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00:00:03how we doing everybody we're back at it with our latest straight out flushing podcast here
00:00:08the new york post sports youtube channel i am your host tyler ward and that is my amazing co-host
00:00:13that you guys all know very well dexter henry and today we're going to be breaking down all the key
00:00:18storylines of mets land headlined by the fact that francisco lindor is back we're going to talk about
00:00:23lindor's return to the mets life and what this means moving forward we're also going to get into
00:00:28a lot of other players standouts not only from the offensive standpoint defensive standpoint
00:00:33pitching headline by kodai sanga and we're going to wrap up the show by doing what we've done lately
00:00:37and that's talking about the world baseball classic so dex how you feeling today my man and are you
00:00:43ready to lock in and get this podcast started hey man i'm feeling good i'm ready to lock in i'm
00:00:48ready
00:00:48to talk about francisco lindor that came a little earlier than we thought wardy so the vibes are
00:00:53good vibes are good at mets land right now vibes are good vibes are good you know at the time
00:00:58of
00:00:59us talking the mets just took down the blue jays in the latest spring training game too everything's
00:01:03been going good at mets land lately we're not going to complain about that so let's go right ahead and
00:01:07i need to know your immediate reaction to finding out this morning at the time of this recording
00:01:11damn francisco lindor is back in life for the mets right after just doing bp with aj mentor
00:01:17i knew that lindor would return before spring training ended but i did not have this on my bingo card
00:01:22dex how you feeling yeah didn't have it on my bingo card either how am i feeling great this is
00:01:27this is the greatest surprise you could have gotten if you're a mets fan look i knew he was
00:01:32going to come back as well that's what i've been hearing too but to see him come back here at
00:01:37this
00:01:37time right you gotta love it if you're a mets fan so i'm just excited that he's healthy we know
00:01:43francisco lindor has traditionally already been a quick healer and boy did he show it again here but
00:01:49to do the work that he did in the back right and then to actually get on the field and
00:01:54play in a
00:01:55game on sunday and go one for three right and score a run and also have a strikeout you liked
00:02:01what you
00:02:01saw from him there look he looked good at the plate he looked comfortable i was about to call him
00:02:05the
00:02:05captain i know we're not supposed to say that steve cohen but he is basically the captain of this team
00:02:10yeah i know war you tell me to be quiet but look i i liked it i just love seeing
00:02:14the fact that he's
00:02:15healthy that he's going to be able to get reps in that he's going to be good to go for
00:02:19opening day
00:02:20this is huge for this team i know we're going to get into it more more in terms of how
00:02:24it impacts
00:02:25the roster and the decisions that we just talked about a couple of weeks ago but look i'm excited
00:02:29and i was shocked i was shocked i did not think that when i got up today that i would
00:02:35see the alert
00:02:35that francisco lindor will be playing already i was thinking okay maybe it'll be next week maybe
00:02:41gets a couple of games in before they break camp but here we are and if you're a mess fan
00:02:46you got
00:02:46to be feeling good about this how you feel i'm feeling great you for the all the exact same reasons
00:02:51and then you add in the fact that how he looked with the eye test again he looks perfectly fine
00:02:55the one thing we noticed is that with his fall through of his swing he was dropping his one hand
00:02:59off the bat which is not something he typically does but you could clearly tell he was doing that
00:03:03because of the handmade bone surgery and he wasn't grimacing he wasn't doing anything to make you think
00:03:08he was uncomfortable it was more for precautionary reasons than it was anything else and you see not
00:03:14only the single day he had but he smoked that well over 100 miles per hour that was a really
00:03:18hard hit
00:03:18ball one of the hardest hit baseballs for the mets in their victory against the blue jays and now
00:03:23seeing lindor back a week and a half away from opening day decks what is so important about this is
00:03:28that
00:03:28now we have a greater grasp if you didn't know already as to how the mets are going to be
00:03:33going about
00:03:34configuring their bench for this season okay because when you look at how the mets were going
00:03:39to have the year begin if say lindor was not really playing any games until opening day you would
00:03:45suggest right away that's a lock that they're going to have a backup shortstop on their bench right away
00:03:49because why wouldn't that you're going to maybe even have that guy get the opening day start if lindor
00:03:53is 100 ready well now that lindor is going to be a week and a half you know of full
00:03:58of reps before
00:03:59getting to opening day the argument can most certainly be have that the mets are in a better
00:04:04position than ever to do something that they normally don't do and that's begin a season by
00:04:08not having a true backup shortstop off the bench what's your thoughts about that i think they're
00:04:14yet in a better position to not do it listen this all sets everything the way the mets would want
00:04:20for this roster going forward it is more than ideal when you know that francisco lindor is going to be
00:04:27there and they don't necessarily have to worry about that and here's the reason the mets don't
00:04:30have to worry about this that i think it's good you and i've talked about this a lot warty it
00:04:34is
00:04:35the positional versatility that they have on this team right now whether it's in the outfield or it's
00:04:39in the infield but once you have lindor back in the fold here it allows you to explore more of
00:04:45that
00:04:45and not have to worry and say okay we have to make sure we have a backup shortstop here so
00:04:50i actually
00:04:50think this is a good thing for the mets i think it's going to be good for their roster construction
00:04:54and how they want to leave camp and start the season i think is great so this like it's not
00:04:59just about obviously having francisco's indoors back in the lineup is huge and obviously everybody
00:05:04wants to see him get off to a quick start and everything but it's about what it does in terms
00:05:09of being able to make the decisions that need to be made on this roster so look i like it
00:05:15i think it's
00:05:16good the here's the thing though we can say all this and we love the positional flexibility and a
00:05:21roster flexibility and all that we still have a lot of questions right and we still need to see
00:05:26players that are playing new positions whether it's jorge polanco whether it's brett baity even
00:05:32carson bench who we're going to talk about later you're still going to need those guys to produce
00:05:36in that certain kind of way and look if lindor goes down again or has any kind of setback another
00:05:41point
00:05:42that could change it but for right now the way this roster can be you don't have to worry about
00:05:47that
00:05:47and i think it's a blessing for the mets and how they want to construct this team absolutely and
00:05:52we know that constructing this roster was going to be a tall task for david sterns after what was
00:05:56nothing short of an utter failure in 2025 seeing so many things not work from a defensive standpoint
00:06:02from an offensive standpoint with the clutch gene to every facet imaginable on the pitching end
00:06:08he had to roll up the sleeves and really dig deep to build this roster pretty much in certain ways
00:06:13to 180 heading into the season and to give credit where credit's due while we still have yet to see
00:06:18what the results are going to be the eye test has been promising this far and you really don't have
00:06:22many qualms as of now with just a week and a half or so as we get set for opening
00:06:26day and as you alluded
00:06:28to already decks we talk about uncertainty in these respective positions you brought them up let's hop right
00:06:33into the discussion it's carson bench okay he's been an uncertainty when looking at him as a top prospect
00:06:38and not necessarily knowing what you're getting at the major league level but there's also a great argument to be
00:06:43have that what we're seeing with carson benzer doing in spring training right now is kind of a
00:06:48continuation of what he did last year and you shouldn't be surprised when you see him have the
00:06:53immediate impact at the major league level that many fans including myself expect him to have so
00:06:57what has been your immediate reaction and takeaway from carson benzer's continued success this spring
00:07:02training the immediate reaction for me has been and i think back to the first episode we did together
00:07:07where you talked so much about his poise right and you said that's what made you confident that he
00:07:14can really succeed at this level well boy are we seeing it right he is leading the team in hits
00:07:19throughout spring training seeing that from a rookie and look i just want to say for the fans out there
00:07:25wardy and i don't want to put words in wardy's mouth but i know he generally rocks with me on
00:07:28this
00:07:28we're not saying to take everything out of spring training but what i have been saying what wardy's been
00:07:33saying is how does he carry himself how does he handle all this stuff how does he handle working
00:07:38through things how does he handle you know moving around you know learning from other guys i want
00:07:43to see all that so for this young man to come in here and lead the team in hits through
00:07:48spring training
00:07:49be a professional at the plate soak up everything that he can from other guys i love it it shows
00:07:54me
00:07:54that he's ready i believe that he's ready that's what i'm taking so far from this i believe that he's
00:07:59ready
00:07:59i think he is ready where he could be the starting right fielder on opening day at worst he is
00:08:05a fourth
00:08:05outfielder off the bench i don't think that's a bad situation for him either but i think he's ready
00:08:10for the big leads in a way that i'm going to be honest i wasn't so sure about i wasn't
00:08:15necessarily
00:08:15as confident as you were wardy i wanted it to be i was encouraged by the things that you said
00:08:20but it's
00:08:21one thing to say you like the confidence it's another thing to then see the young man go out there
00:08:26and
