Lindor Is BACK, Vientos On the Move_ & More Mets Spring News _ Straight Outta Flushing

Audra Paul

Watch Lindor Is BACK, Vientos On the Move_ & More Mets Spring News _ Straight Outta Flushing - Audra Paul on Dailymotion

Transcript

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

00:00:17the key storylines of mets land headlined by the fact that francisco lindor is back we're going to

00:00:23talk about lindor's return to the mets life and what this means moving forward we're also going

00:00:27to get into a lot of other players standouts not only from the offensive standpoint defensive

00:00:32standpoint pitching headline by kodai sanga and we're going to wrap up the show by doing what

00:00:37we've done lately and that's talking about the world baseball classic so dex how you feeling

00:00:42today my man and are you ready to lock in and get this podcast started hey man i'm feeling good

00:00:46i'm

00:00:47ready to lock in i'm ready to talk about francisco lindor that came a little earlier than we thought

00:00:51warty so the vibes are good vibes are good at mets land right now vibes are good vibes are good

00:00:58you

00:00:58know at the time of us talking the mets just took down the blue jays in the late spring training

00:01:02game

00:01:02too everything's been going good at mets land lately we're not going to complain about that so

00:01:06let's go right ahead and i need to know your immediate reaction to finding out this morning

00:01:10at the time of this recording damn francisco lindor is back in life for the mets right after just doing

00:01:16bp with aj mentor i knew that lindor would return before spring training ended but i did not have

00:01:21this on my bingo card dex how you feel yeah didn't have it on my bingo card either how am

00:01:26i feeling

00:01:27great this is this is the greatest surprise you could have gotten if you're a mets fan look i knew

00:01:32he was going to come back as well that's what i've been hearing too but to see him come back

00:01:36here at

00:01:37this time right you gotta love it if you're a mets fan so i'm just excited that he's healthy we

00:01:43know

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 game

00:01:55on sunday and go one for three right and score a run and also have a strikeout you liked what

00:02:01you saw

00:02:02from him there look he looked good at the plate he looked comfortable i was about to call him the

00:02:06captain 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 wardy tell me to be quiet but look i i liked it i just love seeing the

00:02:15fact 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 wardy 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

00:02:41he gets a couple of games in before they break camp but here we are and if you're a mess

00:02:46fan you

00:02:46got to be feeling good about this how are you feeling i'm feeling great you for the all the

00:02:50exact same reasons and then you add in the fact that how he looked with the eye test again he

00:02:54looks

00:02:54perfectly fine the one thing we noticed is that with his fall through of his swing he was dropping his

00:02:59one hand off the bat which is not something he typically does but you could clearly tell he was doing

00:03:03that because of the handmade bone surgery and he wasn't grimacing he wasn't doing anything to make

00:03:08you think he was uncomfortable it was more for precautionary reasons than it was anything else

00:03:13and you see not only the single day he had but he smoked that well over 100 miles per hour

00:03:17that was a

00:03:18really hard hit ball one of the hardest hit baseballs for the mets in their victory against

00:03:21the blue jays and now seeing lindor back a week and a half away from opening day decks what is

00:03:27so

00:03:27important about this is that now we have a greater grasp if you didn't know already as to how the

00:03:33mets are going to be going about configuring their bench for this season okay because when you look

00:03:38at how the mets were going to have the year begin if say lindor was not really playing any games

00:03:43until

00:03:43opening day you would suggest right away that's a lock that they're going to have a backup shortstop

00:03:48on their bench right away because why wouldn't that you're going to maybe even have that guy

00:03:51get the opening day start if lindor is 100 ready well now that lindor is going to be a week

00:03:57and a half

00:03:57you know of full of reps before getting to opening day the argument can most certainly be have that

00:04:03the mets are in a better position than ever to do something that they normally don't do

00:04:07and that's begin a season by not having a true backup shortstop off the bench what's your thoughts

00:04:12about that i think they're yet in a better position to not do it listen this all sets everything the

00:04:19way the mets would want for this roster going forward it is more than ideal when you know that

00:04:25francisco lindor is going to be there and they don't necessarily have to worry about that and

00:04:30here's the reason the mets don't have to worry about this that i think it's good you and i've

00:04:32talked about this a lot warty it is the positional versatility that they have on this team right now

00:04:38whether it's in the outfield or it's in the infield but once you have lindor back in the fold here

00:04:43it allows you to explore more of that and not have to worry and say okay we have to make

00:04:48sure we have a

00:04:49backup shortstop here so i actually think this is a good thing for the mets i think it's going to

00:04:52be good

00:04:53for their roster construction and how they want to leave camp and start this season i think is great

00:04:57so this like it's not just about obviously having francisco's indoors back in the lineup is huge and

00:05:04obviously everybody wants to see him get off to a quick start and everything but it's about what it

00:05:08does in terms of being able to make the decisions that need to be made on this roster so look

00:05:14i like

00:05:15it i think it's good the here's the thing though we can say all this and we love the positional

00:05:21flexibility and the roster flexibility and all that we still have a lot of questions right and

00:05:25we still need to see players that are playing new positions whether it's jorge polanco whether it's

00:05:31brett beatty even carson bench who we're going to talk about later you're still going to need those

00:05:35guys to produce in that certain kind of way and look if lindor goes down again or has any kind

00:05:41of

00:05:41setback another point that could change it but for right now the way this roster can be you don't have

00:05:46to worry about that and i think it's a blessing for the mets and how they want to construct this

00:05:50team

00:05:52absolutely and we know that constructing this roster was going to be a tall task for david

00:05:56sterns after what was nothing short of an utter failure in 2025 seeing so many things not work from

00:06:01a defensive standpoint from an offensive standpoint with the clutch gene to every facet imaginable on

00:06:07the pitching end he had to roll up the sleeves and really dig deep to build this roster pretty much

00:06:12in certain ways in 180 heading into the season and to give credit where credit's due while we

00:06:18still have yet to see what the results are going to be the eye test has been promising this far

00:06:21and

00:06:22you really don't have any qualms as of now with just a week and a half or so as we

00:06:26get set for opening

00:06:26day and as you alluded to already decks we talk about uncertainty in these respective positions you

00:06:31brought them up let's hop right into the discussion it's carson bench okay he's been an uncertainty

00:06:36when looking at him as a top prospect and not necessarily knowing what you're getting at the major league

00:06:41level but there's also a great argument to be had that what we're seeing with carson benzer doing in

00:06:46spring training right now is kind of a continuation of what he did last year and you shouldn't be

00:06:51surprised when you see him have the immediate impact at the major league level that many fans

00:06:55including myself expect him to have so what has been your immediate reaction and takeaway from carson

00:07:00benzer's continued success this spring training the immediate reaction for me has been and i think back

00:07:06to the first episode we did together where you talked so much about his poise right and you said

00:07:12that's what made you confident that he can really succeed at this level well boy are we seeing it right

00:07:17he is leading the team in hits throughout spring training seeing that from a rookie and look i just want

00:07:23to say for the fans out there warty and i don't want to put words in warty's mouth but i

00:07:27know he generally

00:07:27rocks with me on this we're not saying to take everything out of spring training but what i have been

00:07:32saying

00:07:33what warty's been saying is how does he carry himself how does he handle all this stuff how does

00:07:37he handle working through things how does he handle you know moving around you know learning from other

00:07:43guys i want to see all that so for this young man to come in here and lead the team

00:07:48in hits through

00:07:48spring training be a professional at the plate soak up everything that he can from other guys i love it

00:07:53it shows me that he's ready i believe that he's ready that's what i'm taking so far from this i

00:07:58believe

00:07:58that he's ready i think he is ready where he could be the starting right fielder on opening day at

00:08:04worst

00:08:04he is a fourth outfielder off the bench i don't think that's a bad situation for him either but i

