rational reason
09:09as to why talkman's going to make the team and it starts with the fact that mike talkman is just
09:13one of 11 players over the past three years with at least 300 player appearances of a 350 on base
09:20average or higher all the other players on that list are either mvps or yearly all-stars he's the
09:26only anomaly of a player profile like that's so he's an elite company very elite company and you add
09:32that then you add in okay why did the mets have to sign him on a minor league contract if
09:36he's such
09:36a lock to make the team why a minor league deal simple answer he's entering his age 35 season or
09:41so
09:41grizzled veterans even with the kind of numbers that he brings are not great when it comes to
09:46marketability because one teams don't care about those player profiles until really spring training
09:50begins and two given his age and given the fact that many teams much rather someone younger in that
09:56role talkman is a platoon player as is he knows his roles to not necessarily play every day it's not
10:02that he can't it just he knows his role is probably more in the 350 to 400 plate appearance range
10:06okay understanding that role means you have even more limited options because who's in the market
10:12for a platoon bat that you don't necessarily want there every single day right but you know will be
10:16fine if he is there and that's where the mets found themselves in a great position now when we talk
10:20about the rest of the roster okay if talkman makes the team and if bench makes the team what does
10:24that
10:25mean for tyron taylor and this is a great question because what the mets just did with their lineup today
10:29is something that i highly anticipate we'll see a lot more of it's by having ben start in right field
10:34and having mike talkman at dh i think there will be a situation where you see talkman get a healthy
10:39amount of reps at dh benjamin get some reps at dh it bench looks like for whatever reason a defensive
10:44liability they'll take him out if they need to put him at dh have talkman go in there because he
10:49was
10:49around league average defensively last year and then you work from there so i do think that there's
10:53still a spot for tyrone on this team but to your point it gets a lot more difficult fast if
10:58you know
10:59for certain two outfielders that were not here last year at least at the major league level
11:03are pretty much locks to be here at the major league level this time around a year later right
11:07so the other thing is too is like somebody may say well hey if if and this is just me
11:11thinking as you
11:12were talking about this okay if tyrone taylor does not make the scene let's say talkman's a lock and
11:15you're going with bench and you're going with talkman on this roster we obviously know soto's
11:20going to be in left we know robert jr is going to be in center field we understand that the
11:24thing
11:24about tyrone taylor you like is that he can play multiple positions exactly be in center field but does that
11:29also open up the door for bench to then play a little bit more in center field himself as well
11:34too which is something i would think the mets would want to see with his development yeah so i can
11:39tell
11:39you from people i've spoken to are really locked in with carson at the minor league level that have
11:43actually been like breaking down his game like people that worked with him and the coaching staff
11:48from what i've heard is that bench appears like he's going to be best fit in the corner outfield to
11:52get the max production out of him his career it's early to say that i understand he's just getting
11:57his career started so we really don't know yet but i think the reason as to why the mets again
12:02want bench and right want robert at center they probably ideally would like that to be the tandem
12:08for most of the year and then if things happen with robert or say he deals with ailment which
12:12wouldn't shock us unfortunately or as we know or he's just really inconsistent then yeah you could
12:18put bench in center the belief is that bench can be an average center fielder but he can be above
12:22average corner outfielder that's so if you're david stern so what's the question you know like how
12:26is which one do you prefer more and do you think that maybe you could put bench almost more in
12:31the
12:31tyrone role in the sense of tyrone solely on this team because of his defensive ability it's not it's
12:37not because of his bat even though he's hit homers lately and that's great for him it's not because
12:40of his bat right you have to ask yourself does it is illogical to have a guy like tyrone on
12:45the team
12:45still if ben shows his ability to handle all aspects of the outfield where if robert is not good
12:51for a day you have bench in center and talkman and right you know but then here's the other
12:56counter and this is where it gets so tricky dexter what if robert is injured early this season and he
13:01misses significant time god forbid well that but that throws a monkey wrench in everything and then
13:05tyrone taylor automatically looks like the guy that you need every day defensively in center
13:10it's tough it's tough and now we're not we're not saying that we don't want this to happen no i
13:16love
13:16robert i'm just saying but these these are no you're right these are the things and i think a lot
13:20of times
13:21we're talking about positional battles here these are the things that gms are thinking about that
13:25david stearns is thinking about rightly these are the tough decisions and you just mentioned an ideal
13:30world warty which is like okay talkman makes a team which i see a lot of value for him just
13:37want to be
13:37very clear i see a lot of value for him and i think it was a good signing by the
13:39mets we'll see how
13:40it all plays out i'd love to see ben just these opening day starting right fielder that would be
13:45fantastic but we don't know how any of this plays out correct you but here's the thing
13:51for me we'll talk about this more through this episode positional optionality and flexibility
13:57which the mets have on this roster to me is something you haven't seen in a long time i
14:02understand fans want certainty i get that but sometimes this is good it's good to figure these
14:08things out it's good to see what you have in certain guys i've heard the same thing as you from
14:12people around the mets that they see bench in flourishing best in the corner outfield position
14:17that's the same thing i've heard from people around that now it's interesting because i think a lot
14:20of us heard early with him oh he's the center fielder the future he could be that this is what
14:24we heard with him coming up but now the mets made the evaluation based on his development that this is
14:30what this is what he can do so okay you think you said you said thinks a lot the talkman
14:37gets that
14:37fourth outfielder spot this is assuming that they don't carry a fifth outfielder on the 26 man roster
14:43which would be interesting i think the other positional battle that everybody's going to talk about if you
14:48want to say it is the positional battles what's going to happen at first base because that's going
14:52to be the big thing here right pete alonzo's gone yes we can say pete alonzo's gone it's okay we