00:08:26produce granted it's spring training we get all that but production matters at some point it matters
00:08:32now he's going to have to produce when he when if it is now and when it breaks camp coming
00:08:36up to the
00:08:37big leagues and hitting but for right now it makes me say huh the makeup stuff that wardy was talking
00:08:43about was spot on and he's handling this well especially when he's had competition he knows he's
00:08:48in a competition with mike talkman and he's handling this well still leading the team to hits you got to
00:08:54love it oh you have to love it because this is the risk the mets took obviously entering the season
00:08:59having an open spot in their outfield for a top outfielder uh in their prospect and bench and that's
00:09:05something where you swing a miss on kyle tucker even though you put in a valiant effort there
00:09:09you had levels of interest in bellinger but nothing really materialized the way that maybe some fans
00:09:14would go and myself thought it would at the time so you say okay you bring in louise robert who
00:09:18we'll
00:09:18talk about in a little bit here as well as you know just making sure tyron taylor returns for
00:09:22defensive certainty at minimum but having that open spot in right field and constantly being
00:09:27reaffirmed from both david stearns and carlos mendoza letting us know that we're giving every
00:09:32opportunity imaginable this kid to go ahead and run with it you know now's the time to do that more
00:09:36than anything too like we have to give credit and pay kudos to the great success the mets had in
00:09:41their minor leagues this past season okay they were one of the best teams in all of baseball outside of
00:09:45the boston red sox you know when looking at certain levels of success pardon me success as well
00:09:50organizationally the mets were you know the best if not one of the best in all baseball last year
00:09:55across various levels and benj was a fixture behind that but benj is just the start of this new wave
00:10:01of talent that you will be seeing offensively it's not just going to be him you're going to see guys
00:10:05like aj ewing this year who has looked fantastic this spring ryan clifford who will get reps at first
00:10:11base sooner rather than later you think also on the pitching end in the ryan lamberts that we'll talk
00:10:16about later you know the dylan rosses and you think of the jonathans the christian scotts i mean
00:10:21there's a laundry list of players but they're all knocking on the door and they're all going to be
00:10:26impacting as soon as the season to varying degrees so for the mets you might as well see what you
00:10:32have
00:10:32in this individual now give him a leash to run with it because he may very well be the best
00:10:37option
00:10:37for you versus any option that you maybe could have picked up not named kyle tucker
00:10:41as pastors for agent market so to that point warty right that comes down to a lot of of trusting
00:10:49in your system your development and not to take a word from the sixers in basketball but trust in the
00:10:55process right right it's one thing to have the have the pipeline and the high ratings and the farm
00:11:00system and all that but are you going to trust the process and give these guys the opportunity to
00:11:07develop so that when they are ready to come up and then the support which you and i have talked
00:11:10about a
00:11:11lot with some of the changes to the coaching staff have that support so that they can succeed right
00:11:16and something i believe in a lot is competition is either going to make or break people and we talk
00:11:22about that with carson bench and he's in the competition with mike talkman well he's risen to
00:11:27the occasion here that matters a lot for me because there's going to be rough days that are going to
00:11:31come for this this young man carson bench if he's going to be successful as we think he's going to
00:11:35go
00:11:36through slumps he's going to go through some valleys we are hoping there are more peaks than valleys we
00:11:40were absolutely hoping for that but these things are going to come and how we can handle a competition
00:11:44early on now how he can make adjustments to major league pitching those are things we're going to
00:11:50be watching and so i think the met should be commended for putting him in a good situation a good
00:11:55environment where he can't succeed it's early yes he's got a lot of work to do but they have to
00:12:01if this
00:12:01is the plan that is going to come for younger players to follow him you just talked about an aj
00:12:07ewing
00:12:07you talked about a ryan lambert or dylan ross right we haven't even mentioned christian scott
00:12:11coming coming back off the surgery if there's a plan in place for these guys and a good culture
00:12:17and environment for them to succeed then you should as a mets fan be really excited about these prospects
00:12:22and what they can do and you know it would be nice for the mets to see this particularly with
00:12:27positional players because we know the history hasn't been that good especially the outfield for
00:12:31the mets it'll be nice to see that and if this could happen starting with carson bench it'll be pretty
00:12:35dope
00:12:36listen if if we had to go through the trials and tribulations of trading jared kalanick at a time
00:12:43where he was such a highly coveted prospect it worked out in the end for the mets no doubt about
00:12:47it
00:12:48when you trade and part ways with the pca for you know a second half's hobby bias just to get
00:12:54fans to
00:12:55be upset with a thumbs down movement okay um and trevor williams for the next year and a half after
00:12:59he
00:12:59was solid appreciate uh trevor always appreciate to now set up today that you traded drew gilbert
00:13:06at last year's deadline for a tyler rogers who's no longer here this is what's saying the stage for
00:13:11carson bench and what is different about carson bench than all the other players we just discussed
00:13:17the simple response is the following bench has been and clearly is from coming out of college
00:13:24the most polished he undoubtedly looks the most polished and he has looked the most comfortable
00:13:30there is a greater expectation of power implementation with someone like him than even
00:13:35pca when he was starting because pca was a guy that many people wrote off and said oh he's just
00:13:39going to
00:13:40be a defensive dynamo but he's going to have a noodle for a bat because he doesn't really have
00:13:44much size and stature to himself well he's been proving that wrong you know i know he struggled in
00:13:48the second half last year but looked like an mvp caliber player in the first half of the cubs
00:13:52so it's been a long time to finally get to the mets having a homegrown outfielder but i think
00:13:58it's fitting that the baton has really been officially passed in my eyes from brandon nimmo
00:14:03who was the longest tenured met here in many ways to now carson bench and i think the mets are
00:14:08going
00:14:08to be staying true as they told brandon nimmo and that recent piece here at the post with you guys
00:14:12that you know nimmo stated how they were really bullish on carson benches value to the organization
00:14:18and that they wanted to make room for him and give him a chance to run i think that this
00:14:23is
00:14:23holding true now and who's also going to help him run it's the guy that he's competing against x and
00:14:29that's mike talkman okay talkman knows exactly what his role is and that's why i advocated so heavily
00:14:35for him well before he was signed by the new york mets the fact that they got him on a
00:14:38minor league
00:14:39contract is crazy to me and they just reap the benefits of him being a grizzled veteran of an
00:14:43outfielder still a very quality one for what his role will be but one that isn't overly desirable
00:14:48for teams until really get into the beginning of spring training so the mets were able to take
00:14:52advantage of that and talk that we've talked about his elite on base ability he's one of the best
00:14:56in baseball and limited sample sizes in that regard but when speaking in recent interview you know
00:15:02talkman has laid down the groundwork of how important it is to reflect and look at he was once
00:15:08that young outfielder for the new york yankees just getting his career started and he had so many
00:15:12veterans that were helping hands of him in his game he looks at guys like carson mentioned what
00:15:17he's doing and he sees himself in so many of those ways he knows his role he knows he's not
00:15:21going to
00:15:22necessarily play every day he knows that he's going to be around 300 to 350 or so plate appearances
00:15:26that's okay for him because he's been doing this the past number of years so i think this is just
00:15:31a
00:15:31beautiful blend of having a high-rising prospect that's ready on the cusp of breaking out any veteran
00:15:37that instead of maybe could handle a competition and you know i'm just going to focus on myself and do
00:15:42my own thing cough cough harrison bader 2020 2024 new york mets tyron taylor it'll be a different
00:15:48circumstance this time around and that too is what has me excited because i do anticipate they're both
00:15:53going to comfortably be on this roster to begin the season what's your thoughts on that no well i think
00:15:58for one if you had asked mets fans in december you know would you be excited about mike talkman being
00:16:05on the team most people are probably like no we're not and to some degree warty even probably
00:16:11a couple weeks ago when we're talking about talkman and bench people probably like why why is
00:16:17warty excited about mike talkman well sometimes on teams you need a professional a professional
00:16:24matters especially when you have the support and you just talked about the mets really believing in
00:16:30carson bench and they're really have i don't want to say put their money with their mouth because
00:16:33they haven't invested a whole lot into them yet but they've really shown that by the opportunity
00:16:37you've given them and the support that i was talking about but how do you support a young
00:16:41player this is why what you're talking about with mike talkman matters right you get a guy like that
00:16:46108 ops plus over the past three seasons you've got to love that and then here's what also he
00:16:51provides that i like that is going to help carson bench as well too he's got a little bit of
00:16:56versatility he's played some center field he can't just play right he can only just play right
00:17:01he can give you some time in center he played 81 games there two seasons ago right he played
00:17:0815 games there last year excuse me pardon that was 81 games in 2023 15 games in 2024 so he's