00:08:10think he's ready for the big leads in a way that i'm going to be honest i wasn't so sure

00:08:14about i wasn't

00:08:15necessarily as confident as you were warty i wanted it to be i was encouraged by the things that you

00:08:20said

00:08:20but it's one thing to say you like the confidence it's another thing to then see the young man go

00:08:26out

00:08:26there and produce granted it's spring training we get all that but production matters at some point

00:08:32it matters now he's going to have to produce when he when if it is now and when it breaks

00:08:36camp coming

00:08:37up to the big leagues and hitting but for right now it makes me say huh the makeup stuff that

00:08:42wardy

00:08:42was talking about was spot on and he's handling this well especially when he's had competition he

00:08:48knows he's in a competition with mike talkman and he's handling this well still leading the team

00:08:53the hits you gotta love it oh you have to love it because this is the risk the mets took

00:08:58obviously

00:08:58entering the season having an open spot in their outfield for a top outfielder uh in their prospect

00:09:04and bench and that's something where you swing a miss on kyle tucker even though you put in a

00:09:08valiant effort there you had levels of interest in bellinger but nothing really materialized the

00:09:13way that maybe some fans of glenn myself thought it would at the time so you say okay you bring

00:09:17in

00:09:17louise robert who we'll talk about in a little bit here as well as you know just making sure tyron

00:09:21taylor returns for defensive certainty at minimum but having that open spot in right field and

00:09:26constantly being reaffirmed from both david sterns and carlos mendoza letting us know that we're giving

00:09:32every opportunity imaginable this kid to go ahead and run with it you know now's the time to do that

00:09:36more than anything too like we have to give credit and pay kudos to the great success the mets had

00:09:41in

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 jonathan's 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 passers 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

00:11:01system and all that but are you going to trust the process and give these guys the opportunity

00:11:06to develop so that when they are ready to come up and then the support which you and i have

00:11:10talked

00:11:11about a lot with some of the changes to the coaching staff have that support so that they

00:11:15can succeed right and something i believe in a lot is competition is either going to make or break

00:11:21people and we talk about that with carson bench and he's in the competition with mike talkman well

00:11:26he's risen to the occasion here that matters a lot for me because there's going to be rough days that

00:11:31are going to come for this this young man carson bench if he's going to be successful as we think

00:11:35he's going to go through slumps he's going to go through some valleys we are hoping there are more

00:11:39peaks than valleys we were absolutely hoping for that but these things are going to come and how

00:11:43we can handle a competition early on now how he can make adjustments to major league pitching those

00:11:49are things we're going to be watching and so i think the mets should be commended for putting him

00:11:54in a good situation a good environment where he can't succeed it's early yes he's got a lot of work

00:11:59to do

00:11:59but they have to if this is the plan that is going to come for younger players to follow him

00:12:05you just talked about a ja ewing you talked about a ryan lambert or dylan ross right we haven't even

00:12:11mentioned christian scott coming coming back off the surgery if there's a plan in place for these

00:12:16guys and a good culture and environment for them to succeed then you should as a mets fan be really

00:12:21excited about these prospects and what they can do and you know it would be nice for the mets to

00:12:26see

00:12:26this particularly with positional players because we know the history hasn't been that good

00:12:29particularly especially the outfield for the mets it'll be nice to see that and if this could happen

00:12:34starting with carson bench it'll be pretty dope listen if if we had to go through the trials and

00:12:39tribulations of trading jared kalanick at a time where he was such a highly coveted prospect it worked

00:12:45out in the end for the mets no doubt about it when you trade and part ways of the pca

00:12:51for you know

00:12:52a second half's hobby bias just to get fans to be upset with a thumbs down movement okay um and

00:12:58trevor

00:12:58williams for the next year and a half after he was solid appreciate uh trevor always appreciate to now set

00:13:03up today that you traded drew gilbert at last year's deadline for a tyler rogers who's no longer

00:13:09here this is what's setting the stage for carson bench and what is different about carson bench than

00:13:15all the other players we just discussed the simple response is the following bench has been and clearly

00:13:22is from coming out of college the most polished he undoubtedly looks the most polished and he has

00:13:29looked the most comfortable there is a greater expectation of power implementation with someone

00:13:34like him than even pca when he was starting because pca was a guy that many people wrote off and

00:13:39said oh

00:13:39he's just going to be a defensive dynamo but he's going to have a noodle for a bat because he

00:13:43doesn't

00:13:44really have much size and stature to himself well he's been proving that wrong you know i know he

00:13:48struggled in the second half last year but looked like an mvp caliber player in the first half of the

00:13:52cubs so 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 tenure met here in many ways to now carson bench and i think the mets are

00:14:08going to

00:14:08be staying true as they told brandon nimmo and that recent piece here at the post with you guys that

00:14:13you know nimmo stated how they were really bullish on carson benches value to the organization and that

00:14:19they wanted to make room for him and give him a chance to run i think that this is all

00:14:23holding

00:14:24true now and who's also going to help him run it's the guy that he's competing against dex and that's

00:14:29mike talkman okay talkman knows exactly what his role is and that's why i advocated so heavily for him

00:14:35well before he was signed by the new york mets the fact that they got him on a minor league

00:14:39contract is

00:14:39crazy to me and they just reap the benefits of him being a grizzled veteran of an outfielder

00:14:44still a very quality one for what his role will be but one that isn't overly desirable for

00:14:49teams 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

00:14:57in 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

00:15:08once that 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 benches what he's doing

00:15:17and

00:15:17he sees himself in so many of those ways he knows his role he knows he's not going to necessarily

00:15:22play

00:15:22every day he knows that he's going to be around 300 to 350 or so plate appearances that's okay for

00:15:27him because he's been doing this the past number of years so i think this is just a beautiful blend

00:15:32of having a high-rising prospect that's ready on the cusp of breaking out any veteran that instead of

00:15:38maybe could handle a competition and you know i'm just going to focus on myself and do my own thing

00:15:43cough cough harrison bader 2020 2024 new york mets tyron taylor it'll be a different circumstance

00:15:48this time around and that too is what has me excited because i do anticipate they're both going

00:15:54to comfortably be on this roster to begin the season your thoughts on that no well i think for

00:15:58one if you had asked mets fans in december you know would you be excited about mike talkman being on

00:16:06the team most people are probably like no we're not and to some degree warty even probably a couple

00:16:12weeks ago when we're talking about talkman and bench people probably like why why is wordy excited

00:16:18about mike talkman well sometimes on teams you need a professional a professional matters especially

00:16:25when you have the support and you just talked about the mets really believing in carson bench and they

00:16:31really have i don't want to say put their money with their mouth because they haven't invested a whole

00:16:35lot into him yet but they've really shown that by the opportunity they've given him and the support

00:16:39that i was talking about but how do you support a young player this is why what you're talking about

00:16:43with mike talkman matters right you get a guy like that 108 ops plus over the past three seasons you've

00:16:50got to love that and then here's what also he provides that i like that is going to help carson

00:16:54bench as well too he's got a little bit of versatility he's played some center field he can't just play

00:17:00right he can only just play right he can give you some time in center he played 81 games there

00:17:05two

00:17:06seasons ago right he played 15 games there last year excuse me pardon that was 81 games in 2023

00:17:1215 games in 2024 so he's had some time of doing that and that does help this mets team so

00:17:19if louise

00:17:20robert jr is not healthy you need to put him in center field or you need to put bench in

00:17:25center

00:17:25field and then put talkman and right you can do that he's a professional he gets on base he can

00:17:30produce

00:17:31he knows his role that is huge what you say he's not a guy coming here saying i'm trying to

00:17:37do my

00:17:37own thing i'm trying to make sure that carson bench doesn't succeed no he's going to be invested in him

