00:00Team USA had the best roster in years.
00:03They overcame a miscalculation, had a controversial win over the Dominican Republican semis,
00:08and then they came up short to Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic Finals.
00:13Let's put the classic behind us with our New York Post MLB insider, John Heyman.
00:18John, a very entertaining couple of weeks to some really good baseball,
00:23and I feel like there are enough storylines surrounding Team USA
00:27to keep the casual fan locked in.
00:30But you watch the classic from a different perspective,
00:34the baseball savant that you are.
00:36So can you give us the thoughts on the loss to Venezuela
00:39and just the overall thoughts on the tournament?
00:43Well, I don't know if I need to be a savant to tell you this,
00:45but they just didn't hit.
00:47I mean, this was a problem throughout the tournament,
00:49certainly was in the final game, and in the semifinal game, frankly,
00:54they didn't score a lot of runs.
00:55I mean, we know that the all-time great Aaron Judge did not really come through in that final game.
01:01He played overall a fine tournament, but look, they were outplayed by Venezuela.
01:06They only had three hits.
01:08Bryce Harper-Homer was an exciting moment.
01:11That's all they had was a moment.
01:13They were facing Eduardo Rodriguez, who once got $80 million,
01:17but is at a 5 ERA the last two years,
01:19had a 10 ERA in this tournament up until this game.
01:23Obviously was shut down great against Team USA.
01:27They just didn't hit like they should.
01:29They did have a better roster.
01:31They did a better job of recruiting.
01:32For all the criticism that the team manager, Mark DeRosa, took,
01:38he did take them to the finals two years in a row.
01:41They bowed out in round two with a 3-3 record in two previous appearances.
01:47They did win it once, but, you know, I mean, overall, it was a great tournament.
01:52A little bit disappointing.
01:54Team USA was the pre-tournament favorite based on that great roster that they did put together.
01:59I want to talk to you about or ask you a question about how now the Americans are looked at
02:03on the global stage,
02:04because when I watched these games, John, I saw the Dominicans dance and got a little flavor,
02:09a little saison to them.
02:11The Italians were taking espresso shots.
02:14It seemed like every country has kind of redefined the way the game of baseball is played.
02:21The Americans kind of look boring compared to those countries.
02:24So do you feel like we Americans need to step into the modern era of the way the game is
02:29now played?
02:31No, I mean, I like the modern era.
02:33I like the dancing.
02:34I like the Soto Shuffle.
02:35I like Tatis.
02:36I mean, he's a great personality.
02:40That's not us.
02:41That's number one.
02:42Number two, I mean, how would it look if we were dancing around, barely beating Team Canada,
02:48a team with reclamation projects and retirees, barely beating Mexico, losing to Italy?
02:56You know, that's just not us.
02:57We did really only one thing, dance-worthy, and there it is, that Bryce Harper home run.
03:02That was it.
03:03That was the only dance-worthy thing, and we got pretty excited about that one.
03:07But, you know, obviously, it's a different personality.
03:10I like the personality of the Dominicans, the Venezuelans, the Italians.
03:15I get it.
03:16But, I mean, the bottom line is we've got to play better.
03:19I mean, boring's okay if you win.
03:21We had some Yankees and some Mets players that were in the Classic.
03:24Who kind of impressed you with their performances throughout the tournament?
03:29I'll tell you that the Royals and the Red Sox players are the ones that really impressed me throughout the
03:33tournament, right?
03:34I mean, Vinny Pasquantino, the leader of the Italian team.
03:38Jack Caglione.
03:39The Royals had a lot.
03:40Mikel Garcia of the champion of Venezuela.
03:44Sal Perez, the old man, did okay with the champion of Venezuela.
03:50Red Sox players, Greg Weissert, striking out Judge at the end of the game, ending another game with more than
03:55an inning pitch.
03:56Jared Duran, Wilier Abreu of the champion Venezuelans, Masataka Yoshida.
04:03I would say the Red Sox and the Royals really stood out here.
04:07Nolan McClain, I love the fact that he really wanted the ball.
04:11He took the ball.
04:12Obviously, they tried to get more established pitchers like Hunter Brown and Max Freed and Garrett Crochet.
04:18For whatever reason, you know, it's difficult for us to get the pitchers to go, whether it's the team, the
04:24circumstance, what have you.
04:25But Nolan McClain wanted the ball.
04:28He generally pitched fine.
04:30He wasn't apparently good enough in the end because we did lose by a run.
04:33He gave up that home run to Abreu.
04:35Had a wild pitch that led to another run.
04:38But I admire the fact that Nolan McClain took the ball as a technical rookie.
04:42I don't really think he's a rookie, but technically he still is.
04:46And Judge was, you know, I think he was a great captain.
04:50He made some great throws.
04:51He had some home runs earlier, but obviously didn't come up big in that big game at the end.
04:57So, you know, I mean, you know, for whatever it's worth, the Red Sox and the Royals players were the
05:02ones that really stood out in this tournament.
05:04All right.
05:05Now we can put a great three weeks of baseball behind us.
05:08John Heyman, I appreciate you hopping on with us today.
05:11All right, Brandon.
05:12Great talking to you.
05:13Yes, sir.
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