00:17:14had
00:17:14some time of doing that and that does help this mets team so if luis robert jr is not healthy
00:17:22you need
00:17:22to put him in center field or you need to put bench in center field and then put talkman and
00:17:26right
00:17:26you can do that he's a professional he gets on base he can produce he knows his role that is
00:17:33huge
00:17:33what you said he's not a guy coming here saying i'm trying to do my own thing i'm trying to
00:17:39make
00:17:39sure that carson bench doesn't succeed no he's going to be invested in him succeeding because if he
00:17:44succeeds the team succeeds if he's a professional and does his job and gets his 350 at bats or so
00:17:50and
00:17:51does what he's supposed to do plays to the back of his baseball card the last couple years then the
00:17:55team is going to absolutely be successful so you need guys like that i think oftentimes warty we think
00:18:01too much about oh let's get this guy let's get this high-priced guy in and have this backup and
00:18:06it's
00:18:06like no you need the mike talkmans of the world sometimes because they stabilize the team they can
00:18:12help a young player like carson bench reach his potential because he's seen some things he had his
00:18:18vets when he was coming up with the yankees now as you said he's being that vet for this young
00:18:23player
00:18:23that the mets are very high on and you know what when you're somebody meant and i mentor people in
00:18:28this industry when you mentor people and they've got the right attitude and professionalism
00:18:33that matters a ton because now you want to go to extra mile for them you want to see them
00:18:38succeed
00:18:39and so i think that's going to help a lot the relationship of those two guys is going to be
00:18:42really interesting to watch and i think if you if carson bench if we see him have a lot of
00:18:48success
00:18:49mike talkman's going to have something to do with that and he's very valuable and look mike talkman
00:18:54injuries is happening could be very valuable for this mets team he's a guy you could trust if he
00:18:59needs to fill in for somebody for let's say a week or two and you won't feel bad about it
00:19:03that's that's
00:19:03a good thing exactly having that kind of depth is very important to begin the season especially when
00:19:09going back to what i was mentioning earlier the construction of the mets bench now
00:19:13they went from having you know no options in the outfield to what kind of feels like a you know
00:19:19maybe a poor man's embarrassment of riches but still a good thing you know you have an abundance of
00:19:24options now between benj talkman baity who we're going to talk about here as well as of course you have
00:19:30tyrone taylor who's at a very strong spring and brings elite defensive base running upside you know
00:19:35i will not at all be surprised if the mets bench to begin the season is configured where you have
00:19:40three outfielders on there essentially and then you have say one infielder and i do believe that's
00:19:45the route they're going to be going down right now so say carson bench is the opening day right
00:19:49fielder mike talkman coming off the bench because polanco maybe is at dh to uh begin the first series
00:19:55against schemes could be at first but we'll see so you go with the idea that you're going to have
00:19:59talkman you're going to have tyrone taylor you're going to have if i'm there's one more player in that
00:20:05mix that i'm blanking at the moment i apologize not three outfielders too because you have
00:20:09louis terrens as that final bench piece as your backup catcher and then right now it would be
00:20:14mark vientos as that infielder but you know before we talk about vientos and we talk about those things
00:20:20i do want to know if you have anything that you'd like to share on that briefly no oh it's
00:20:24funny
00:20:24because i was going to go to vientos and i'm like are we sure that he's making the team right
00:20:29now are we
00:20:30are we really because because look i'll just say this really quickly if they're going with you're
00:20:36saying to you just to be clear wardy you were saying two outfielders on the bench so you're
00:20:40saying two outfielders on the bench on the bench so you're saying they would keep talkman and keep
00:20:44tyrone taylor i think there's a strong case for that obviously taylor's got the versatility to an
00:20:48outfit can play all three outfield positions so that's really dope there but here's the thing
00:20:52he's actually been hitting well uh in sprint training tyrone taylor that is hitting 292 so you you
00:20:59gotta like that i too think they would do that i'm sure they're going to be fans that say
00:21:02oh well how are you only going to go with one infielder now you mentioned polanco who we know
00:21:08was going to play some first base for probably some dh as well too but here's the thing this is
00:21:12where the versatility matters baby and i'm sure we'll get to him too his versatility and what he
00:21:17can do as a primarily utility guy that's what you're looking at him right now he might even play a
00:21:22little
00:21:22bit of outfield we may see him in right field a little bit at times this season that's what allows
00:21:26you to do this this is what allows you to carry three outfielders that's the point right there and i
00:21:30think the mets can do that if the mets need to make moves down the road they will i don't
00:21:36get
00:21:36too married with the opening day roster i think sometimes people make too much of it oh for sure
00:21:41it's just too much is made of it and this goes in any sport how your roster is at the
00:21:45start of the
00:21:46season doesn't mean is how it's going to look in september granted you get there you're playing
00:21:50meaningful baseball right so let's pump the brakes they can carry three outfielders who cares
00:21:56tyrone taylor and i'm sure we'll get into the second has earned it in my eyes right now we're
00:22:01talking about who's earned it i'm going with tyrone taylor there because the guy you mentioned
00:22:05mark vientos i don't know about earning is not the word i would put next to mr mark vientos right
00:22:12now
00:22:13well let's just hop right into our deeper mark vientos discussion right because it makes sense no need
00:22:18to go to a player in the outfield and then go back to them we can talk about that individual
00:22:23after we
00:22:23after we talk about them real quick so mark vientos who has unfortunately had a very bad
00:22:29spring training this far from a results standpoint not that he has prepared poorly or anything along
00:22:34those lines the results just have not been there as carlos mendoza has reiterated to the media
00:22:38for the past day after he went over four in yesterday's mets matchup um he's as we know batting
00:22:43under 100 so far this spring and when he played for team nicaragua he didn't really do anything else
00:22:48there either as in 38 plate appearances across the wbc you know he only had three singles that was it
00:22:53and then you look through seven spring training games thus far going back to this past tuesday
00:22:57on the 10th you know 22 play appearances he's just one for 21 with one extra base hit four strikeouts
00:23:02a walk and three double plays grounded into you know not good and i understand it's spring training but
00:23:08you could also make the argument that because of spring training you know you need to be performing
00:23:14here because you are competing i don't think you being on this team is a lock i never really thought
00:23:18that to begin with because i never thought in confidence the mets would be getting the year
00:23:24when ronnie mariso mark vientos still in this organization i thought at least one of them
00:23:28would be traded which is what begs the question now should vientos continue to not produce and you
00:23:34having you're having guys nip out the heels like i mentioned in the infield with ryan clifford with
00:23:39jacob reimer and with some others in the farm right now what's the game plan with mark vientos who
00:23:44doesn't have any minor minor league options left on this roster and if he say gets off to a really
00:23:50slow start this year and is a net negative instead of a positive the mets really going to give him
00:23:54a
00:23:54leash where he basically has little to no role but just takes up a roster spot for the first month
00:23:59of
00:23:59the year and then they dfa him for nothing because that's the route that we don't want to see happen
00:24:04because that is a category that the mets have sadly fallen into in the past where they wait too long
00:24:08to
00:24:09part with a player when it clearly it was time to do so and mark's value is not great right
00:24:14now
00:24:14so i understand the idea of trying to maximize it still giving that an opportunity but at the same
00:24:20time if that doesn't go as planned you will lose him for nothing so what is the right thought process
00:24:27in your eyes dexter as to how the mets should be going about mark vientos and his future so people
00:24:32know me will know that i'm very much on sometimes when a sunk cost is a sunk cost it's a
00:24:37sunk cost
00:24:38and there's not much you not much you can do about that in an ideal world you would love for
00:24:45the mets to try to move mark vientos now but wardy you just said it perfectly what is his value
00:24:49who
00:24:50wants mark vientos they just saw all the numbers that you mentioned they've seen it they watch him
00:24:55play with team nicaragua and only get three singles and 38 at bats they've seen the whiff rate be
00:25:00terrible through spring training thus far the exit velocity is not there at all for him right now so
00:25:07he doesn't have any value now in ideal world you'd love to get something back from him but what are
00:25:12you getting back for mark vientos right now and then the question you asked is okay do you try to
00:25:18play him and put him on the opening day roster and let him play through this and see if he
00:25:22can build
00:25:22his value back up here's my question i'm throwing back and i'm throwing this out to everyone you
00:25:27everybody what's the leash we're talking about for that is it two weeks is it a month do the mets
00:25:33have
00:25:34time to play around with a month especially coming off of what we saw in 2025 i'll tell you who
00:25:39doesn't
00:25:39have time to play around with this stuff carlos mendoza he doesn't have time for that he's not
00:25:44trying to he's not trying to do all this at all whatsoever so it's a great point right and so
00:25:49when
00:25:49the mets have to win games let's just let's just keep it a buck here you know that i know
00:25:54that the