00:17:44succeeding because if he succeeds the team succeeds if he's a professional and does his job and gets his

00:17:49350 at bats or so and does what he's supposed to do plays to the back of his baseball card

00:17:54the last

00:17:54couple of years then the team is going to absolutely be successful so you need guys like that i think

00:17:59oftentimes warty we think too much about oh let's get this guy let's get this high price guy and have

00:18:05this backup and it's like no you need the mike talkmans of the world sometimes because they

00:18:10stabilize the team they can help a young player like carson bench reach his potential because he's seen

00:18:17some things he had his vets when he was coming up with the yankees now as you said he's being

00:18:21that vet

00:18:22for this young player that the mets are very high on and you know what when you're somebody met and

00:18:27i

00:18:27mentor people in this industry when you mentor people and they've got the right attitude and

00:18:33professionalism that matters a ton because now you want to go to extra mile for them you want to

00:18:38see them succeed and so i think that's going to help a lot the relationship with those two guys

00:18:42is going to be really interesting to watch and i think if you if carson bench if we see him

00:18:47have a

00:18:47lot of success mike talkman's going to have something to do with that and he's very valuable and

00:18:52look mike talkman injuries is happening could be very valuable for this mets team he's a guy you

00:18:58could trust if he needs to fill in for somebody for let's say a week or two and you won't

00:19:02feel bad

00:19:02about it that's that's a good thing exactly having that kind of depth is very important to begin the

00:19:08season especially when going back to what i was mentioning earlier the construction of the mets bench

00:19:13now they went from having you know no options in the outfield to what kind of feels like a you

00:19:19know

00:19:19maybe a poor man's embarrassment of riches but still a good thing you know you have an abundance

00:19:23of options now between bench talkman baity who we're going to talk about here as well as of course

00:19:30you have tyrone taylor who's at a very strong spring and brings elite defensive base running upside you

00:19:36know i will not at all be surprised if the mets bench to begin the season is configured where you

00:19:40have three outfielders on there essentially and then you have say one infielder and i do believe

00:19:45that's the route they're going to be going down right now so say carson bench is the opening day

00:19:49right fielder mike talkman coming off the bench because polanco maybe is at dh to uh begin the

00:19:55first series against schemes could be at first but we'll see so you go with the idea that you're

00:19:59going to have talkman you're going to have tyrone taylor you're going to have if i'm there's one

00:20:04more player in that mix that i'm blanking at the moment i apologize not three outfielders too

00:20:08because you have luis trends as that final bench piece as your backup catcher and then right now it

00:20:14would be mark vientos as that infielder but you know before we talk about vientos and we talk about

00:20:19those things i do want to know if you have anything that you'd like to share on that briefly no

00:20:24oh it's

00:20:24funny because i was going to go to vientos and i'm like are we sure that he's making the team

00:20:28right

00:20:29now are we are we really because because look i'll just say this really quickly if they're going with

00:20:35you're saying two you would just be clear water you were saying two outfielders on the bench

00:20:39so you're saying two outfielders on the bench on the bench so you're saying they would keep

00:20:43talkman and keep tyrone taylor i think there's a strong case for that obviously taylor's got the

00:20:48versatility to an outfit he can play all three outfield positions so that's really dope there

00:20:52but here's the thing he's actually been hitting well uh in spring training tyrone taylor that is

00:20:57hitting 292 so you you gotta like that i too think they would do that i'm sure there are going

00:21:02to

00:21:02be fans that say oh well how are you only going to go with one infielder now you mentioned polanco

00:21:07who we know was going to play some first base for probably some dh as well too but here's the

00:21:11thing this is where the versatility matters baby and i'm sure we'll get to him too his versatility

00:21:16and what he can do as a primarily utility guy that's what you're looking at him right now he might

00:21:21even

00:21:22play a little bit of outfield we may see him in right field a little bit at times this season

00:21:26that's what allows you to do this this is what allows you to carry three outfielders that's the

00:21:30point right there and i think the mets can do that if the mets need to make moves down the

00:21:34road

00:21:35they will i don't get too married with the opening day roster i think sometimes people make too much

00:21:39of it oh for sure it's just too much is made of it and this goes in any sport how

00:21:45your roster is at

00:21:45the start of the season doesn't mean it's how it's going to look in september granted you get there

00:21:49you're playing meaningful baseball right so let's pump the brakes they can carry three outfielders

00:21:55who cares tyrone taylor and i'm sure we'll get into the second has earned it in my eyes right now

00:22:00we're talking about who's earned it i'm going with tyrone taylor there because the guy you

00:22:05mentioned mark vientos i don't know about earning is not the word i would put next to mr mark vientos

00:22:12right now well let's just hop right into our deeper mark vientos discussion right because it makes sense

00:22:18no need to go to a player in the outfield and then go back to them we can talk about

00:22:22that individual

00:22:23after we after we talk about them real quick so mark vientos who has unfortunately had a very bad

00:22:29spring training thus 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

00:22:43batting under 100 so far this spring and when he played for team nicaragua he didn't really do

00:22:47anything else there either as in 38 plate appearances across the wbc you know he only had three singles

00:22:53that was it and then you look through seven spring training games thus far going back to this past

00:22:57tuesday on the 10th you know 22 play appearances he's just one for 21 with one extra base hit four

00:23:01strikeouts a walk and three double plays grounded into you know not good and i understand it's spring

00:23:07training but you could also make the argument that because of spring training you know you need to be

00:23:13performing here because you are competing i don't think you being on this team is a lock i never really

00:23:18thought that to begin with because i never thought in confidence the mets would be getting the year

00:23:24when ronnie mariso mark viento 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 doesn't

00:23:45have any minor league options left on this roster and if he say gets off to a really slow start

00:23:51this year

00:23:51and is a net negative instead of a positive the mets really going to give him a leash where he

00:23:55basically has little to no role but just takes up a roster spot for the first month of the year

00:24:00and then they dfa him for nothing because that's the route that we don't want to see happen because

00:24:04that is a category that the mets have sadly fallen into in the past where they wait too long to

00:24:09part

00:24:09with a player when it clearly it was time to do so and mark's value is not great right now

00:24:14so i understand

00:24:15the idea of trying to maximize it still giving that an opportunity but at the same time if

00:24:21that 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

00:24:31people know me will know that i'm very much on sometimes when a sunk cost is a sunk cost it's

00:24:37a

00:24:38sunk cost and there's not much you not much you can do about that in an ideal world you would

00:24:44love

00:24:45for the mets to try to move mark vientos now but wardy you just said it perfectly what is his

00:24:49value

00:24:49who wants mark vientos they just saw all the numbers that you mentioned they've seen it they

00:24:55watch him play with team nicaragua and only get three singles in 38 at bats they've seen the whiff

00:25:00rate be terrible through spring training thus far the exit velocity is not there at all for him right

00:25:06now so he doesn't have any value now in an ideal world you'd love to get something back from him

00:25:12but

00:25:12what are you getting back for mark vientos right now and then the question you asked is okay do you

00:25:18try

00:25:18to play him and put him on the opening day roster and let him play through this and see if

00:25:22he can

00:25:22build his value back up here's my question i'm throwing back and i'm throwing this out to everyone

00:25:27you everybody what's the leash we're talking about for that is it two weeks is it a month do the

00:25:33mets

00:25:34have time to play around with a month especially coming off of what we saw in 2025 i'll tell you

00:25:39who

00:25:39doesn't have 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

00:26:08losing his job right this is not what you want or having not being able to play his best 26

00:26:13guys

00:26:14have 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

00:26:23me a question and i'm very curious as what you would do too let's cut your losses now man it's

00:26:30a

00:26:30wrap it's not it's it's not happening with mark vientos seen enough from last year seen enough

00:26:35to spring we can't turn the clock back to 2024 i say cut your losses would you like to get