14:57moved
14:57on although warty they're killing you for still uh we're still being out here rooting for your boy
15:03can i say something about this for a second because i really haven't broken it down okay so i'm gonna
15:07i'm
15:08gonna reiterate this for people that don't know the lore here because it became much bigger than i thought
15:12i was going to and everything is coming straight from the heart so i want people to hear this
15:15i put on a post this past week or so um explaining mets fans please don't get mad at me
15:20for the hype
15:21i'm still going to have for alonzo when he has success this year and fans took a great issue with
15:27not
15:27only me still supporting alonzo but also the fact that i mentioned in my post that you know it's not
15:32his fault that he left that oh he opted out multiple times he turned down extension all this stuff
15:36and i hear that night and i get that entirely but as someone who literally understood ins and outs
15:42of every aspect of what was happening with the alonzo saga with the mets i can tell you in
15:45confidence it was far more on the mets not wanting him back unless it was exactly their specific terms
15:50which were always going to stay short term more than likely than it was what he ultimately got with
15:55uh baltimore if baltimore approached alonzo with that five-year contract a year prior he would have
16:01been an orio for over a year now that's an absolute fact okay he fell back in the mets lap
16:05so
16:05to the fans out there that you know were ragging on me for supporting alonzo keep ragging you know
16:10people say to me oh wardy how's alonzo doing today oh what's happening in baltimore's camp
16:14i don't know why you why people would take offense to that when i openly said i follow the orioles
16:20i'm
16:20a fan of them and i am i've been a fan of the orioles literally for a very long time
16:23especially
16:24since the startup of their new core group they've been a good excuse for me to lock in more on
16:28the
16:28american league so i chose them as my team to watch of course they're not my favorite team my actual
16:33favorite team is the mets but if i had to pick a team that's my favorite that i prefer in
16:36the
16:36american league it's orals so yes i will be talking about alonzo at times
16:40this year when he does hit a big home run i'm going to talk about it and if fans have
16:44their
16:44upper right that's fine but i'm not going to just switch up on a player now that he's no longer
16:48here
16:48when he did nothing wrong to me or my fandom to be like oh f this guy now you know
16:53what i mean like i
16:54was there for pete alonzo's first ever home run at city field now i'm just supposed to not care
16:58about him no i i make the decisions like come on what are we doing here i'm gonna be sure
17:02it's your
17:03fandom to do whatever the hell you want to do with it right like i'm not going to be here
17:06telling
17:06people what to do with their fandom and it's not like hey thanks for the memories pete and then
17:11good riddance and bye and i think people take things way too personally right you can do whatever
17:16you want to do with your fandom it's not that serious pete alonzo was a great met he's an all
17:20-time
17:20franchise leader in the home runs we understand he's not here anymore we got all this right but
17:26i'm going to say this personally for me i'm not going to go out there i'm not going out there
17:29hating on pete alonzo except for if he plays against the mets of course right i will say the most
17:35heinous things imaginable if he hits like three home runs against us we're gonna boo him whatever
17:38but that's it that's it other than that wish him well i know and come on and let's we're gonna
17:44keep it real here too mets fans pete alonzo's playing the yankees and pete alonzo belt some
17:51home runs against the yankees you know exactly what you're gonna be doing am i just supposed
17:54to stay silent what is this like literally the entire point is me just casually tweeting a couple
17:59home runs throughout the month mainly against rival teams i don't like i know i'm
18:04taking that squad i might as well sign on to the orioles beat if you're hiring i'm here
18:08straight put wardy on straight out of the inner harbor that's that's what we'll do now that's
18:12that's what we'll do instead of that one of my favorite shows is um oh never mind never
18:16that's a tangent all right let's continue let's go on to the next time okay so we were talking
18:21about position but we were talking about first base yes and one of the things and i you know i
18:27didn't talk to you and i did see a little bit of how you reacted to pete alonzo when he
18:31was
18:31moving on and we knew that we knew that yeah i was upset rightfully so and i understood and i
18:36saw
18:36and there were other people in the mets content creation world that i saw have this and feel this
18:41way and people's shows i went on and and talked to about it but we're here now and now we
18:46heard
18:46you know hory palanco supposed to be the replacement here right and could be some little bit of mark
18:51vientos could be some brett baby at first base what's the best best option to first base because
18:57this is maybe to me more of the pressing question for the fan base more than right field because of
19:06who it's coming after because this is coming after pete alonzo mr pete alonzo fan over here who what's
19:12the best best option here because we could discuss this i'm i have this feeling of like i don't care
19:19if that makes sense i'd like to see it i'd like to see if baby can find a home because
19:24i like what
19:25baby did last year particularly defensively at third and i felt like his bat was starting to
19:29come around but if perlonco is that guy or he can give you more dh where he's so comfortable where
19:35it can be more revolving i'm cool with that too right does it matter for you or are you i'm
19:39a little
19:39indifferent i just want to see somebody take the job do their thing and if they do it's cool if
19:43they
19:44don't well then we have a lot of questions but that's we do have a lot of questions and listen
19:48mets fans and trying to buy into uncertainty heading into the season is always a difficult thing to do
19:53because that's what we always do you know it i know it and when you hear a focal point as
19:59to why
19:59the mets do not want or what their biggest gripes that they had with pete was his lack of defensive
20:04ability you're not really doing yourself any favors by entering camp the way that the mets have from
20:08a defensive standpoint you know they have no true first baseman currently competing for a first base
20:14spot and that's not what you want when you're trying to sure up team defense dexter i don't know
20:18if you recall but the mets were downright horrendous at times defensively last year and in the infield
20:23they were they were they were i know you've seen enough games you know so like you saw especially
20:27in that second half they were just putrid at times in the infield just like very incompetent which is
20:32not what you want and not what david strings is trying to build so from an offensive standpoint
20:38jorge polanco is i think it might be the best bet in what you're getting he batted over 800 from
20:43both