00:25:55mets fans know that carlos mendoza knows that if he doesn't win games early it's going to start to
00:26:01get late early and the noise is going to rise and you do not want your manager managing out of
00:26:07fear of
00:26:07losing his job right this is not what you want or having not being able to play his best 26
00:26:13guys
00:26:13have them on the roster if you're playing with a guy who's a net negative for you all the time
00:26:18that is hurting the team right i so here's my answer to answer your question because you asked me a
00:26:23question and i'm very curious as what you would do too let's cut your losses now man it's a wrap
00:26:30it's not it's it's not happening with mark vientos seen enough from last year seen enough
00:26:34spring we can't turn the clock back to 2024 i say cut your losses would you like to get something
00:26:40for him sure but i don't think it's going to happen it is what he is and something that's
00:26:43going to say decks well what happens if he goes and signs someplace else he signs with the oakland
00:26:48a's and then he starts raking it so be it so be it there's nothing you can do about it
00:26:53at that point all i know right now based on the numbers wardy he's not getting it done and we've
00:27:01seen this for quite some time and then the most the most important thing here is you don't have any
00:27:06place to play him this what do you where it's not like you can say hey we're gonna plug him
00:27:11here
00:27:11you can't you can't right now so to me you just got to move on sometimes it is what it
00:27:17is and
00:27:17that's where i am it's it's just time to move on from the mark vientos experiment
00:27:22brett beaty who is a very good friend of his is not doing him any favors in this regard no
00:27:28what i
00:27:28mean by that is not beaty is so unbelievably talented as from an athlete standpoint alone
00:27:35that him handling first base the way that he did today with easily the best scoop and play that we
00:27:41saw from a low low throw from marcus simian he then ended the inning with a nice pop-up catch
00:27:46on the
00:27:46run off of first base baby just looks as comfortable as ever at that position as he should because first
00:27:53base is a less strenuous position then committing the hot corner which he plays brilliantly he i guarantee
00:27:59you if baby was playing through base right now he'd probably be playing better defensively than
00:28:03bichette right then you look at right second base he might not be as good as simian but he's not
00:28:07really a liability overly there either so it's like okay if baby can handle right field the way
00:28:13that we've seen in limited stretches if he can handle all these other positions and he's clearly
00:28:16showing he can handle first and if carl smendoza and david sterns have told us the fans and the media
00:28:21that oh yeah expect 500 plus play appearances this year for baby what do you think he's getting the
00:28:26majority of that reps it ain't going to be at dh because you want his defensive value it ain't going
00:28:31to be consistently right unless a injuries happen b inconsistencies happen where it's like both
00:28:37bench and talking just don't work out or something or it's you know something along those lines or
00:28:43he gets clear third or something right exactly something random it other than that or simian
00:28:48could make level of sense gain some reps at second because marcus isn't getting any younger he might
00:28:53you know play two or three games and say a series instead of playing the whole thing those kind of
00:28:57things but first space is the clear path for brett baby to get the majority of his playing time this
00:29:02year how many times did jorge palanco play at dh last year yes 70 of the time
00:29:07so this idea that jorge palanco is coming in and he's going to get at least 50 reps after space
00:29:12you know i'm not really buying that i wasn't buying that when the mets first signed him and i'm not
00:29:16buying that now i think palanco will get first base reps but it won't be a crazy amount as long
00:29:22as
00:29:22everyone's healthy and i think beaty is going to continue to do what he's been doing and run away
00:29:26with the position between the two because he can hit against left he's fine he can hit against right
00:29:30he's fine he grinds out at bats he has a perfect personality and attitude and this is not a slight
00:29:34on vientos because i don't think he has anything wrong i love mark vientos's attitude as a matter
00:29:38of fact i think he's carried himself very well what has not been an easy go of it for him
00:29:43the past
00:29:43calendar year and a half but to your point you know cut your losses now i do think that's something
00:29:49something the mets should still do i i've said it from the start of the offseason they have to part
00:29:53ways with multiple infielders they traded louis anhel acuna who's batting like 429 right now in spring
00:29:58congrats to louis anhel i hope he continues out with the white socks that'd be awesome for him
00:30:02um not losing sleep over it though i'm just wishing him well and then you go from that to
00:30:08obviously still having your log jam of mauricio beaty vientos there's got to be another domino
00:30:14that falls there and then you see okay what's the value for mark vientos i would i would i would
00:30:18venture to guess the value of mark vientos right now is nothing greater than a reliever with a level
00:30:23of upside so maybe it's a reliever that has stuff that the mets can really work with where actually
00:30:28he has shown levels of success at the bigs or he has a lot of club control maybe he's a
00:30:33fiery fastball
00:30:34touches 97 to 99 but has to work on the walk rate that's where i kind of see this envisioning
00:30:40happening at this point in time um because you know do you want to have it where you're a month
00:30:46in the season and mark vientos doesn't take advantage of the limit opportunity he gets brings
00:30:50you no defensive and base running value there's literally nothing to argue as to why he should be on
00:30:56this team besides his track record from two seasons ago that's what makes this more difficult and you
00:31:02know what this just reeks of to me and this is not again a slight to mark it's just my
00:31:06perception of
00:31:07this as a fan and this feels like jd davis all over i mean a guy that in stretches just
00:31:12shows you
00:31:12immense power what made made you want him to be in the lineup but then became such a defensive
00:31:18liability where the bat was not outweighing the defensive woes and the base run base running wise he
00:31:24wasn't anything that you should be excited about vientos is quite literally the slowest batter in
00:31:29the mets lineup like he has he's not doing himself any favors it's it's not his fault it just he
00:31:36is
00:31:36who he is he's a bat first player like pete alonzo and when these bat first players don't have the
00:31:41bat
00:31:41they don't have anything else and that's a problem deck yo i'm with i'm with you i'm i'm with you
00:31:47on
00:31:47everything you said and i'm glad you assessed what you think the value could be for him as a
00:31:55low a pitcher with high fastball may possibly upside that needs to work on some control right
00:32:01if a team offered you that if you were david stearns and the team offered you that today
00:32:06right now it called you up man i'll do that deal so quickly because it just this is something you
00:32:12don't need to worry about there's something you don't need to worry about going into opening day
00:32:16just move on if you get something like that in the deal i think that would be fantastic
00:32:21take it take it and run i think mark needs this too yeah and sometimes no that's a great point
00:32:29that's a great point wardy sometimes you just need to change the scenery sometimes you got to change some
00:32:35things up for everybody i think it's just best for everyone to move on and i i know you said
00:32:41it
00:32:41multiple times i want to be very clear i'm not shading mark vientos either and i generally do not
00:32:46like when some people in the media creators and stuff will say oh this guy's not even trying no
00:32:51mark vientos is trying he is trying to be the best player that he can be he has limitations it
00:32:57does not
00:32:57work for this mess roster at this time in the way that we are talking about their construction i will
00:33:02never question somebody who's made it to the major leagues and has done something about their work
00:33:07ethic or their effort here that is not what i'm doing at all whatsoever i'm just saying
00:33:11this doesn't work for the mets right now time to cut your losses and honestly
00:33:17wardy if the mets cut him and they don't get any dfam don't get anything for him am i losing
00:33:22sleep
00:33:22over it not really honestly not really i'm i think that i think they'll be fine i think you laid
00:33:29out
00:33:29perfectly you started talking about what polanco could bring and the 70 of his bets at bats at dh last
00:33:34season and baby in his versatility and you were saying all that i was listening to him i said what
00:33:38wardy didn't say anything about vientos and what he could do at all whatsoever and i know you're not
00:33:43shading vientos you were just saying he doesn't have the value for this mets roster as it's constructed
00:33:49right now and i could not agree more would i have liked if they had traded him or mauricio in
00:33:56the off
00:33:56season yeah i still think there's some fans that think mauricio has a little bit more upside
00:34:00spread particularly with the bat and i would understand that and i think this is why he
00:34:04should probably still stay in the system over vientos who obviously is out of options but
00:34:08yeah it's just time man sometimes it's just time and in an ideal world they could have got something
00:34:13but it's just time it's just time yeah and not having minor league options is the biggest issue
00:34:18with them you know the mets would have no problem sending him down beginning the year in triple a
00:34:22getting consistent reps there but they do that now it's not a possibility it's a guarantee he will get
00:34:28picked up because he's still young enough and has enough of a track record where there will be clubs
00:34:33maybe not in as much of an immediate position to win or maybe a team that is really looking for
00:34:38a true
00:34:38dh profile and doesn't really have anyone that brings a semblance of power and they say oh this
00:34:44kid has power he's had a lot of bad luck the past year and a half let's see what he
00:34:48can do for us
00:34:48you know and then go on from there so to be determined but this was again a great back and
00:34:53forth