00:26:40something

00:26:40for him sure but i don't think it's going to happen it is what he is and some that's when

00:26:44they

00:26:44say dex well what happens if he goes and signs someplace else he signs with the oakland a's and

00:26:49then he starts raking it so be it so be it there's nothing you can do about it at that

00:26:54point all i know

00:26:55right now based on the numbers warty he's not getting it done and we've seen this for quite some time

00:27:03and then the most the most important thing here is you don't have any place to play him this what

00:27:09it's not like you can say hey we're gonna plug in here you can't you can't right now so to

00:27:14me you just

00:27:15got to move on sometimes it is what it is and that's where i am it's just time to move

00:27:20on from

00:27:20the mark vientos experiment brett beatty who is a very good friend of his is not doing him any favors

00:27:27in this regard what i mean by that is that beatty is so unbelievably talented as from an athlete

00:27:34standpoint alone that him handling first base the way that he did today with easily the best scoop

00:27:40and play that we saw from a low low throw from marcus simian he then ended the inning with a

00:27:45nice

00:27:45pop-up catch on the run off of first base beatty just looks as comfortable as ever at that position

00:27:52as he should because first base is a less strenuous position than committing the hot corner which

00:27:57he plays brilliantly he i guarantee you if beatty was playing through base right now he'd probably

00:28:01be playing better defensively than bichette right then you look at right second base he might not

00:28:06be as good as simian but he's not really a liability overly there either so it's like okay if beatty

00:28:11can

00:28:12handle right field the way that we've seen in limited stretches if he can handle all these other

00:28:16positions and he's clearly shown he can handle first and if calls mendoza and david stearns have told

00:28:20us the fans and the media that oh yeah expect 500 plus play appearances this year for beatty what do

00:28:26you

00:28:26think he's getting the majority of that reps it ain't going to be at dh because you want his

00:28:29defensive value it ain't going to be consistently and right unless a injuries happen b inconsistencies

00:28:36happen where it's like both bench and talking just don't work out or something or it's you know

00:28:41something along those lines or the set he gets clear third or something right exactly something

00:28:46random it other than that or simian could make level of sense gain some reps at second because marcus

00:28:52isn't getting any younger he might you know play two or three games and say a series instead of

00:28:56playing the whole thing those kind of things but first space is the clear path for brett beatty to

00:29:01get the majority of his playing time this year how many times did jorge polanco play at dh last year

00:29:05yes 70 of the time so this idea that jorge polanco is coming in and he's gonna get at least

00:29:1150 reps

00:29:12at first base you know i'm not really buying that i wasn't buying that when the mets first signed him

00:29:16and i'm not buying that now i think polanco will get first base reps but it won't be a crazy

00:29:21amount

00:29:22as long as everyone's healthy and i think beatty is going to continue to do what he's been doing

00:29:25and run away with the position between the two because he can hit against left he's fine he can

00:29:29hit against right he's fine he grinds out at bats he has a perfect personality and attitude and this is

00:29:34not a slight on vientos because i don't think he has anything wrong i love mark vientos's attitude as a

00:29:38matter of fact i think he's carried himself very well what has not been an easy go of it for

00:29:43him the 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 met 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

00:29:59congrats 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

00:30:50brings you no defensive and base running value there's literally nothing to argue as to why he

00:30:56should be on this team besides his track record from two seasons ago that's what makes this more

00:31:01difficult and you know what this just reeks of to me and this is not again a slight to mark

00:31:05it's just my perception of this as a fan and this feels like jd davis all over i mean a

00:31:11guy that in

00:31:11stretches just shows you immense power what made made you want him to be in the lineup but then became

00:31:17such a defensive liability where the bat was not outweighing the defensive woes and the base run

00:31:23base running wise he wasn't anything that you should be excited about vientos is quite literally the

00:31:28slowest batter in the mets lineup like he has he's not doing himself any favors it's it's not his fault

00:31:35it just he is who he is he's a bat first player like pete alonzo and when these bat first

00:31:40players

00:31:40don't have the bat they don't have anything else and that's a problem deck yo i'm with i'm with you

00:31:46i'm i'm with you on everything you said and i'm glad you assessed what you think the value could be

00:31:54for

00:31:54him as a low a pitcher with high fastball may possibly upside that needs to work on some control

00:32:00right if 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

00:32:13don't

00:32:13need to worry about this is something you don't need to worry about going into opening day just move

00:32:17on if you get something like that in the deal i think that would be fantastic take it take it

00:32:23and

00:32:23run i think mark needs this too yeah and sometimes no that's a great point that's a great point wardy

00:32:32sometimes you just need to change the scenery sometimes you got to change some things up

00:32:36for everybody i think it's just best for everyone to move on and i i know you said it multiple

00:32:41times

00:32:41i want to be very clear i'm not shading mark vientos either and i generally do not like when

00:32:47some people in the media creators and stuff will say oh this guy's not even trying no mark vientos

00:32:52is trying he is trying to be the best player that he can be he has limitations it does not

00:32:57work for

00:32:58this mess roster at this time in the way that we are talking about their construction i will never

00:33:03question somebody who's made it to the major leagues and has done something about their work ethic or

00:33:08their effort here that is not what i'm doing at all whatsoever i'm just saying this doesn't work

00:33:12for the mets right now time to cut your losses and honestly wardy if the mets cut him and they

00:33:19don't

00:33:19get any dfam don't get anything for him am i losing sleep over it not really honestly not really i'm

00:33:25i

00:33:26think that i think they'll be fine i think that you laid out perfectly you started talking about what

00:33:31polanco could bring and the 70 of his bets at bats at dh last season and baby and his versatility

00:33:36and you

00:33:36were saying all that i was listening to him i said what wardy didn't say anything about vientos

00:33:40and what he could do at all whatsoever and i know you're not shading vientos you were just saying

00:33:45he doesn't have the value for this mets roster as it's constructed right now and i could not agree

00:33:52more would i have liked if they had traded him or mauricio in the offseason yeah i still think

00:33:58there's some fans that think mauricio has a little bit more upside spread particularly with the bat

00:34:02and i would understand that and i think this is why he should probably still stay in the system

00:34:06over vientos who obviously is out of options but yeah it's just time man sometimes it's just time

00:34:11and in an ideal world they could have got something but it's just time it's just time yeah and not

00:34:16having minor league options is the biggest issue with them you know the mets would have no problem

00:34:20sending him down beginning the year in triple a getting consistent reps there but they do that now

00:34:25it's not a possibility it's a guarantee he will get picked up because he's still young enough

00:34:30and has enough of a track record where there will be clubs maybe not in as much of an immediate

00:34:35position to win or maybe a team that is really looking for a true dh profile and doesn't really

00:34:40have anyone that brings a semblance of power and they say oh this kid has power he's had a lot

00:34:46of

00:34:46bad luck the past year and a half let's see what he can do for us you know and then

00:34:49go on from there

00:34:50so to be determined but this was again a great back and forth and to wrap it up on the

00:34:54position

00:34:54player discussions let's just talk briefly because i want to hear your thoughts on always robert jr

00:34:59making his spring training debut for the new york mets uh mets fans love robert they hate robert

00:35:04because i think they're just fed up with me gassing this guy up the past couple years when he hasn't

00:35:08had consistent seasons before he landed in queens but i'm like a kid in a candy shop right now okay

00:35:14robert could just you know have a infield dribbler and i'm gonna be like this is my world series because

00:35:19i'm so happy he's on this team i'm the upside is immense with this individual and um i think this

00:35:24is

00:35:24gonna be a fun ride both up and down with robert this season so what's your initial impressions of

00:35:29what he's done this far look i mean look so listen so far just had it's a little bit like

00:35:36seeing lindor

00:35:37in the first game just happy he's on the field and healthy right like that has to be the biggest