20:43sides of the plate last year for a seattle lineup and a mariners team door in seattle half the year
20:48it is
20:48not easy to hit there no so to see him finally snap out of that after having some slumping seasons
20:52due to injury as well was great to see uh but baity's the guy i'm really most excited about in
20:57this one and this is let me make clear not at all slight against mark vientos at all i like
21:01mark i
21:01love his family they're all well they're supporters of the platform it's just been very unfortunate the
21:05past year what's happened with vientos and this is why i would have really liked to deep dive with
21:09you dex because on one hand you see you see the good thing that happened with mark in year one
21:14in
21:142024 where the bat broke out was getting consistent reps third base he wasn't good but it didn't matter
21:20because he was making up for so much offensively like runners in scoring position clutch numbers
21:25late in game like you wanted vientos at the plate and that was a really exciting feeling to have
21:29because it was different than your typical lindor and alonzo they finally had a young core talent
21:34separate from the origination of guys and nimmo included that was starting to perform then as we
21:39down in 2025 mark's probably feeling pretty cocky as he should feeling good after a big rookie year
21:45um and things just don't work out for him and he finds himself essentially losing you know the third
21:51base job baity wins it after you know not doing much for them the first month he hits a pinch
21:57of
21:57bomb last year off exactly or i was in attendance for that game or just a bomb in general and
22:01then he
22:01was sent back down but when baity got back up he never went back down again that's what everything
22:05changed you can't expect a guy like baity and vientos to both continue to fluctuate for years
22:12on end before at least one of the two starts to solidify themselves and baity's done that and he
22:17started that defensively but now he's found the bat and that's mark's biggest problem here because
22:21in order for vientos to thrive at first base not only is he going to have to do a lot
22:25more infield
22:26work with kai correa which we know he's doing in port st lucie right now but he's also going to
22:30need
22:30to take advantage of the opportunities in ways that you know the pressure wasn't on then like no the
22:34pressure's on now like mark vientos doesn't have any minor league options left he is a very net
22:39negative defensive player and base runner for you he's strictly a bat first player like alonso
22:45so if that bat isn't there or if there isn't consistency you have a major issue where he
22:49might be boxed out from even being on this roster halfway through the year if not sooner i was thinking
22:54about sooner i i agree i was surprised i'm surprised that baity vientos mariso were all still on this
22:59roster i really thought it was in the best interest to still trade one of those three
23:03and move forward because you have such a log jam for player development reasons when i think of
23:07vientos too i i understand he did not perform well last year but like let's also you know call how
23:12it
23:12is the mets didn't do great what we know about their actual player development with him he said
23:16at last year's traded line you know when asked you know has he been helped you know has there been
23:20guidance that's been sought he said no because no one's really there to help basically i'm like i was
23:25damning if you're hearing those kind of remarks right before a traded line he probably had the
23:29expectation he's going to be dealt moved wasn't moved stays here has a strong start in the second
23:35half in august he got heat he heated up and then fell off again now that we're here in 2026
23:40brett baity is a man without a actual like legit daily position and that is why i do think he's
23:46going
23:47to run away with first base because baity look at how he approached third base last year and second
23:51base the mets were like we want you in there daily but you're going to have to play you know
23:55various
23:55positions can you handle it he handled it in stride was above league average at third base was our
23:59biggest certainty there that we're now missing in bichette i love bichette but we're not going
24:03to be a strong defensively there that's more than likely the truth so if baity can handle himself
24:07as good and proficiently defensively at third and at times at second didn't always look great at
24:12second but at times he looked good yeah i'm inclined to believe that he's the guy that i have far
24:16more
24:16trust and faith in to handle first base more on the fly than viento so even when he's been given
24:22reps
24:22each the past couple years it leaves quite a bit to be desired you know baity's first game in spring
24:26training it looked a little unorthodox but he's still making every play without a problem
24:30and he's just the more athletic talent so if the bat can just stay competent if it can just stay
24:36consistent with the lap it doesn't need to be the breakout bat they got other guys for that
24:40just handle your own i do think one of the more likely scenarios that we have this year barring
24:45changes obviously because we're talking march just started is that baity will get a healthy amount
24:50of reps at first plonka will get a healthy amount of reps at dh and then for the times that
24:55they
24:55aren't there let the chips fall where they may between talkman the antos those kind of types
24:59those kind of types yeah i think that's fine i so you and i are on the same page in
25:05that i think that
25:06baity profiles to be able to handle first base right and i'm doing it because some of it is what
25:12you said about bench i'm gonna go back to bench in a second the makeup right it's it's that mental
25:17makeup the fact that baity was sent down early last year came back was solid at third defensively
25:24didn't give up the job never went back down right and he got moved to second he talked about that
25:28and so second he was all right he was all right not great but he's all right i'm trusting his
25:34mental fortitude to be able to do that first that doesn't mean folks that it's going to work out i'm
25:37not saying that i have no idea nothing's a lot this is all speculation out there it's all speculation
25:41and what i think of his mental fortitude i think that matters what he did last year
25:46it's a new position i get all that he's not going to be the power hitter pete's going to be
25:50we got
25:51to get that out the way right forget all that and i don't think either of us are expecting that
25:55i think it's the best case scenario for the mets if he does that now you brought up something i
26:00found really interesting because i i even forgot i'm mentioning ronnie mauricio i've forgotten a
26:05little bit about ronnie mauricio okay what's up with that and his player development how does this
26:09affect vientos is he going to be here past spring training if it is baity if it is polanco here
26:16splitting the time and also with some time at dh there's a lot of question marks about the mets i
26:20thought
26:20two they should have moved one of those guys in the offseason but here we are now not like they
26:25still can't make a deal it's not they still can't make those moves i'm intrigued to see what baity can