00:34:53and to wrap it up on the position player discussions let's just talk briefly because i want to hear your
00:34:57thoughts on louis robert jr making his spring training debut for the new york mets uh mets fans
00:35:03love robert they hate robert because i think they're just fed up with me gassing this guy up
00:35:07the past couple years when he hasn't had consistent seasons before he landed in queens but i'm like a
00:35:12kid in a candy shop right now okay robert could just you know have a infield dribbler and i'm gonna
00:35:17be like this is my world series because i'm so happy he's on this team i'm the upside is immense
00:35:21with
00:35:22this individual and um i think this is gonna be a fun ride both up and down with robert this
00:35:26season
00:35:27so what's your initial impressions of what he's done this far look i mean look so listen
00:35:33so far just had it's a little bit like seeing lindor in the first game just happy he's on the
00:35:39field
00:35:39and healthy right like that has to be the biggest thing here but we know what he can do at
00:35:45the plate
00:35:46he's looked fine at the plate so far he's looked healthy in terms of in terms of swinging the bat
00:35:50the thing for me and i talked about this in a previous episode i'm very excited about what he
00:35:55can do on the base pass if he can get on base with the bat can have a good eye
00:35:59draw some walks
00:36:00i think he can really help this team we know also how good he is defensively and that is going
00:36:05to
00:36:05help this team but for me it's just the fact that he is healthy and if this guy is healthy
00:36:09then i
00:36:10think the mets are going to be really fine defensively up the middle um and you know what he can
00:36:14what he can do with the plate if he gets anywhere back to where he was three seasons ago right
00:36:19if
00:36:19anything close to that we was the number i said to you a couple weeks ago 80 we will sign
00:36:23for 80
00:36:24percent of that right we will sign for that right now but thus far i think he's looked comfortable
00:36:30um he doesn't look like he's favoring anything because of an injury i think more confidence will
00:36:35come for him with time at the plate um he's moving well that's the that's the key thing for me
00:36:40you're
00:36:40not seeing any laboring of any kind with him whether it's in the outfield or at the plate
00:36:45so don't that's what i'm looking for in spring training can you look healthy are you moving
00:36:50well you know is the bat moving well when you're at the plate those things look good so far and
00:36:57now
00:36:57it's just knocking on wood here stay healthy right until we get we'll get to opening day and hopefully
00:37:04beyond but i don't remember if you had said this or you know we talked about our top five most
00:37:09important mets right in the last episode but he's a wild card for this team because if the highs are
00:37:16good and what we think could happen with him warty you're gonna be smiling i'm gonna be smiling we
00:37:23both think this guy is really good you know my colleague joe sherman had said to me the day after
00:37:29that trade was made he said this is the kind of risk you take if you're the mets this is
00:37:34the kind of
00:37:34player you go and get if you're the mets for what they gave up for him not a lot this
00:37:39is the kind of
00:37:40risk you make because he can swing things so much for your lineup and so i'm just excited to see
00:37:46it
00:37:46back on the field you listen he hits a dribbler and he doesn't get hurt yeah i'm clapping too yeah
00:37:51we
00:37:51love we we love that right he gets on base he shows us some some of the speed that he's
00:37:56got there
00:37:57he's played some gold glove level defense we're cooking so i just want this guy to be on the field
00:38:02so
00:38:03he can cook and um you know that then we'll judge him from there for right now yeah like i
00:38:07like what
00:38:07we've seen from him so far the first baseball he struck this spring was 107 miles per hour i was
00:38:13like oh yeah we're looking great what did carlos mendoza say constantly in the backfields when he
00:38:17was doing minor league games and bp he said i think he's hit 40 home runs already and he wasn't
00:38:22joking
00:38:22when he was saying that he's like i think he's actually hit more home runs than anyone else's spring
00:38:26in the backfields okay and that just gives you a glimpse of what can be with robert once we get
00:38:32to the
00:38:32flow of the regular season because that 2023 year was the breakout yes but we have seen these slivers
00:38:39of success just not as consistently but last year in the second half leading to the trading line then
00:38:45onward he had an 800 or higher ops he looked more than fine and a very bad chicago white socks
00:38:51lap for
00:38:52the past number of years now for the most part so you also have to remember yes i understand as
00:38:58a fan
00:38:59it's easy to write off a player ahead of time i hear you but the mets are investing not just
00:39:04taking
00:39:04on his salary at 20 million this year for a player that hasn't had 800 ops or higher for a
00:39:09full year
00:39:10since 2023 but they're really investing over 40 million with the 110 percent co-in tax so think about
00:39:17it the mets are investing an absurd amount of money and in this man who very well could just be
00:39:23on a
00:39:23one-year deal with us why would they do such a thing they're doing it because they know exactly how
00:39:28high
00:39:29and if he gets close to that ceiling it completely changes the dimension that's lab you have as good
00:39:34of a one through seven if not one through nine as any that you're going to find not name the
00:39:39dodgers
00:39:39in baseball currently so that's the goal and that's hopefully the expectation but to be determined
00:39:44obviously to see how robert looks as we get in the flow of the regular season and speaking of the
00:39:50regular season decks there's one guy that i did not have on my bingo card that i would be excited
00:39:55to watch to begin the year if you asked me four months ago and now i'm actually getting giddy
00:39:59thinking about it it's kodai senga like i did not think i was going to be saying this to you
00:40:03right
00:40:03now and now kodai senga my goodness my god my gracious i mean this is not only impressive to me
00:40:10but there are certain things that he's doing decks that he has not done in two calendar years
00:40:14two calendar years that is unbelievably notable so what has been your immediate reaction impression
00:40:20to what has been nothing short of a very impressive beginning to spring for him look the beginning of
00:40:25spring training for kodai senga is impressive um i had him high on my list of most important mets
00:40:31this season you know two spring training out outings five and two thirds innings seven strikeouts
00:40:373.18 era there's going to be a lot of talk about the velocity and that looks good and i
00:40:43understand that's
00:40:44going to impress people but for me it's about what's he going to do with his pitches and how is
00:40:48he going
00:40:49to put people away and is he going to be able to get swings and misses and he's been doing
00:40:53that thus
00:40:53far in this small sample size of two spring training starts you've got to like that 29.2
00:40:59whiff rate percentage i love that right now he's getting guys to miss that's what i want to see
00:41:06from kodai senga because if he's doing that warty we brought up the c word a lot in the last
00:41:11episode
00:41:11confidence confidence confidence confidence you've got to see that out of kodai senga and some confidence
00:41:17there and i think that's only going to build when you have the i'm not saying the velocity doesn't
00:41:21matter people because it does the two things kind of go hand in hand but if he's got the velocity
00:41:26and then he's got that whiff rate making guys miss that's only going to build his confidence
00:41:31because one thing we knew from him at the end of last season that confidence was shot that wasn't he
00:41:36wasn't feeling good about himself at any year he couldn't come back he wanted to go and work on some
00:41:40things before he could help the mets in the final week of the season and then he did it
00:41:43so if that confidence is coming back from him that is going to be huge for this mets team so
00:41:48again this is going to become a theme for us with the mets if he's healthy like louise robert jr
00:41:54right we're seeing him healthy that is huge but then it's about the performance and when you get to
00:41:59the performance he's putting it together and i just think as he puts more of these quality innings
00:42:03together for the mets as we get closer to opening day that's going to be huge for him but if
00:42:07he's
00:42:07getting guys to miss that looks like rookie year kodai sing it that's what we all fell in love with
00:42:13him and what we saw making guys miss and it wasn't just about the ghost fork it was him using
00:42:18all his
00:42:18array of pitches and really keeping batters off balance and that's the thing you've seen with
00:42:23him thus far in spring training if he's able to continue that he's going to be cooking too on the
00:42:28mound oh he's absolutely going to be cooking too and you know you talk about trying to stay healthy
00:42:33referencing that as a mets fan that's like cheese and wine they go so well together because
00:42:37we're so used to it right so yeah when we see sanga doing what he's doing you mentioned this
00:42:42swing and miss and i will double down on that and say not only how important the swing miss has
00:42:47been
00:42:47regardless of the fact that you know you face like the marlins b team that's okay he's still on three
00:42:51awesome innings five strikeouts no hits no nothing but the velo is what sets up the swing and miss and
00:42:56that's the most important thing here okay because he did not have this velocity at all in the second
00:43:00half especially last year he only threw a couple pitches above 95 96 and now he's touching 99 this
00:43:06spring like that is chinormous because a lot of guys don't even get into that kind of velocity and
00:43:11workflow until more into the heart of the season for him to be this good this early pinpoint precision
00:43:17dotting corners and the fun stat that erica did a fantastic job with that we can reference right here
00:43:24sanga's only gone to a three ball count two times this spring that's two out of the 19 you pair
00:43:31that
00:43:31with the fact that from this past game how many of his ghost forks did he actually throw in the
00:43:35zone
00:43:37zero and he got all swings and misses for the most part right so getting those guys to bite while
00:43:43not
00:43:43putting anything in the zone is huge because he was throwing meatballs last year when he was at his