00:35:42thing

00:35:43here but we know what he can do at the plate he's looked fine at the plate so far he's

00:35:48looked

00:35:49healthy in terms of in terms of swinging the bat the thing for me and i talked about this in

00:35:52a

00:35:53previous episode i'm very excited about what he can do on the base pass if he can get on base

00:35:57with the bat can have a good eye draw some walks i think he can really help this team we

00:36:02know also

00:36:03how good he is defensively and that is going to help this team but for me it's just the fact

00:36:07that

00:36:07he is healthy and if this guy is healthy then i think the mets are going to be really fine

00:36:11defensively up the middle um and you know what he can what he can do with the plate if he

00:36:16gets

00:36:16anywhere back to where he was three seasons ago right if it's anything close to that we do was the

00:36:21number i said to you a couple weeks ago 80 we will sign for 80 of that right we will

00:36:25sign for

00:36:26that right now but thus far i think he's looked comfortable um he doesn't look like he's favoring

00:36:32anything because of an injury i think more confidence will come for him with time at the plate um he's

00:36:38moving well that's the that's the key thing for me you're not seeing any laboring of any kind with

00:36:43him whether it's in the outfield or at the plate so don't that's what i'm looking for in spring training

00:36:48can you look healthy are you moving well you know is the bat moving well when you're at the plate

00:36:54those things look good so far and now it's just knocking on wood here stay healthy right until we

00:37:03get we'll get to opening day and hopefully beyond but i don't remember if you had said this or you

00:37:07know we talked about our top five most important mets right in the last episode but he's a wild card

00:37:13for this team because if the highs are good and what we think could happen with him morty

00:37:20you're gonna be smiling i'm gonna be smiling we both think this guy is really good you know my

00:37:26colleague joe sherman had said to me the day after that trade was made he said this is the kind

00:37:31of risk

00:37:32you take if you're the mets this is the kind of player you go and get if you're the mets

00:37:37for what

00:37:37they gave up for him not a lot this is the kind of risk you make because he can swing

00:37:42things so much

00:37:43for your lineup and so i'm just excited to see it back on the field you listen he hits a

00:37:48dribbler

00:37:49and he doesn't get hurt yeah i'm clapping too yeah we love we we love that right he gets on

00:37:54base he

00:37:55shows us some some of the speed that he's got there he's played some gold glove level defense

00:37:59we're cooking so i just want this guy to be on the field so he can cook and um you

00:38:04know that then

00:38:05we'll judge him from there for right now yeah like i like what we've seen from him so far

00:38:09the first baseball he struck this spring was 107 miles per hour i was like oh yeah we're looking

00:38:14great what did carlos mendoza say constantly in the backfields when he was doing minor league games

00:38:19and bp he said i think he's hit 40 home runs already and he wasn't joking when he was saying

00:38:23that he's like i think he's actually hit more home runs than anyone else's sprain

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

00:38:32the flow of the regular season because that 2023 year was the breakout yes but we have seen these

00:38:39slivers of success just not as consistently but last year in the second half leading to the trade

00:38:44in line then onward he had an 800 or higher ops he looked more than fine and a very bad

00:38:50chicago

00:38:51white socks lap for the past number of years now for the most part so you also have to remember

00:38:57yes i understand as a fan it's easy to write off a player ahead of time i hear you but

00:39:02the mets are

00:39:03investing not just taking on his salary at 20 million this year for a player that hasn't had

00:39:08800 ops or higher throughout a full year since 2023 but they're really investing over 40 million with

00:39:14the 110 co-in tax so think about it the mets are investing an absurd amount of money and in

00:39:21this man

00:39:22who very well could just be on a one-year deal with us why would they do such a thing

00:39:26they're doing it

00:39:26because they know exactly how high that ceiling is and if he gets close to that ceiling it completely

00:39:32changes the dimension mets lab you have as good of a one through seven if not one through nine

00:39:37as any that you're going to find not name the dodgers and baseball currently so that's the goal and

00:39:42that's hopefully the expectation but to be determined obviously to see how robert looks as we get in the

00:39:47flow of the regular season and speaking of the regular season decks there's one guy that i did

00:39:52not have on my bingo card that i would be excited to watch to begin the year if you asked

00:39:57me four

00:39:58months ago and now i'm actually getting giddy thinking about it it's kodai senga like i did not

00:40:02think i was going to be saying this to you right now and now kodai senga my goodness my god

00:40:07my gracious

00:40:08i mean this is not only impressive to me but there are certain things that he's doing decks that he

00:40:13has

00:40:13not done in two calendar years two calendar years that is unbelievably notable so what has been your

00:40:19immediate reaction impression and what has been nothing short of a very impressive beginning to

00:40:23spring for him look the beginning of spring training for kodai senga is impressive um i had him high on

00:40:29my

00:40:29list of most important mets this season you know two spring training out outings five and two thirds

00:40:36innings seven strikeouts 3.18 era there's going to be a lot of talk about the velocity

00:40:41and that looks good and i understand that's going to impress people but for me it's about

00:40:46what's he going to do with his pitches and how is he going to put people away and is he

00:40:51going to be

00:40:51able to get swings and misses and he's been doing that thus far in this small sample size of two

00:40:56spring

00:40:56training starts you've got to like that 29.2 whiff rate percentage i love that right now he's getting

00:41:04guys to miss that's what i want to see from kodai senga because if he's doing that warty we brought

00:41:10up

00:41:10the c word a lot in the last episode confidence confidence confidence confidence you've got to

00:41:15see that out of kodai senga and some confidence there and i think that's only going to build when

00:41:19you have the i'm not saying the velocity doesn't matter people because it does the two things kind

00:41:24of go hand in hand but if he's got the velocity and then he's got that whiff rate making guys

00:41:29miss

00:41:30that's only going to build his confidence because one thing we knew from him at the end of last season

00:41:33that confidence was shot that wasn't he wasn't feeling good about himself at any year he couldn't come

00:41:38back he wanted to go and work on some things before he could help the mets in the final week

00:41:42of the season and then he did it so if that confidence is coming back from him that is going

00:41:47to be huge for this mets team so again this is going to become a theme for us with the

00:41:51mets

00:41:52if he's healthy like louise robert jr right we're seeing him healthy that is huge but then it's about

00:41:57the performance and when you get to the performance he's putting it together and i just think as he puts

00:42:02more of these quality innings together for the mets as we get closer to opening day that's going to be

00:42:07huge for him but if he's getting guys to miss that looks like rookie year kodai sing it that's what

00:42:12we all fell in love with him and what we saw making guys miss and it wasn't just about the

00:42:16ghost fork

00:42:17it was him using all his array of pitches and really keeping batters off balance and that's the

00:42:22thing you've seen with him thus far in spring training if he's able to continue that he's going

00:42:27to be cooking too on the mound oh he's absolutely going to be cooking too and you know you talk

00:42:32about

00:42:32trying to stay healthy referencing that as a mets fan that's like cheese and wine they go so well

00:42:37together because we're so used to it right so yeah when we see sanga doing what he's doing you

00:42:41mentioned this swing and miss and i will double down on that and say not only how important the

00:42:46swing miss has been regardless of the fact that you know you face like the marlins b team that's okay

00:42:50he still won three awesome innings five strikeouts no hits no nothing but the velo is what sets up the

00:42:55swing and miss and that's the most important thing here okay because he did not have this velocity

00:42:59at all in the second half especially last year he only threw a couple pitches above 95 96 and now

00:43:04he's touching 99 this spring like that is ginormous because a lot of guys don't even get into that kind

00:43:11of velocity and workflow until more into the heart of the season for him to be this good this early

00:43:16pinpoint precision dotting corners and the fun stat that erica did a fantastic job with that we can