26:31do i don't know there's something about baity i like i'm kind of there's no shade to vientos i'm
26:36kind of done on the vientos experiment i'm kind of done with it we've seen enough can his back get
26:42back
26:42to 2024 maybe and there isn't a full commitment at dh right now so again there is a role where
26:49it can
26:49work but it's up to him you know like that and mark and mark knows this very well obviously it's
26:54it's all going to come down to taking advantage of the reps you get this spring because while spring
26:58training numbers typically do not mean much right when you're in the heart of a position player battle
27:02as a player that only has one good season on your resume better put up some you have no minor
27:06league
27:06options you have to put up or shut up like that's that's literally what it is so that's more of
27:11what
27:12i've been saying about mark which is why i i advocate plenty for him to betray this offseason just
27:16because the mets don't want to lose him for nothing i understand not wanting to trade him
27:20for nothing but i think he still has enough value where at least prior to spring training having begun
27:26where maybe the mets could have paired him in some form of package deal for something greater i'm sure
27:31that they went over a lot of hypothetical deals this offseason offseason with him involved they just
27:35did not come to fruition one way or the other so if mark is a guy that is pretty much
27:40you know
27:40teetering as to if he's really a guy that should be at this level or not by time he reached
27:44the
27:45deadline do not be surprised if this year round by the deadline at latest if that is really
27:49the dictation and mark vientos's future with the club you know that that not that would that
27:54wouldn't shock me as all either i want to get to the pitching i want to talk some starting pitching
27:57bullpen before we wrap here today starting pitching look you love it you love it dex i can tell how
28:06much
28:06you're you're just enamored with how deep this slot this this rotation oh no no no if now if you're
28:12asking me if i love depth yes i like depth and i like options i know you're being sarcastic there
28:19would i feel better wardy if they had another frontline starter on this team sure i think my
28:26issue is there's so much uncertainty and then i think the big question for me is all right who's
28:30making the back end of this rotation are we sure we know who's making the back end of this rotation
28:34right right i think we know peralta lock right we we we're aware of that um
28:44sanga manai it's about health always bad health it's about health with those guys if you get i said
28:50this to somebody yesterday you tell me they're gonna get 25 to 30 starts out of those guys
28:56and with sanga you hope they're quality and and manai he might give you 25 but
29:01yeah you're like what kind of 25 right right so i wanted to preface that there i mean what kind
29:06of
29:0625 matters here too i think you feel really good now the back end we're talking peterson
29:14who very strong first half of the season last year second half right the year before 2024 electric
29:22electric second half of the season yes so we've seen peterson put it together kind of for like one
29:27full year but not all together right right in one season um but a name i think that's interested in
29:34the back end of rotation that possibly and i don't know and i don't know how you felt about i
29:38don't
29:38think we talked maybe we talked about this guy a couple years ago christian scott yeah i'm fascinated
29:43into what i think somehow he's going to factor into of having a big impact on the mets this season
29:48i think he's been out of sight out of mind with the tommy john surgery obviously he's got to work
29:52his way back he's got to perform but i always like this stuff and i like this moxie and i
29:56wonder if
29:57he's better as a guy even if he doesn't start with the big club here at the start of the
30:02year
30:02just a guy that you can feel good about coming up this is going to sound like shade and i'm
30:06not
30:06shading anybody but i think it feels much better to know you can bring up christian scott
30:09than tyler mcgill you don't got to worry about that anymore it's so funny to me that you just said
30:14that because the first thing that was raining in my mind i was planning to respond to you with is
30:18that
30:19christian scott has all the ability to be the tyler mcgill of the mets this year
30:23that to a t in the sense of someone that they will pretty much use consider as more of a
30:28rubber
30:28arm where if they want him to start games they will have him start games especially if say there's
30:33a doubleheader you need an extra player that kind of thing and if you need someone to eat quality
30:37innings for you maybe as a multi-relever i could see the mets not being completely opposed to that
30:41depending on the stats the club this year and their rotation because they have a lot of depth but
30:46we know this we see every year trust me i'm frustrated just thinking about it injuries are
30:50inevitable they will happen it's not a matter of if but when they do there's one inconsistencies
30:54inevitably happen as well and now it's a matter of will they be as inconsistent as dreadful for
30:59multiple months on end last year or are we going to get something a little bit more palatable that
31:03we can handle this time around if it is hopefully the latter then still i do think to your point
31:09i i
31:09expect christian scott to get looks people forget about christian scott and it's unfortunate because
31:15before he was called up he was putting up the best minor league numbers among starters not named
31:19paul skeins and that's kind of a big deal then you think about okay why did christian scott give
31:24up home runs every single time that he was out there well a big part of his problem was that
31:28he
31:28struggled against left-handed hitters in particular adjusting the major league level and he still had
31:32a partially torn ucl yep so think about this this is the first time dexter in what two and a
31:36half
31:36three years he's been healthy he's been healthy because even when he was done um with uh even his
31:43year prior to the mets in 2024 he had played that whole year with a partially torn ucl they pushed
31:49it they pushed it this was always pushing the inevitable so when they finally did his surgery
31:54i was a little bothered just because i wish he did it sooner i was like i i like giving
31:59christian
31:59scott looks but why are we going to utilize him this meticulous way where we're going to have him eat
32:03four or five innings and then maybe he's going to skip a start like just let the kid get surgery
32:08like we know he's going to have to get it so he got it he's healthy i definitely think he's
32:13a player
32:14that once he starts to get spring uh spring game reps because they're happening soon uh fans are
32:18gonna be happy with what they see with him um definitely a guy who i also could thank dexter
32:22and maybe i'm wrong on this i think the mets have more of a willingness to kind of throw christian
32:28scott in the fire of whatever they want him for than jonathan you know ton's like at least three