00:43:47worst so bad that again when you had a fastball sitting in the low 90s it doesn't set up your
00:43:52off
00:43:52speed and braking pitches so when you need the ghost fork to be your put out pitch they are just
00:43:57gonna
00:43:58wait until you're gonna throw your meatball they're just gonna sit until you hang because they know
00:44:02that you don't have the comfortability the confidence nor do you have the fastball that's
00:44:06setting you up nearly as well as you were where he'd have that in the back pocket if he had
00:44:10to use
00:44:10that for strike three on any point he would in 2023 and his rookie of the year slash style young
00:44:15caliber season with the mets fast forward since then he hasn't had that because of his lack of health
00:44:19and confidence so sanga if he at all can continue what we have seen getting into the season
00:44:25the idea of kodai singa closer to his best than his worst paired with noel mclean and paired with
00:44:30freddie peralta you quickly go from looking at a mets rotation that was the biggest liability
00:44:35imaginable a year ago to all of a sudden wow this actually is a strength stay healthy we all know
00:44:41that
00:44:41but it really is a strength that we're seeing where you have multiple ace caliber pitchers
00:44:45mets did not have that luxury at any point last season this is the game changer for them and gain
00:44:51the
00:44:51success that they need heading into the season and not only is kodai singa a game changer you go
00:44:57ahead dexter i want to say i 100 agree with that i just wanted to give two other stats that
00:45:03our
00:45:03fantastic producer erica block gave that i thought was great one zero walks this spring training right
00:45:11now zero zero walks right now in spring training that is absolutely fantastic and i talked about that
00:45:19whiff rate 88 total pitches 48 swings 14 swings and misses 12 balls in play that's a pitcher using
00:45:26all of his pitchers right now feeling very confident and in control right and that goes with that other
00:45:33set he's only gone to a three ball count two times insane like just you got to be excited about
00:45:40i'm
00:45:40excited i'm i'm because i put him as the most important met so seeing him pitch this way in spring
00:45:47training it's got me pumped man he's yeah it's making you feel good early yes that's what it's
00:45:52making now we know things can change because we've we've watched the mets we know things can change
00:45:56but early you got to feel good about it sorry go ahead warden no you're good i just we're only
00:46:02talking about more positives because kodai singa has been a headline that we've seen as of late and
00:46:06you know it was also been a headline the guy that i told you from the start was going to
00:46:10be an x
00:46:10factor for the mets this year and that's tobias myers okay you talked about him we've both had
00:46:14great conversations already myers just continues to impress this spring it's easy to just fixate on
00:46:20freddie peralta the charismatic personality he hasn't stopped smiling in a couple months i'm sure
00:46:24his cheeks hurt at least a little bit by now and he's looked as good as he has by throwing
00:46:28the
00:46:28baseball you can be enamored with that while also appreciating the greatness that has been tobias
00:46:32myers to this point and this is the fun conversation dex because you have a swiss army knife here right
00:46:37you know i was asked in my in my live stream earlier today is tobias myers going to get over
00:46:42or under
00:46:42eight starts this year and it was a great question because he had six last year didn't have great
00:46:47success dominated as a reliever with a sub two era but i could see him getting eight to ten plus
00:46:54starts this year justin hageman who could be utilizing a similar role from last year is out
00:46:58long term now with a broken rib fracture which really really sucks i'm so sorry to hear that for
00:47:02justin but you know tobias myers who had a role on this team is for certain having a role on
00:47:08this team
00:47:08now there was any doubt or hesitation as to what the depth chart looked like with these kind of swing
00:47:13man pitchers so not only does he look great over his past you know just over the past week he
00:47:17faced
00:47:1710 batters when one hit allowed we're looking at six whiffs on 16 swings really really impressive
00:47:23he's pitched the innings of this far as like very sharp is myers someone that you could see utilized
00:47:28in a way by the mets this season where he becomes basically a fan favorite where in any and
00:47:34every circumstance they throw him in he's just continuing to have success yeah i could totally i
00:47:39could totally see it uh you know we talk about this a ton with the position position players but
00:47:44you like that versatility in your bullpen too right and a guy you can maybe slot into your starting
00:47:49rotation now it's funny that question you got asked in your live stream about whether or not over
00:47:53or under eight starts really good question do i want tobias myers to be making eight starts because i feel
00:48:00like if he is making over eight starts that means something else has gone wrong that you might not
00:48:04like possible possible or or something minor went wrong with your rotation and he came in and just
00:48:12pitched so well that you couldn't move him out the rotation so i don't want to make it sound like
00:48:15it's
00:48:16all bad um so there could be good things with him i think he's got that ability and i think
00:48:20that's
00:48:20what matters here wardy rather he's got the ability if you need him in that role to do it if
00:48:25you need
00:48:25him in relief to give you two innings right let's say a starter keeps you in the game you know
00:48:30it
00:48:30could be freddie peralta he only you know he's mr five inning guy he only gives you five innings and
00:48:35now you've got a one run lead and you're trying to bridge it to the seventh you know or the
00:48:39eighth
00:48:39he can give you two innings there right you feel good about that a guy who could be solid in
00:48:44that and
00:48:45he's got a strong arm i think he could be that kind of guy and i think mets fans are
00:48:48looking for that
00:48:50kind of guy they can get behind right that you know is solid in in the relief can give you
00:48:55some high leverage stuff you know you thought maybe jose buto maybe not the guy that you could
00:48:59stretch out a little bit more but he could have been that sort of two inning guy for you
00:49:02when necessary when he was on this team i think mets fans thought about that so tobias myers can be
00:49:08that and i think what we got to talk about with this wardy is when they made the trade for
00:49:12freddie
00:49:12peralta it almost sounded like oh i know freddie peralta was a headliner and tobias myers kind of was
00:49:17an afterthought but getting him in the deal was such a good move i was excited about that the david
00:49:22sterns did this i know you were excited about that it was such it's almost it's been an afterthought
00:49:27but it may not be to your point if he comes in and really executes at his role whatever that
00:49:32might be
00:49:33you might look back at that trade and say man that was a good job by sterns of making sure
00:49:39he got him
00:49:39in there because not only did it fortify the bullpen it also helped the mets have some flexibility
00:49:45there and if they need somebody that can give them a spot start here and there they can do that
00:49:49and
00:49:50that's huge i'm gonna the f word flexibility not the other f word y'all thinking about that's going
00:49:55to be used a lot for me during the season i think it's just so important for baseball teams where
00:50:00we
00:50:01are right now modern baseball teams in 2026 to have that you need that with pitching too and tobias
00:50:06matt myers he's looked good he looks confident and uh if he's pitching like this during the season
00:50:11which i expect good things from him morty it's going to be huge for this mets mets pitching staff huge
00:50:17this is the same tobias myers that carved up the mets in the 2024 wild card we're talking like
00:50:23this he's not far removed from being able to be big game pitcher in big moments right and he showed
00:50:28his ability to properly just on the fly as a more relied upon reliever last year from milwaukee when
00:50:33the starts just didn't go his way and the reason why i also mentioned the idea of him getting at
00:50:37least
00:50:38eight starts if not 10 plus is not just because of injuries and inconsistencies but i think of
00:50:43what plagued the mets so much last year was the lack of length with starters and that's likely
00:50:49going to continue to a degree this season why not have tobias myers used in certain circumstances where
00:50:55he comes in and pitches your first three or four innings and then you have a piggyback situation
00:50:59or then you have say shamanaya if the velo still is not looking great and maybe you only want him
00:51:04out
00:51:04there for two to three innings have him come in there like how he started last year when he returned
00:51:08from injury his first downing out there he was piggybacking with clay homes and he had success
00:51:12so it just and that was in kansas city actually and i do think he gave up a run towards
00:51:17the end
00:51:17but he looked very solid for the most part in that outing and that's just a way that the mets
00:51:21can
00:51:21approach him in various ways so i think the world's the oyster when it comes to tobias myers and his
00:51:27role for this team because how brett beatty is the ultimate swiss army knife of utility man
00:51:32offensively tobias myers is that in the pitching department for this team i like that i like that he's
00:51:37that swiss army knife for them in comparison with brett beatty i think that's a good one
00:51:41and i i think if he's utilized like that in such a creative way i just really think it's going
00:51:48to
00:51:48bode well for the mets i i completely agree with you and if there's one pitcher that i feel very
00:51:54confident is going to bode for a bode well for the mets but it will not begin to start the
00:51:58season
00:51:58because he was just sent down to minor league camp unfortunately because i was really hoping he was
00:52:02going to break the team out of camp but i understand the mets have the reasons they probably want to
00:52:06give
00:52:06the grizzle veterans more of a look and that's talking about ryan lambert okay ryan lambert has
00:52:12been brilliant this spring and this is someone who we saw dominate as a closer in double a beatington
00:52:16this past year helping them win their championship you know now as we enter spring lively fastball