00:43:23reference right here sanga's only gone to a three ball count two times this spring

00:43:28that's two out of the 19 you pair that with the fact that from his past game how many of

00:43:34his ghost

00:43:34forks did he actually throw in the zone zero and he got all swings and misses for the most part

00:43:40right

00:43:40so getting those guys to bite while not putting anything in the zone is huge because he was throwing

00:43:46meatballs last year when he was at his worst so bad that again when you had a fastball sitting in

00:43:50the

00:43:50low 90s it doesn't set up your off speed and breaking pitches so when you need the ghost fork to

00:43:55be

00:43:55your put out pitch they are just gonna wait until you're gonna throw your meatball they're just

00:44:00gonna sit until you hang because they know that you don't have the comfortability the confidence

00:44:04nor do you have the fastball that's setting you up nearly as well as you were where he'd have that

00:44:09in

00:44:09the back pocket if he had to use that for strike three on any point he would in 2023 and

00:44:13his rookie

00:44:14of the year slash Cy Young caliber season with the Mets fast forward since then he hasn't had that

00:44:18because of his lack of health and confidence so sanga if he at all can continue what we have seen

00:44:23getting into the season the idea of could I sing closer to his best than his worst paired with

00:44:29Noel McClain and paired with Freddie Peralta you quickly go from looking at a Mets rotation that was

00:44:34the biggest liability imaginable a year ago to all of a sudden wow this actually is a strength

00:44:39stay healthy we all know that but it really is a strength that we're seeing where you have multiple

00:44:44ace caliber pitchers Mets did not have that luxury at any point last season this is the game changer for

00:44:50them and gain the success that they need heading into the season and not only is Kodai Sing a game

00:44:55changer you go ahead Dexter I want to say I 100% agree with that I just wanted to give

00:45:01two other

00:45:02stats that our fantastic producer Erica Block gave that I thought was great one zero walks

00:45:10in spring training right now zero zero walks right now in spring training that is absolutely fantastic

00:45:18and I talked about that we're for 88 total pitches 48 swings 14 swings and misses 12 balls in play

00:45:25that's a pitcher using all of his pitchers right now feeling very confident and in control right and that

00:45:33goes with that other set he's only gone to a three ball count two times insane like just you got

00:45:39to be

00:45:39excited about I'm excited I'm I'm probably because I put him as the most important Matt

00:45:44so seeing him pitch this way in spring training it's got me pumped man he's yeah it's making you

00:45:51feel good early yes that's what it's making now we know things can change because we've we've

00:45:54watched the Mets we know things can change but early you got to feel good about it sorry go ahead

00:45:59no you're good I just we're only talking about more positives because Kodai Sing has been a headline

00:46:05that we've seen as of late and you know it was also been a headline the guy that I told

00:46:09you from

00:46:09the start was going to be an x-factor for the Mets this year and that's Tobias Myers okay

00:46:13you talked about him we've both had great conversations already Myers just continues to

00:46:17impress this spring it's easy to just fixate on Freddie Peralta the charismatic personality he

00:46:22hasn't stopped smiling in a couple months I'm sure his cheeks hurt at least a little bit by now

00:46:26and he's looked as good as he has by throwing the baseball you can be enamored with that

00:46:30while also appreciating the greatness that has been Tobias Myers to this point and this is

00:46:34the fun conversation Dex because you have a Swiss army knife here right you know I was asked in my

00:46:39in my live stream earlier today is Tobias Myers going to get over or under eight starts this year

00:46:44and it was a great question because he had six last year didn't have great success dominated as a

00:46:49reliever with a sub two year ray but I could see him getting eight to ten plus starts this year

00:46:54Justin Hageman who could be utilizing a similar role from last year is out long term now with a broken

00:46:59rib fracture which really really sucks I'm so sorry to hear that for Justin but you know Tobias

00:47:04Myers who had a role on this team is for certain having a role on this team now if there

00:47:09was any

00:47:09doubt or hesitation as to what the depth chart looked like with these kind of swing man pitchers so

00:47:14not only has he looked great over his past you know just over the past week he faced 10 batters

00:47:18when he won hit allowed we're looking at six whiffs on 16 swings really really impressive he's pitched

00:47:23the 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 every

00:47:35circumstance they throw him in he's just continuing to have success yeah I could totally I could totally

00:47:39see it you know we talk about this a ton with the position position players but you like that

00:47:45versatility in your bullpen too right and a guy you can maybe slot into your starting rotation now it's

00:47:50funny that question you got asked in your live stream about whether or not over or under eight

00:47:54starts 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 or or something minor went wrong with your rotation and he came in and just pitched so

00:48:12well that you couldn't move him out the rotation so I don't want to make it sound like it's all

00:48:16bad

00:48:16um so there could be good things with him I think he's got that ability and I think that's what

00:48:20matters here Wardy rather he's got the ability if you need him in that role to do it if you

00:48:25need

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 could

00:48:30be Freddie Peralta he only you know he's mr. five inning guy he only gives you five innings and now

00:48:35you've got a one run lead and you're trying to bridge it to the seventh you know or the eighth

00:48:40he can

00:48:40give you two innings there right you feel good about that a guy who could be solid in that and

00:48:45he's got

00:48:45a strong arm I think he could be that kind of guy and I think Mets fans are looking for

00:48:49that kind of

00:48:50guy they can get behind right you know is solid in in relief can give you some high leverage stuff

00:48:56you know you thought maybe Jose Buto maybe not the guy that you could stretch out a little bit more

00:49:00but he could have been that sort of two inning guy for you when necessary when he was on this

00:49:04team

00:49:05I think Mets fans thought about that so Tobias Myers can be that and I think what we got to

00:49:09talk

00:49:09about with this Wardy is when they made the trade for Freddie Peralta it almost sounded like oh I know

00:49:14Freddie Peralta was a headliner and Tobias Myers kind of was an afterthought but getting him in the deal

00:49:19was such a good move I was excited about that that David Stearns did this I know you were excited

00:49:24about that it was such it's almost it's been an afterthought but it may not be to your point if

00:49:30he

00:49:30comes in and really executes at his role whatever that might be you might look back at that trade and

00:49:35say man that was a good job by Stearns of making sure he got him in there because not only

00:49:41did it fortify

00:49:42the bullpen it also helped the Mets have some flexibility there and if they need somebody that can give them

00:49:47a spot start here and there they can do that and that's huge I'm gonna the f-word flexibility not

00:49:53the other f-word y'all thinking about that's going to be used a lot for me during the season

00:49:58I think

00:49:58it's just so important for baseball teams where we are right now modern baseball teams in 2026 to

00:50:03have that you need that with pitching too and Tobias Matt Myers he's looked good he looks confident

00:50:08and uh if he's pitching like this during the season which I expect good things from him Morty

00:50:13it's going to be huge for this Mets Mets pitching staff huge this is the same Tobias Myers that

00:50:19carved up the Mets in the 2024 wild card we're talking like this he's not far removed from being

00:50:24able to be a big game pitcher in big moments right and he showed his ability to properly just on

00:50:29the

00:50:30fly as a more relied upon reliever last year from Milwaukee when the starts just didn't go his way

00:50:34and the reason why I also mentioned the idea of him getting at least eight starts if not 10 plus

00:50:39is

00:50:39not just because of injuries and inconsistencies but I think of what plagued the Mets so much last

00:50:45year was the lack of length with starters and that's likely going to continue to a degree this

00:50:51season why not have Tobias Myers used in certain circumstances where he comes in and pitches your

00:50:57first three or four innings and then you have a piggyback situation where then you have say

00:51:01shamanaya if the velo still is not looking great and maybe you only want him out there for two to

00:51:05three innings have him come in there like how he started last year when he returned from injury his

00:51:09first outing out there he was piggybacking with clay homes and he had success so it just and that