32:33years younger he's like the really heralded top pitching prospect now i think the mets are going to
32:38play very smart with tom this year to begin the year i do not anticipate him to be on the
32:42roster
32:42at all i think he'll be right there in triple a to begin and then i'm like that it's no
32:47right get
32:48ready for the inevitable folks it's gonna happen no but but i think you're right i remember talking
32:52with um my guy nick pollock of pitcher list right about this he's great too yeah shout out to my
32:57guy
32:57nick um nick's gonna definitely come up or hop on with us and talk about some pitching at some point
33:02but he the thing he was talking about i think that was going to be shocking to fans was tong
33:07still has
33:07more pitches that he still needs to develop that he can trust in a variety of different situations
33:12change up especially change up especially he took he hit on that right and so until that happens i
33:17think fans were enamored like okay he's got the stuff he's got the funky delivery with the vulcan grip
33:21and all that and people like that but it's like he's still got a ways to go you said those
33:27are
33:27interesting that we both got into tyler mcgill stuff because i think people might hear me say it
33:32i think i'm shading tyler mcgill but what i'm saying is christian scott can fill that role and
33:37like you said but with more upside right exactly finally healthy with some more upside you know
33:42what you're getting with tyler right and we know we know him as best which has been very entertaining
33:46and we know him as worse which is just unfortunately not a major league caliber pitcher so it all comes
33:51down to who's going to be more consistent who's going to provide the health yep and while health
33:55maybe hasn't been on christian scott's side that's in the past this is the now let's focus on the fact
34:00that you finally do have a healthy pitcher that might be able to be effective for you in ways that
34:04you didn't even think heading into the season so you know when we get concerned and we think about
34:07the makeup of team depth oh why didn't we do this in the offseason why did we why didn't we
34:12do that
34:12it's easy to forget about the amount of in-house options the mets have that actually look like
34:17that they're quality to a degree you know that years ago the first year under steve cohen
34:22was horrendous for various reasons especially in the pitching front and i always think of who the
34:28mets had to defer to for depth pitchers and that season oh you know you're going to depress me now
34:33i know but they're just they're literally just the most insane names imaginable of guys that again
34:37haven't touched the major league since right so i think that's that's my point of is that the mets
34:42have finally positioned themselves reliever and starters alike where they're not in a position where
34:47if say a couple guys go down oh no we're really considering these guys from double a or we're really
34:53considering this guy from triple a that's been here the past decade right now like why are we doing
34:56this no you at least have two three four viable options whether they're top prospects with upside
35:03or veterans still trying to make a name for themselves at the big league level that are
35:07going to help fill those voids instead of just falling off the deep end right away when things
35:11go bad yeah because if you're stressed about those we didn't even mention the names of the people
35:14that they were bringing up and you're like we're really bringing up this guy right if you're stressed
35:18you know the front office is stressed too you know you know that they're also like man we have to
35:23bring
35:23up this guy we got to try to get a couple of starts here in mid-may to get through
35:27this that's not what
35:29you want to do as well too speaking of the back end of rotation a guy who pitched very well
35:34on sunday
35:34that we saw clay holmes clay holmes i thought was an interesting signing the previous offseason
35:40by david sterns clay holmes pitched well he was pretty solid last year a little fatigued at the end but
35:46you got to remember this was the furthest he had been going as a starter he really had gotten
35:50stretched out hadn't pitched as much innings i remember what he did against the marlins too he
35:54had the biggest start when the mets needed it no one else stepped up nobody else but clay holmes did
35:58i know i took the words out of your mouth i'm sorry no no no it's not that you took
36:01the words out of
36:02my mouth you just took me back to the marlins series i didn't i'm sorry i didn't need to go
36:06back
36:07it's a new it's a new it's 2026 new mets dexter 40 right here on new york post you're right
36:12but
36:13marlins at the end of the season is triggering for us all we i understand we know this um but
36:18he's been good so far in in spring training um from from what we've seen with him what have you
36:23liked that you've seen out of holmes this year do you think he's primed to even have a better year
36:27because i think it was solid for year one for him in flushing do you think year two of flushing
36:32can
36:32even be better for clay holmes the quick reason as to why i think and expect clay holmes do better
36:37than he did last year yeah it's because he should have more protection now okay he should have a little
36:42bit more breathing room when it comes to pitching talent around him where he doesn't feel like he needs to
36:46be under high pressure cooker situations for the entire second half the way he probably felt
36:50knowing that the mets are spiraling as much as they did a still put up some solid performances
36:55listen in his first year as a starter turn reliever since 2019 he was second or i think at worst
37:02third
37:02on the mets in innings pitched he had over 160 last year which is really really good for your first
37:07year
37:07back so he added the curveball back in his arsenal this year um working with justin willard mets pitching
37:13coach not a pitch he's going to use as much for swing and miss but just more so a pitch
37:17that can
37:17maybe help him set up especially against lefties um he is definitely a guy who what we've seen so far
37:22this spring gave up a earned run in four innings with really good four strikeouts in that final start
37:26now he's going to play with mclean for team usa and the wbc i hope they play great i hope
37:30they stay
37:31healthy i knew you were going to say the last part um but that goes without saying right clay's good
37:35and
37:36you know if this is a year where he begins the year maybe either third or fourth in this rotation
37:41you're in good hands because he positioned himself to really be you know it's crazy to say but when
37:46you think of that entire rotation last year clay was the most reliable david pearson fell off a cliff
37:50in the second half kodai single was great in the first half but nowhere to be seen the second half
37:54shamanai and frankie montas were literally nowhere to be seen all year uh it really came down to clay
38:00homes being that one fixture of a certainty which was a low bar he only averaged around five innings
38:06per start you want more length that's the main thing i'm hoping to see from clay this year
38:10can he tap in a little bit more can we get him at least 175 innings this year can he
38:14give us more