00:52:21consistently touching north of 99 on the gun a lot of swing to miss that we've seen at this point
00:52:26i've talked about this over the past couple weeks but i want to throw to you do you think that
00:52:30there's a role where ryan lambert could potentially be a closer option for the mets this season
00:52:34because i have a feeling he is going to be it might just not be right away well here's the
00:52:41thing
00:52:42the short answer is yes
00:52:46if that happens or doesn't happen warty i mean so much of that has to do that means something's
00:52:52gone wrong with devon williams now somewhat yeah somewhat some yeah and when i say that i don't
00:52:59because we just talked about this last week and you push you yeah you changed my mind a little bit
00:53:05of some things with devon williams that i was thinking and devon williams wouldn't be here and
00:53:11i i agree with you i've come around on this he wouldn't be here if david sterns didn't think he
00:53:15had the ability to pitch and knows him so well and all this good stuff so i guess what i'm
00:53:21wondering
00:53:21right now in real time is just that if ryan lambert who i love his stuff right i love his
00:53:27look i love his
00:53:27makeup he wants to challenge batters this is the stuff we like out of somebody that should have
00:53:33that closing mentality right what's it going to take for me get up here closing is strong because
00:53:39it's like would williams have to falter so much or they would just see lambert come up maybe be in
00:53:47a
00:53:47seventh inning eighth inning setup role but the stuff just looks so good that you're like all right all
00:53:53right we can't have this guy in the seventh we got to have him really at the back end of
00:53:57the
00:53:57bullpen i would think there's a world i think he's going to come up and have an impact this year
00:54:03i'm not going to say closing but i think he's going to come and have an impact on the bullpen
00:54:07this year
00:54:07what i will say is i think there's could be great valuable experience for him taking on some sort of
00:54:15role in the bullpen and holding it down so does he hold down the seventh inning right does he hold
00:54:20down
00:54:21the eighth inning at some point does he learn behind devon williams i think this i just think
00:54:26his stuff is too good and i think if other guys falter or questionable in that bridge to devon
00:54:35williams he could step up in that role now my question back to you is what does it look like
00:54:42for you if ryan lambert is up this season and closing for the new york mitz like how how do
00:54:48you
00:54:48see that going down so in that hypothetical how i would see it going down is lambert gets the closer
00:54:55spot because either a devon williams does not pitch well for a period of time or he just unfortunately
00:55:02goes down with an ailment and then you basically shift everyone meaning that lambert goes and close
00:55:08after he looked very good getting opportunities in lesser leverage starts to show it in higher
00:55:13leverage maybe also devon williams doesn't want to be used on back-to-back days by the mets but they
00:55:17need a closer out there it's a tight ball game lambert hasn't pitched in two days bring him out there
00:55:22see how he looks maybe against a lesser opponent and then build it up from there after you have in
00:55:27that closer spot you shift everyone so devon williams then can still be a closer for you because this is
00:55:32a thing i don't think the mets are going to be stubborn with devon williams being the sole guy that
00:55:35gets
00:55:35closing opportunities this year i think he will be their main option but i don't think he will be
00:55:40their only option because david's turns is unbelievably creative and very diverse with
00:55:45his bullpen makeup typically he's not stubborn where a guy needs to be there each time unless
00:55:49it was really edwin diaz and even then there were circumstances where they well of course would have
00:55:54edwin diaz in non-save situations so to have lambert at closer then devon williams as another closer
00:56:00slash setup and then that shifts luke weaver into more of a position where you don't have to utilize
00:56:04him in as much of the eighth inning and typically you don't want to luke weaver will probably profile
00:56:09best more in the seventh inning category for you this year than getting into that high leverage
00:56:12down the stretch i mean you have to make sure he stays healthy he he blames his injury last year
00:56:17for
00:56:17the lack of success when he had his worst moments with the yankees last year but he was giving up
00:56:21some meatballs when that was the case and that's something the mets cannot allow to happen
00:56:25there in the eighth inning especially in type all games that they're going to need to be
00:56:29pretty anal about where they're going to be fairly you know stubborn as to okay if you don't look
00:56:34good for more than a couple outings in a row we we need to try to make sure that we
00:56:38at least have
00:56:38some other viable options to consider there and that's where again the lamberts come to mind then
00:56:44the dylan rosses come to mind and then you think of the veterans that are competing for a bullpen spot
00:56:49right now and the hawassica braza bands what was their role going to be craig kimroll is he going to
00:56:54crack this bullpen right ryan hudson the towering lefty what is his usage going to be like just a lot
00:56:59of
00:56:59things i know mendy and sterns need to configure but lamber even though he was sent down to minor
00:57:04league camp i think it's an absolute certainty that he will be a positive impact on the club this
00:57:08year i really do do you think that fans because we've we've talked a lot about flexibility in
00:57:16these first couple of pods man um do you think fans want that i i welcome it i welcome the
00:57:24flexibility
00:57:24i welcome the flexibility everywhere i think it's just good for your team today but do you think fans
00:57:29want that flexibility at the back end of the bullpen where it could be a little bit more situational
00:57:34of what you're talking about warty or do they do you think i think more fans like knowing this dude
00:57:38is
00:57:38the closer he's coming in at this time he's gonna do this i don't necessarily agree with that but what
00:57:43do you think what do you think about from what you're hearing from the fan base on that yeah i
00:57:47mean
00:57:47there's there's both sides of the coin right there's definitely a large contingent of fans that love
00:57:51nothing more than like what we we have with diaz the past number of years you knew that he was
00:57:55a
00:57:55certainty and he changed the narrative narrative after being so far from a certainty when he landed
00:58:00here in 2019 all the credit to him now not so much but now that the mets have shifted away
00:58:05from diaz
00:58:06or in a different position you know i don't think that they're going to have that same level of
00:58:10stubbornness with devon williams because i think there's a good contingent of fans that still have
00:58:14reservations with devon williams because of how his first half went last year in the bronx they
00:58:18hang on to those things too much they hang on to the negativity from the media and the talking heads
00:58:22that make you think that oh this guy's terrible when in reality he's as good of a closer option
00:58:26is literally the best in baseball like that's the category that he's typically in so i don't think that
00:58:33i don't think the largest contingency of fans are going to be viewing the closer spot that devon
00:58:38williams needs to be that guy i think that they are more welcoming and open to having some versatility
00:58:43here because at the end of the day it just comes down to results decks right if the mets have
00:58:47success by having multiple different relievers there closing if anything i think fans would
00:58:52love it because then they're like oh who's gonna close tonight you know like okay we have the next
00:58:57two out of three batters in the night they're gonna be lefties okay are the mets going to go with
00:59:01you
00:59:01know someone that has you know better reverse splits so maybe uh writing the bullpen but handles
00:59:06lefties really well or like aj minter when he's here there will be times where aj minter even gets
00:59:11closer opportunities too just because of situational circumstances matchups those kind of things so
00:59:18to your point yeah i i think that is not only something that's going to continue to happen but
00:59:23i think fans will embrace it because that kind of versatility is good when you have quality it's not
00:59:27good when you just have quality so that's the hope that the mets have something good going this season
00:59:32yeah no i i agree with you i think it may take people some time getting used to but i
00:59:37think it'll be
00:59:37better for the team overall and like you said you're right at the end of the day it's 100 facts
00:59:42by you it comes down to winning if they win with it nobody's going to be talking about it nobody's
00:59:47going to really care they're going to be like oh this is great we've got versatility and we're
00:59:51getting w's that's what's going to come down to so we'll see we'll we shall see so you said w's
00:59:57let's add a b and a c and let's wrap this up talking about the world baseball classic okay
01:00:01there you go so juan soto is facing team usa tonight unfortunately that's the only downside
01:00:07us recording this now because we don't know the result yet however we can appreciate what has
01:00:12happened at this point such an entertaining tournament i mean seriously like if you're
01:00:16just a baseball fan how can you not be appreciating how fun how entertaining these games have been from
01:00:21italy taking down puerto rico to venezuela taking down japan and what many believe was a massive upset
01:00:29to now having juan soto for team dr just absolutely hill it so far when he has been out there
01:00:38just like
01:00:39so many other other tremendous batters on that lineup what's been your um impressions of how soto's
01:00:45looked um and previously when we saw a little bit of clay holmes and mcclay so in terms of soto
01:00:53he you know there was so much talk about whether or not he was comfortable in the mets clubhouse last
01:00:59year warty which you know we talked about you know much to do about nothing in my opinion but
01:01:05he looks so comfortable with his boys his dominican brothers down there and that i'll be comfortable
01:01:11too if i had that much protection everywhere in that lineup i'd feel very comfortable and they are
01:01:16raking the ball there's such a fun lineup to watch and that's why i can't wait to see what they