00:51:14was in Kansas City actually and I do think he gave up a run towards the end but he looked

00:51:17very solid

00:51:18for the most part in that outing and that's just a way that the Mets can approach him in various

00:51:23ways

00:51:23so I think the world's the oyster when it comes to Tobias Myers and his role for this team because

00:51:29how Brett Beatty is the ultimate Swiss Army knife of utility man offensively Tobias Myers is that in the

00:51:35pitching department for this team I like that I like that he's that Swiss Army knife for them in

00:51:39comparison with Brett Beatty I think that's a good one and I I think if he's utilized like that

00:51:44in such a creative way I just really think it's going to bode well for the Mets I I completely

00:51:50agree

00:51:50with you and if there's one pitcher that I feel very confident is going to bode for a bode well

00:51:56for

00:51:56the Mets but it will not begin to start the season because he was just sent down to minor league

00:52:00camp

00:52:00unfortunately because I was really hoping he was going to break the team out of camp but I understand

00:52:05the Mets have the reasons they probably want to give the grizzled veterans more of a look

00:52:07and that's talking about Ryan Lambert okay Ryan Lambert has been brilliant this spring and this

00:52:13is someone who we saw dominate as a closer in double-a beatington this past year helping them

00:52:17win their championship you know now as we enter spring lively fastball consistently touching worth of

00:52:2399 on the gun a lot of swing to miss that we've seen at this point I've talked about this

00:52:27over the

00:52:28past couple weeks but I want to throw to you do you think that there's a role where Ryan Lambert

00:52:31could potentially be a closer option for the Mets this season because I have a feeling he is going

00:52:36to be it might just not be right away well here's the thing the 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 gone

00:52:52wrong with Devin 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

00:53:05on some things with Devin Williams that I was thinking and Devin Williams wouldn't be here and I

00:53:11agree with you I've come around on this he wouldn't be here if David Stearns didn't think he had the

00:53:16ability to pitch and knows him so well and all this good stuff so I guess what I'm wondering right

00:53:22now in real time is just that if Ryan Lambert who I love his stuff right I love his look

00:53:27I love his

00:53:28makeup he wants to challenge batters this is the stuff we like out of somebody that should have that

00:53:34closing mentality right what's it going to take for me get up here closing is strong because it's like

00:53:40would Williams have to falter so much or they would just see Lambert come up maybe be in a

00:53:47seventh inning eighth inning setup role but the stuff just looks so good that you're like all right

00:53:53all right we can't have this guy in the seventh we got to have him really at the back end

00:53:57of the

00:53:57bullpen I would think there's a world and I think he's going to come up and have an impact this

00:54:03year

00:54:04I'm not going to say closing but I think he's going to come up and have an impact on the

00:54:06bullpen this

00:54:07year what I will say is I think there's could be great valuable experience for him taking on some

00:54:15sort of role in the bullpen and holding it down so does he hold down the seventh inning right does

00:54:20he hold down the eighth inning at some point does he learn behind Devin Williams I think this I just

00:54:26think his stuff is too good and I think if other guys falter or questionable in that bridge to Devin

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 Mets like how do you

00:54:48see

00:54:48that going down so in that hypothetical how I would see it going down is Lambert gets the closest spot

00:54:56because either a Devin Williams does not pitch well for a period of time or he just unfortunately goes

00:55:02down with an ailment and then you basically shift everyone meaning that Lambert goes and close after

00:55:08he looked very good getting opportunities and lesser leverage starts to show it in higher leverage

00:55:13maybe also Devin Williams doesn't want to be used on back-to-back days by the Mets but they need

00:55:18a closer out there it's a tight ball game Lambert hasn't pitched in two days bring him out there see

00:55:22how he looks maybe against a lesser opponent and then build it up from there after you have in that

00:55:27closer spot you shift everyone so Devin Williams then can still be a closer for you because this

00:55:32is a thing I don't think the Mets are going to be stubborn with Devin Williams being the sole guy

00:55:35that gets closing opportunities this year I think he will be their main option but I don't think he

00:55:39will be their only option because David Stern is unbelievably creative and very diverse with his

00:55:45bullpen makeup typically he's not stubborn where a guy needs to be there each time unless it was

00:55:50really Edwin Diaz and even then there were circumstances where they well of course would have Edwin Diaz

00:55:55in non-save situations so to have Lambert at closer then Devin Williams as another closer slash

00:56:00setup and then that shifts Luke Weaver into more of a position where you don't have to utilize him

00:56:04in 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 then getting into that high leverage down

00:56:13the stretch I mean you have to make sure he stays healthy he he blames his injury last year for

00:56:17the

00:56:17lack of success when he had his worst moments with the Yankees last year but he was giving up some

00:56:22meatballs when that was the case and that's something the Mets cannot allow to happen there in the eighth

00:56:26inning especially in tight ball games that they're going to need to be pretty anal about where they're

00:56:31going to be fairly you know stubborn as to okay if you don't look good for more than a couple

00:56:35outings

00:56:36in a row we we need to try to make sure that we at least have some other viable options

00:56:40to consider

00:56:40there and that's where again the Lamberts come to mind then the Dylan Rosses come to mind and then you

00:56:47think of the veterans that are competing for a bullpen spot right now and the Hawaska Braza bands

00:56:52what was their role going to be Craig Kimroll is he going to crack this bullpen right Brian Hudson

00:56:56the towering lefty what is his usage going to be like just a lot of things I know Mendy and

00:57:00Stearns

00:57:01need to configure but Lambert even though he was sent down to minor league camp I think it's an

00:57:05absolute certainty that he will be a positive impact on the club this year I really do do you think

00:57:11that fans because we've we've talked a lot about flexibility in these first couple of pods man

00:57:18um do you think fans want that I I welcome it I welcome the flexibility I welcome the flexibility

00:57:25everywhere I think it's just good for your team today but do you think fans want that flexibility

00:57:30at the back end of the bullpen where it could be a little bit more situational of what you're talking

00:57:34about Wardy or do they do you think I think more fans like knowing this dude is the closer he's

00:57:39coming

00:57:40and at this time he's going to do this I don't necessarily agree with that but what do you think

00:57:44what do you think about from what you're hearing from the fan base on that yeah I mean there's

00:57:48there's both sides of the coin right there's definitely a large contingent of fans I 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 Devin Williams because I think there's a good contingent of fans that still have

00:58:14reservations with Devin 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

00:58:23that make you think that oh this guy's terrible when in reality he's as good of a closer option is

00:58:27literally 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 Devin

00:58:38Williams needs to be that guy I think that they are more welcoming and open to having some

00:58:43versatility here because at the end of the day it just comes down to results Dex right if the Mets

00:58:47have success by having multiple different relievers there closing if anything I think fans would love

00:58:53it because then they're like oh who's gonna close tonight you know like okay we have the next two out

00:58:57of three batters in the night they're gonna be lefties okay are the Mets going to go with you know

00:59:01someone that has you know better reverse splits so maybe uh writing the bullpen but handles lefties

00:59:07really well or like AJ Minter when he's here there will be times where AJ Minter even gets closer

00:59:11opportunities too just because of situational circumstances matchups those kind of things

00:59:17so to 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

00:59:27it's not good when you just have quality so that's the hope that the Mets have something

00:59:31good going this season yeah no I I agree with you I think it may take people some time getting

00:59:36used to

00:59:36but I think it'll be better for the team overall and like you said you're right at the end of

00:59:41the

00:59:41day it's 100 facts by you it comes down to winning if they win with it nobody's going to be

00:59:46talking

00:59:46about it nobody's going to really care they're going to be like oh this is great we've got versatility

00:59:51and we're getting W's that's what's going to come down to so we'll see we'll we shall see

00:59:55so you said W's let's add a B and a C and let's wrap this up talking about World Baseball