38:15six inning of quality outings because i do think his stuff is going to play and now that you have
38:19peralta and mclean from the jump this year that's some nice breathing room for a guy like clay who i
38:25think can kind of just more focus in on just trying to be the best pitcher he can be not
38:29that he wasn't
38:29already right but you know he kind of became the guy at times last year when that should have never
38:34been the case no the goal and god willing is that that will not be the scenario this year although
38:38you
38:39said injuries are inevitable folks we understand that but you're right mindset into the position
38:44that you're thrust into the pressure that you have up to your talent that matters a lot so he
38:50had a lot of times where we were looking at him last year down the stretch all right mets have
38:54lost
38:54three in a row now clay holmes is starting you we need him to go give you six and the
39:00nice but he
39:01already was being stretched out further than he ever had been so asking him to give you six was a
39:05really
39:06tall ask now you can now you're you're in now you let him settle a little bit now it's like
39:11okay
39:11now we can now we can take off the training wheels now we'll just let you do your thing so
39:15i'm curious
39:16to see the kind of year he's going to have obviously especially on how he kind of feeds off of
39:20if he has
39:21a bad outing because i noticed last year he had some stretches where he'd look he looked rough for like
39:26there was a north of a month stretch where clay holmes was just not overly viable but even then you
39:30still
39:31didn't hate him out there just because he was still better than what you were getting because
39:35again that's how low the bar was for the mets this past year and that's why them having a a
39:40quality
39:41rotation this year is the exact path to them at least making playoffs if not hopefully having a
39:47deeper on yeah that that's going to be a thing one other thing i want to talk about in terms
39:52of
39:53positional battles or let's talk about the bullpen because the mets bullpen has always been
39:58interesting and i think relief pitchers it's so volatile man like sometimes you don't know what
40:04you're going to get year to year and this is why it's tough to build a good bullpen how are
40:10you
40:10feeling about this bullpen right now because i'm still a little shaky so a lot of it has to do
40:14with
40:14look i understand diaz is not here your boy devon williams i'm calling me your boy now he's my boy
40:20now boy now okay once once we meet devon during the season i'll be like let's go you're my boy
40:24now
40:24there we go i'm gonna say i didn't say yeah i said it it's fine look people over he gave
40:31first
40:32pitch of spring training he gives up the home run oh i was there his season's over it's over it's
40:36over
40:36get him out of here we're joking we're joking people are going to overreact with that i do think
40:42there's some interesting arms in this in this bullpen though um huasca brazaban another another guy
40:47coming back i think i've always liked this stuff can he put it together can he stay healthy health is
40:52a
40:52concern with him too i think another day i want you to hit on all these another name we got
40:57to
40:57talk about tobias myers which i think is a very underrated pickup in that freddie peralta trade
41:01a guy that had a really good season for the brewers last year can pitch well in this bullpen
41:07you could have some concerns about lefty options here in the bullpen are the bets depending too much
41:12on brooks raley here there's still there's a lot of question marks have about this bullpen i hope it's
41:16good but i don't know what's your vibes on this bullpen right now so let's start with the top
41:20before myers who did you mention i mentioned um who did i mention before myers brazo yes to finish
41:27on brasban i was just saying he has three squirrels sitting so far he begins sprain the only downside
41:31for brasban i've been reiterating this a lot on my youtube channel is that it just isn't in my
41:36opinion i understand wanting to play for your country completely so like i don't fault a player there
41:40but when you're on a team and you're in a position battle it doesn't do you any good and that's
41:45where i
41:45kind of have a little bit of a question mark when certain players are still going out of their way
41:48to do
41:49it especially brasban who's still under club control is going to be in the organization no
41:53matter what to begin the year right i could understand it a bit more because the mets have
41:56some you know minor league signings with spring training invites that are playing the wbc
42:00daniel duarte is an example of exactly that and like that's good for him but i can understand it
42:05more because for a player like him he may not even make the team out of camp and if he
42:10doesn't
42:10make the team and say he gets released and then he didn't play the wbc he's like well i didn't
42:14make
42:14the team i didn't even get a rep my country that sucks so like i i hear you i get
42:18that you have
42:19fun do your thing but for brasban he's under club control i don't know if this is going to be
42:23the
42:24best for him in the sake of making this bullpen this year some people think brasban's a lock i
42:28don't know if you feel that way i don't view him as a certainty at all just because he hasn't
42:31been
42:31a certainty the past two years so i don't know why i should automatically just view him as that now
42:35because the mets have a position battle for the final two to three spots no when you mentioned
42:39tobias myers that's the key standout in this one okay i could go on and on talking about him but
42:44i'll be very quick because i know that we're probably going longer than typical i will say
42:47this quickly the reason he's a standout for me too i like i think that he's going to be able
42:51to
42:51give them a little bit of innings out of the pen he's a he's a i don't know if that's
42:54part of
42:55what you was going to say yes but this is why i love what he can do for this bullpen
42:58yeah no he
42:59reminds me a lot of trevor williams when he was at the mets because trevor williams was here
43:03especially in 2022 he was like that huge swiss army knife starter reliever he got you i'm forgetting which
43:09one he's better at it might have been a reliever where i think he was just nails for a while
43:12but
43:12to the credit of tobias myers so was he last year as a starter he wasn't good but as a
43:17reliever he
43:17had a sub two year right so he's already pitched five plus ains for the mets this spring he's only
43:21given up a run or two he's looked good i'm excited to see more tobias myers he looks like
43:25that he's going to be the biggest crafty weapon the mets have in their bullpen we're like we talked
43:29about christian scott and kind of that role they're going to defer to myers first though he's going
43:33to be the first guy that they want and kind of lawn relief for various circumstances that you just
43:37kind of throw him in there because you need him in there and trevor williams was so solid for the
43:40mets in that role one earned run seven strikeouts for tobias myers awesome ring so you like that only
43:47one walk five hits he's given up that's that's first no homers of devon williams here nice so