01:01:20do
01:01:20against team usa um tonight but like soto's looked good he's looked comfortable you and i both expect
01:01:26big things from him offensively this year we both talked about uh him going 40 40 this year i don't
01:01:31think the base stealing was an aberration for him last year uh antoine richardson being here or not
01:01:35i still think he's going to put up great numbers in that regard um soto's a tremendous player i i
01:01:40thought
01:01:41he would be more comfortable in year two than year one i always thought that i just think it looks
01:01:45even
01:01:45more now i do think something like the wbc even for the people out there to hate on the wbc
01:01:50it is something it's going through big spring training it is something that you can build upon
01:01:54right and i do think that that matters in a way for players like him just getting ready so i
01:02:00expect
01:02:00him to come back um to new york with the mets and and be refreshed and ready for the start
01:02:06of the
01:02:06season and it wouldn't shock me if he got off to a faster start this season than we saw in
01:02:13previous
01:02:13years uh the previous year for him where it was a lot slow and he's adjusting things i think that'll
01:02:18be
01:02:18good um mclean you know he's looked okay you know thus far his numbers in his start that i was
01:02:27pulling
01:02:27up here you know he had the one game he had you know 14 bad 55 pitches to its two
01:02:31runs um it wasn't
01:02:33great um for him you did see the four seam fastball velo clock in at 97 miles per hour so
01:02:39that's good to
01:02:39see from him am i taking too much away from that you know he got some quality contact that he
01:02:46gave
01:02:47up uh two guys i'm not taking too much from him i like that he was competing i like that
01:02:51he was on
01:02:51you know on this team going up against some of the best hitters in the world i think that's a
01:02:56good
01:02:56experience for him um as well as well too you know we talked about vientos before he has really done
01:03:01nothing for nicaraga with just three singles so you have that there but i think soto to me is is
01:03:07you
01:03:07know the real standout that you should be encouraged about if you're a mets fan and look
01:03:11just seeing him play no matter what happens with team dr just seeing him play with that joy and then
01:03:16bringing that joy back into the mets clubhouse that's a good thing right because you know what's
01:03:22going to happen wardy you know this is going to happen already you could put it down put money in
01:03:27the mets they're going to have a little losing blip or streak at some point in the season hopefully it's
01:03:32not longer than three games but sometimes it happens if that happens people are going to say
01:03:37what's going on in the clubhouse is something fractured is something going on do the mets
01:03:42players not like wardy and dex when they come in the first house the first thing that'll happen is
01:03:46our our friends here at the new york post with the fat headline what's wrong you know that's what
01:03:50it'll be that's a hundred percent and understandably so i i get it like that's the market that we're in
01:03:56absolutely yeah but but you know what to go back to a point you made before my friend winning winning
01:04:03cures everything with that and good play uh you know curzette so i think for me when i'm watching
01:04:10soto here in the wbc and just talk about him particularly um you know we've seen this a lot
01:04:15in talks about the wbc and how players carry and whether it matters but we've seen it from uh the
01:04:20latino brothers who have been playing in this tournament they've been playing with a lot of joy
01:04:24and you know i think that's beautiful to see i love the wbc i think it's beautiful to see
01:04:28you see what it means to these guys um you see what it means to the dominican team see what
01:04:32it
01:04:32means to soto they want to win for their country they want to put on for their country and you
01:04:37know
01:04:37when when he's back in blue and orange he's going to put on for the mets and i expect him
01:04:41to put on
01:04:42for the mets in a in a major way uh i know you like the wbc too so what do
01:04:47you think about what
01:04:48you're seeing from soto because he's he's killing it at the plate just the fact that he's doing the
01:04:53shuffle and rounding the bases like jumping and hitting bombs and like screaming at the dugout
01:04:59right away pounding his chest just like the home run he hit in the alcs for the yankees in 2024
01:05:04like
01:05:05that gets me so amped up because that's what we've been wanting to see you know like we saw one
01:05:10soto put
01:05:10up on paper an amazing season a historic season because of the stolen bases added but when we reflect
01:05:18from the 2025 one soto season how many moments of juan soto doing his thing felt like he was
01:05:24charismatic or felt like that he was showing a level of personality other than just showing up and going
01:05:30to work it really felt like it was him putting on a suit and tie and just doing his typical
01:05:34nine to
01:05:35five and that was that doesn't feel like this this time around and a big difference is this is his
01:05:40team
01:05:41now it's completely his team there's no egos that come with the pete alonzos the jeff mcneils and this
01:05:47selfless who i love but still falls in the category the brendan nemos changing that core into what it is
01:05:52now where it is built around soto and lindor is what is going to make soto be as extroverted as
01:06:00he's
01:06:00ever been in his career i don't think people understand soto is going to show comfortability over
01:06:05the next number of years with the bets that he has never shown in his career outside of playing
01:06:09for team dr he's never been in a position where he's known that he's been a homebound long term
01:06:14since a young young age in his early 20s having scott boris in his ear the expectation was that you're
01:06:21going to wait until you hit that market and you're going to do what's best for you and your family
01:06:25that
01:06:25was always the focus it didn't matter what destination he was at prior it always came down to who is
01:06:31going
01:06:31to be my long-term commitment and now that he has that with the mets and now that he has
01:06:35year one
01:06:36under his belt in flushing queens and having the success that he did and now the mets have built a
01:06:41roster more catered to him he's very good friends with luis robert he knows jorge palanco very well
01:06:47fellow dominican player too even though that they did not bring starling marty back they did a very good
01:06:52job by bringing in players that bring you more immediate upside and guys are going to help build what is
01:06:58now this new core so do i think that again you need all these latino players to get a proper
01:07:03environment no i'm not saying that at all but it doesn't hurt especially when they're as like-minded
01:07:08as they are and they're as charismatic as they are and they their mentality and how they approach the
01:07:13game there are similarities it's good because that helps bring camaraderie that's what is helping bring
01:07:18a clubhouse culture that will give you a playoff type atmosphere in ways throughout the season where
01:07:24you never got last year even when things were going good for the mets i really never felt
01:07:27that way it never felt like they had the fun vibe the way that you had with omg in 2024
01:07:32and that was
01:07:34a miracle run for the mets in hindsight you know how do you build these things sustainably and
01:07:39consistently it's not by banking on fun little stories and running with them no it's by building
01:07:43a foundation of players that are going to do this on a day-in day-out basis that you know
01:07:49is not just
01:07:50going to be for you know a sliver stretch period of time so i'm bullish on this team if you
01:07:55couldn't tell
01:07:55by now and i really do believe that this team is going to be i'm not going to spoil predictions
01:08:01when
01:08:01it comes to wins because i'm sure we'll do that in another segment for another day but they're in
01:08:05very much a position to have far more success than what they had last year i'd say that's the minimum
01:08:11i would agree i'm intrigued to see when we get to predictions which will be soon people
01:08:16um what the predictions are and how much more successful than last year you think this team
01:08:21could be but um yeah i think again i keep saying i think fans should feel good about this team
01:08:25i do feel like the vibes from fans around this team are much different than it was two months ago
01:08:31three months ago and i think we you just talked about juan soto having the comfortability
01:08:38in where he is now a year two in flushing but also david stearns having the time to actually
01:08:46finally really mold the team into the way that he's wanted to um you know this i really always
01:08:52look like this is kind of really year one of that because you know he was taking and tearing down
01:08:57from
01:08:57the previous couple of years and now we're really going to get to see that and i'm not saying i
01:09:02know
01:09:02that it's going to work because excuse me i don't know i have no you don't know i none of
01:09:07us know
01:09:07we hope so but we'll see but he deserves a chance to be judged him and carlos mendoza i'm going
01:09:13to
01:09:13put them together on the team that they want and the way that they want it to be built and
01:09:18how they
01:09:19want to play baseball and now we got to see if that's winning baseball absolutely and when it
01:09:24comes to winning baseball i know i'll be there you're going to be there we're going to be attending
01:09:27a lot of fun wins at city field this year so dex i think that's a perfect way to wrap
01:09:32it up this
01:09:32was a fantastic discussion i hope you guys watching at home or wherever you're watching this enjoyed
01:09:37our latest straight out flushing podcast covering the new york mets here officially for the new york
01:09:41post that is dexter henry i'm tyler ward dex anything that you would like to leave the people
01:09:46with before we get out of here no man just want to leave the people with uh keep watching keep
01:09:50supporting me and warty hit that like button hit that subscribe button all the good stuff uh keep
01:09:56the good vibes going keep the comments coming for us as well too we'll try to answer a lot of
01:10:01comments
01:10:01and questions for you guys uh that's all i gotta say uh let's go mets i've had much more than
01:10:07that
01:10:08let's go mets see you guys next time
01:10:10peace
01:10:10you
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