01:00:00Classic

01:00:00okay there 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 by me seriously like if you're just

01:00:16a baseball fan how can you not be appreciating how fun how entertaining these games have been from

01:00:22Italy 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 kill 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 impressions of how Soto's looked

01:00:46and previously when we saw a little bit of Clay Holmes and McClain 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 Wardy 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 would 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 big

01:01:26things from him offensively this year we both talked about uh him going 40-40 this year I don't think

01:01:31the

01:01:32base stealing was an aberration for him last year uh Antoine Richardson being here or not I still think

01:01:36he's going to put up great numbers in that regard um Soto's a tremendous player I I thought he would

01:01:41be

01:01:41more comfortable in year two than year one I always thought that I just think it looks even more now

01:01:45I

01:01:46do think something like the WBC even for the people out there to hate on the WBC it is something

01:01:51it's

01:01:52going through big spring training it is something that you can build upon right and I do think that

01:01:56that matters in a way for players like him just getting ready so I expect him to come back um

01:02:02to New

01:02:03York with the Mets and and be refreshed and ready for the start of the season and it wouldn't shock

01:02:08me if

01:02:08he got off to a faster start this season than we saw in previous years uh the previous year for

01:02:15him

01:02:15where it was a lot slow and he's adjusting to things I think that'll be good um McLean you know

01:02:22he's looked okay you know this far his numbers in his start that I was pulling up here you know

01:02:28he had

01:02:28the one game he had you know 14 bad 55 pitches to its two runs um it wasn't great um

01:02:34for him you did

01:02:35see the four seam fastball velo clock in at 97 miles per hour so that's good to see from him

01:02:40am I taking too much away from that you know he got some quality contact that he gave up uh

01:02:47two guys

01:02:48I'm not taking too much from him I like that he was competing I like that he was on you

01:02:52know on this

01:02:52team going up against some of the best hitters in the world I think that's a good experience for him

01:02:57um as well as well too you know we talked about the Entos before he has really done nothing for

01:03:02Nicaragua with just three singles so you have that there but I think Soto to me is is you know

01:03:07the real standout that you should be encouraged about if you're a Mets fan and look just seeing

01:03:11him play no matter what happens with Team DR just seeing him play with that joy and then bringing

01:03:16that joy back into the Mets clubhouse that's a good thing right because you know what's going to

01:03:22happen Wardy you know this is going to happen already you could put it down put money in it the

01:03:27Mets

01:03:28they'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 it'll

01:03:50be 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 the point you made before my friend

01:04:02winning winning cures everything with that and good play uh you know curves that so I think for me

01:04:09when I'm watching Soto here in the WBC and just talk about him particularly um and you know we've seen

01:04:14this a lot in talks about the WBC and how players carry and whether it matters but we've seen it

01:04:19from

01:04:19uh the Latino 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 and

01:04:28you

01:04:28see what it means to these guys um you see what it means to the Dominican team you see what

01:04:32it means

01:04:32to Soto they want to win for their country they want to put on for their country and you know

01:04:37when

01:04:37when he's back in blue and orange he's going to put on for the Mets and I expect him to

01:04:42put on for

01:04:42the Mets in a in a major way uh I know you like the WBC too so what do you

01:04:48think about what you're

01:04:48seeing from Soto because he's he's killing it at the plate just the fact that he's doing the shuffle

01:04:53and rounding the bases like jumping and hitting bombs and like screaming at the dugout right away

01:05:00pounding his chest just like the home run he hit in the ALCS for the Yankees in 2024 like that

01:05:05gets

01:05:06me so amped up because that's what we've been wanting to see you know like we saw Juan Soto 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 Juan 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 student tie and just doing his typical nine

01:05:35to

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 the

01:05:47selfless who I love but still falls in the category the Brennan Nemos changing that core into what it is

01:05:53now or it is built around Soto and Lindor is what is going to make Soto be as extroverted as

01:06:00he's ever

01:06:00been his career I don't think people understand Soto is going to show comfortability over the next number

01:06:06of years with the bets that he has never shown in his career outside of playing for team DR he's

01:06:11never been in a position where he's known that he's been a homebound long term since a young young age

01:06:17in his early 20s having Scott Boris in his ear the expectation was that you're going to wait until you

01:06:22hit that market and you're going to do what's best for you and your family that was always the focus

01:06:26it

01:06:27didn't matter what destination he was at prior it always came down to who is going to be my long

01:06:32-term

01:06:32commitment and now that he has that with the Mets and now that he has year one under his belt

01:06:36in

01:06:37Flushing Queens and having the success that he did and now the Mets have built a roster more catered to

01:06:42him he's very good friends with Luis Robert he knows Jorge Polanco very well fellow Dominican player too

01:06:48even though that they did not bring Sterling Marte back they did a very good job by bringing in players

01:06:54that bring you more immediate upside and guys are going to help build what is now this new core so

01:06:59do I

01:07:00think that again you need all these Latino players to get a proper environment no I'm not saying that

01:07:04at all but it doesn't hurt especially when they're as like-minded as they are and they're as charismatic

01:07:10as they are and they their mentality and how they approach the game there are similarities it's good

01:07:15because that helps bring camaraderie that's what is helping bring a clubhouse culture that will give

01:07:21you a playoff type atmosphere in ways throughout the season where you never got last year even when

01:07:26things were going good for the Mets it really never felt that way it never felt like they had

01:07:29the fun vibe the way that you had with OMG in 2024 and that was a miracle run for the

01:07:35Mets in hindsight

01:07:36you know how do you build these things sustainably and consistently it's not by banking on fun little

01:07:41stories and running with them no it's by building a foundation of players that are going to do this

01:07:47on a day-in day-out basis that you know is not just going to be for you know a

01:07:51sliver stretch period

01:07:52of time so I'm bullish on this team if you couldn't tell by now and I really do believe that

01:07:57this team

01:07:58is going to be I'm not going to spoil predictions when it comes to wins because I'm sure we'll do

01:08:02that

01:08:03in another segment for another day but they're in very much a position to have far more success than

01:08:08what they had last year I'd say that's the minimum I would agree I'm intrigued to see when we get

01:08:14to

01:08:14predictions which will be soon people what the predictions are and how much more successful than

01:08:20last year you think this team could be but um yeah I think again I keep saying I think fans

01:08:24should

01:08:25feel good about this team I do feel like the vibes from fans around this team are much different than

01:08:31it was two months ago three months ago and I think we you just talked about Juan Soto having the

01:08:38comfortability in where he is now in year two in Flushing but also David Stearns having the time to

01:08:45actually finally really mold the team into the way that he's wanted to um you know this I really

01:08:52always look like this is kind of really year one of that because you know he was taking and tearing

01:08:57down from the previous couple of years and now we're really going to get to see that and I'm not

01:09:02saying

01:09:02I know that it's going to work because excuse me I don't know I have no you don't know I

01:09:07none of us

01:09:07know we hope so but we'll see but he deserves a chance to be judged him and Carlos Mendoza I'm

01:09:13going

01:09:13to put them together on the team that they want and the way that they want it to be built

01:09:18and how

01:09:18they want 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

01:09:28a lot of fun wins at Citi 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 our

01:09:37latest straight out flushing podcast covering the New York Mets here officially for the New York Post

01:09:42that is Dexter Henry I'm Tyler Ward Dex anything that you would like to leave the people with before

01:09:47we get out of here no man just want to leave the people with uh keep watching keep supporting me

01:09:51and Wardy hit that like button hit that subscribe button all the good stuff uh keep the good vibes

01:09:56going keep the comments coming for us as well too we'll try to answer a lot of comments and questions

01:10:02for you guys uh that's all I gotta say uh let's go Mets I've had much more than that

01:10:08let's go Mets see you guys next time

01:10:12you

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