43:53he's he's he's solid there there's some young arms too though i want to talk about the bullpen right
43:57because you got dylan ross you got jake lambert lambert looked good in his first appearance he looked
44:01really good um those guys who can really throw hard that you're looking for some of those guys that
44:07can give you high leverage pitches and high leverage innings at the back end of that bullpen
44:11do you think those are two guys that can make this bullpen or who do you want to see make
44:15this bullpen
44:15because i kind of agree with you braselman i love the upside but i don't know if he's a lock
44:21he's
44:21gonna have to show me a little bit more and it's about consistency it is about consistency and i think
44:26the fact that the mets don't have enough certainty in their back end is why he may make it in
44:29the end
44:30it benefits him even with the wbc but as you mentioned in dylan ross and ryan lambert what i love
44:34so much
44:35about these guys is these are in-house homegrown talents they're flamethrowers and both of them
44:39last year had an immense amount of success in my release lambert helped uh the double a rumble
44:44ponies win their championship last year was a fixture as their closer in that and this is a guy who
44:49isn't
44:49big in stature you know like me i can relate he's a little bit taller than me though a little
44:53bar with
44:53me but not your typical you know like six foot four flamethrower the way that dylan ross is like
44:58dylan ross is like six four six five pumps absolute gas he's a monster lambert's much smaller but lambert
45:05still throws ridiculous heat and interestingly enough throughout the first week or so of spring
45:09training ryan lambert leads all of baseball and like his stuff plus per tj stats on x uh for those
45:14that know what i'm referencing right now he was 17 above league average between um his two pitches and
45:20his fastball was well above league average so that thing's fiery early normally you have concerns you're
45:26like oh no i don't want a guy throwing gas just early in spring it's still february at the time
45:29but when he consistently does that and that's just his game it's okay because that that's that's the
45:35ryan lambert way so yes dylan ross ryan lambert two guys you can fully expect to impact the mets
45:40bullpen i'd say right now dylan ross is in and lambert's out only because ross is already on the
45:46roster he was moved on the roster in that series last year never made his debut unfortunately but now he
45:51will get that opportunity he'll get his spring uh spring starts soon as a reliever and then we'll
45:56go from there but lambert is someone who if he does not crack the team out of camp he will
46:00be with
46:01the team at some point this year and at probably sometime in the first half because his stuff is
46:04so legit the only qualm that people argue is oh he walks so many guys because when you throw a
46:09lot of
46:09gas naturally you're going to be a little bit of you know wild thing straight from major league it's
46:13going to happen but you're going to see that if you but like with the transition with these kind of
46:17pitchers is you know the walk rates are going to more than likely come down especially when you have
46:21a pitching staff the major league level that are confident really working with these guys so
46:25lambert and ross may have walk rates in the fours or the fives but when they get to the major
46:30league
46:30level expect the mets to make sure that they're you know being smart with it they're not going to give
46:34him a crazy leash if he's walking everybody and their mother and you know with throughout five outings
46:38he has you know an eight plus era they're not going to do that because they don't need to do
46:41that
46:41they just want to seamlessly put these guys in when the time's right if it works out great if not
46:46you
46:46send them back to the miners have them work a bit more and then wait for the next opportunity but
46:50those are two guys i've mets fans i've not been paying attention to make sure you're paying
46:54attention to this spring because they're bringing the heat and brooks really that's the other one
46:58decks i want to turn this back to you real quick yeah because we were we were talking about this
47:02before we went live here now you mentioned how are the mets a lefty short right you look at brooks
47:07really you look at how high quality of a reliever he is in this back end so you think that
47:12the new
47:12york mets are in a position right now where they are comfortable heading in the year with essentially
47:17just one on paper quality lefty they have some others they have another that they brought in
47:22recently that was with the brewers in 2024 and had a lot of success but you're still banking on what
47:27was a down 2025 for him so really the lone certainty how do you feel don't like it but but
47:34this is the
47:36life of the mets fan you've lived a lot of times with knowing hey going into a season i had
47:41one lefty
47:42arm in the pen that we can trust when have you had the option of having multiple lefty arms you're
47:46going to
47:46i don't like it the reason i don't like the wardy is because you're leaving yourself really vulnerable
47:51here right what if we're going to go to what ifs wardy said earlier injuries are inevitable
47:56and you were right my friend injuries are inevitable brooks really can he stay healthy
48:01we know the height of what he can pitch we know what he can do is on lefty arm but
48:05it's like
48:06is the health going to be there i would love some other insurance i'd like some competition for him so
48:10he knows that he's not comfortable i just like that a little bit too so right now i don't feel
48:14great
48:15about it um do i think sterns is going to look to address this yes i hope so i also
48:22i also always
48:23say this it's funny because this this episode and we're talking about this we're talking a lot about
48:26positional battles we're talking about how we feel about the roster and everything of that
48:31the roster does not have to be set exactly optimally for this team at opening day i think everybody
48:36likes that that to happen but that doesn't mean that you we have mentioned multiple times in our
48:41conversation here this could change and that could change carson menge might not be the starting
48:45right fielder on opening day i don't know exactly how the bullpen is going to look i feel a little
48:49bit better if i had two lefties going into opening day that i felt like i could trust but i
48:53hope it's
48:54something that the mets can address throughout the season the one thing i will say and the way
48:59sterns has managed the bullpen that i have been a fan of and pretty much a little bit with this
49:04team
49:04and maybe even when he didn't have as much flexibility last year if guys aren't performing
49:09they will send guys down all right no really it's not necessarily the guy we're talking about in
49:13that but even when you're talking about with ross with lambert things like that i think that's
49:16the thing that gives me confidence in building the bullpen the bullpen is the way i look at it is
49:20it's something you want to see hopefully build towards the point when you get to before the
49:25trade deadline where you look at your bullpen and say hey i feel good about this oh no we need
49:29to go to get this oh we need to go get this we need to upgrade here we need to
49:32subtract here
49:33that's what i want to see how's the bullpen being built as we move through the season that's
49:37what's going to make me uh feel better but as far as really being the sole lefty that we trust
49:43right
49:43now nah not feeling so great about it yeah i'm with you and i think every mets fan watching this
49:48is probably with you because this is the same story you know the same song and dance literally
49:52every single year at least under steve cohen the mets have always been having one quality lefty at
49:56least that stood out but another that really not so much you know 2021 aaron lupin anomaly of the
50:01season he's awesome him and anthony banda you know popping their drinks post game having a lot of fun
50:07that was fun but that but aaron lup bagged a contract from the angels and swindled them
50:12because he knew exactly he's never going to put up that performance and he really wanted to come
50:16back to the mets a year later he made it now and he's like i really did want to come
50:19back to the
50:19mets but this was too much money to pass up hey man he had to get that bag i understand
50:22he did but
50:23you look at the lefty since then again just not enough quality i love brooks really but the issue is
50:28is he's in his towards the talent of his 30s now right we're getting closer if he goes down with
50:32ailment significantly which wouldn't shock any of us then you're in a major problem because they don't really
50:37have the protection there so this is why all offseason i advocated for the mets to acquire
50:41a quality lefty they're probably going to be in the market for one of the traded line they're
50:45probably going to overpay for one of the traded line um we'll wait and see when that happens but
50:49yeah the mets have a bunch of relievers right now we'll see exactly who is going to crack those final
50:54spots but the good news is that i think whoever cracks the spots abert alzaway craig kimbrell included
51:00when we think of the veterans that are competing for spots i think that things are going to be
51:04looking good and the one thing i can credit david sturds for as much as i despise the man for
51:09helping the mets have the most pitchers ever utilized in a season last year major league history
51:13and i really do i'm still frustrated with you about that david but i understand injuries were a key
51:17factor but how proactive he is with the bullpen is what i admire as well it's good knowing that you
51:23at least have a pobo or gm that's not going to sit on his hands for a literal month of
51:27a guy is
51:28clearly looking incompetent in the bullpen like how many opportunities does he need to get before we
51:32come to realization this isn't going to work naturally throughout the course of the year
51:35sometimes they give a leash longer than they should sometimes but there are justified reasons behind
51:39it the reasons we may just not know publicly is they're working on things behind the scenes like
51:44including working on maybe a new pitch and say that pitcher's repertoire or maybe he's having you
51:48know for whatever reason like the yips or like ryan helsley who just forgets how to pitch at all as
51:55soon as he becomes a new york fan shout out to the baltimoreals hope hope alazzo has fun with that
51:58one but why why you got to go bringing up old stuff i know i it's listen it i wouldn't
52:04be a
52:04true mets fan without bringing up past trauma that is that one goes in hand we're here to help we're
52:09here to help you heal no you're right i i like the word you use there too proactive proactive and
52:13and that's how i feel about how sterns has handled the bullpen and i've been a fan of that hey
52:17you see
52:18the problem somebody's not performing all right we're gonna move on we're gonna keep this thing
52:21going we're gonna figure out what works and like you're right sometimes we gotta pump the brakes too
52:24because we don't know everything that's going on behind the scenes with some pitchers you said working on
52:28stuff yeah ryan helsley yeah we're not gonna take you back i will tell you this much yeah i do
52:34think ryan helsley's gonna have a very good year you want to know why because he's not on the bets
52:39because he's not on the bets and he's in a small market some guys just aren't built for it and
52:43you
52:43know buddy went from being whole career calm st louis to new york yes halfway through the season
52:50you know it's gonna it's good it's you're either gonna make it or break it and what the mets learned
52:54from trading for small market players this past year is that most small market guys that they get
52:59unfortunately are going to have that small market mentality cedric mullens was non-existent
53:03susie came here ryan helsley was non-existent when you even look at some of their other pieces
53:07tyler rogers was very good i miss him dearly yeah really do gregory soto not so much he was good
53:13when he first came here and then he really got rocked towards the end i'm trying to think was
53:16there anyone else notable there when that tree did a line of coming from the small market
53:19but yeah so the trend though again with most of them is that they didn't pan out
53:24even when they seem like good moves on paper so you can't fault david there like it made sense
53:28i love the trade when the trade line was done we're like loved it would have loved another starter but
53:32david did the best he could he didn't give up a king's ransom for luis robert and now we got
53:36him
53:36for just luis angel acuna you know and this is not a slight on acuna but he had ironically he
53:42would
53:42have a path to the mets right now because he'll indoors injury i know it is kind of that's how
53:47it goes
53:47that's how it goes you trade jet williams you trade acuna your two backup shortstop options and bam
53:52now you need a backup shortstop shortstop ronnie mauricio it's your time let's see what happens
53:57we'll we'll see how that goes we'll see how that goes all right but this this went well we talked
54:02about some positional battles here on straight out of flushing warty's first episode here was a
54:06fantastic one warty uh again i'll say it is a pleasure to have you on we're gonna have a lot
54:11of
54:11good conversations like this throughout the season i hope you guys enjoy this we have a lot more stuff
54:15coming not just in studio also we will be at city field a lot this year different events we're
54:20gonna have different guests on with us what are you not just gonna have fun if you want to have
54:24fun talking mets baseball uh definitely come and join myself and warty on straight out of flushing
54:28also you can stay tapped into what warty is doing on his youtube channel he's still doing that as well
54:33so please check him out we will be talking a lot of met stuff it's gonna be fun warty it's
54:37gonna be
54:37good dex thanks so much this was a good this was a good first one we got a lot more
54:42to come for you
54:43so keep up the good vibes let's go meds and we'll catch you next time another edition
54:46of straight out of flushing peace out everybody peace
54:49you
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