00:00I'm not big on selling. I don't really. Oftentimes you're getting prospects and what do they become? Not that much.
00:07And I am always in favor of going for it. I even thought they should do it when they had
00:12Scherzer and Verlander. They didn't do that. They traded. They saved some money. I don't know if Steve Cohen needs
00:17to save any money, but they didn't come up with a bunch of great players, as it turned out.
00:21But I am normally against selling. To me, this team looks dead in the water. I hate to say that.
00:2810 under at this point against the schedule that they've played. I know they've had a lot of injuries. I
00:33know Soto and Lindor both being out, that's crippling. But this team just does not seem good enough. I do
00:41like Ewing. I think Benja's going to be good, too.
00:45They're not going to lead this team to a championship. Soto obviously will be back soon. Lindor not too long
00:52from that. But they weren't good when Lindor was playing or when Soto was playing. So I don't see it.
00:59I think this team needs to be a seller. And they do have a few good pieces leading off with
01:05Peralta. We'll see if Holmes gets back.
01:08I'm not going to give up on that. He was great before he had that unfortunate injury. They have rarely.
01:15They have a few guys I think they could sell. But to me, this team does not seem like a
01:19team that could turn it around enough to make the playoffs. And National League is really good. And their schedule
01:25is really hard going forward.
01:26Yeah, you know, the Holmes trade, I wonder if it ends up being a little like the Shane Bieber trade
01:31last year, where maybe he's doing rehab starts by the time we get towards August 3rd. And somebody takes a
01:37flyer because they believe in the guy and what's possible down the stretch. You don't get a ton in return
01:42for that. Peralta feels like the thing maybe you mentioned Rayleigh. Minter is supposed to come back in the next
01:47day or two. I assume he's a guy who could possibly lefty relievers are always needed. It doesn't sound like
01:53they can make a big killing on any of this.
01:56So let me ask you the one that's the tough one. If Lindor comes back well, do you break it
02:03up and say this group is never going to work as it is? I'm assuming you can't trade Soto. There's
02:09over $500 million left on the deal. Lindor is less. Is it like $5 at $150 or so left on
02:18the deal? Do you break this up and try to do something else?
02:23Yeah, I mean, I'm of a mind you can almost trade anybody, particularly if you've got Steve Cohen as the
02:28owner, right? Verlander and Scherzer didn't seem that tradable at the time, and they were traded. They're not going to
02:34trade Soto.
02:36You know, they surprised me a few years ago when they made those trades and traded to future Hall of
02:42Famers, but they weren't guys who had, what, 13 years to go and five years to go as the New
02:46York Mets.
02:47The question's a little bit like, do you think that it needs to be broken up?
02:52I think they need to investigate something. It's going to be interesting to see what happens with the CBA and
03:00all that. You said trading Soto is difficult. You could trade anybody, but if the owners think, and I don't
03:11think there will be a cap, if they think there's going to be a cap, it's going to be difficult
03:15to trade the Soto deal, right?
03:16Because you get, you know, a huge contract, a record contract, and if you're an owner and you're hopeful for
03:24the cap, it's going to be difficult. You know, I'm not going to be shocked if Lindor is out there.
03:30I like the guy. I think he's on his way to the Hall of Fame.
03:34There's something wrong with the mix, I think, at the top. We've said this on this show many times. It's
03:41probably been underreported in the press. Not knocking our competitors. It's underreported everywhere, but I think they've got to figure
03:51out how Lindor and Soto can become, no, they're not arch enemies. They're not at each other's throats.
03:57You mentioned we trade one of them. You know, I say get them together in a room and figure it
04:04out or investigate potentially a trade of Lindor. Not his fault. I'm not taking sides in this. They're not, again,
04:13they're not arch enemies. Soto has moved across the room, but they're not speaking as far as I can tell.
04:20You know, it's not like they, you know, actively at each other's throats, that it's infecting the clubhouse that we
04:26know about for sure, but it is a bad thing that they are not at least outwardly friendly, at least
04:34fake it, you know, something.
04:36I did hear that when Lindor got hurt, Soto went to the trainer's room to check on him and see
04:42on him, but I agree. There's not, what I would say, John, is there's just not a lot of camaraderie
04:49warmth in it, and it's your two-star players, and so that leads to the question of, you know, is
04:56there, does that create unease, tension, whatever's going on there?
05:00And I wrote in the offseason that Steve Cohen should get the two guys together and say, I'm into you
05:04two guys for over a billion dollars. Can I get you guys to whatever? And I know how aggregation works
05:11now, John, so I'm almost hesitant to say it, because I know nothing, and if I were a betting man,
05:17I would bet heavily that neither player is traded, including me.
05:21Right? Like, I would say that, I know that's not going to stop anything. Toronto is run by two ex
05:28-Cleveland guys, and Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins, they know Lindor well. They have some offsetting contract types, either Santander,
05:40Jimenez kind of guys, who could, even if we have a salary cap coming, it would not be as dire
05:47if they put a prospector to it.
05:49I'm only saying, to your point, I agree with you, everyone is tradable if you find the right match, and
05:57I think the Blue Jays have learned that when they go big game hunting, it's a little harder in free
06:03agency, and maybe it's a little easier in trade for them. I just, I wonder about it. That's the one
06:10I've been wondering about.
06:11Yeah, that's interesting. Jimenez and Lindor, again, they were traded once before. You know, I'm not trading them for dead
06:18money like Santander. I think Lindor is still an excellent player.
06:23Yes, I agree.
06:24Yeah, he's still an excellent player. I don't consider it dead money at all. You know, I know he's got
06:28five years to go, and I expect him to be worth what he's being paid. So I'm not looking at
06:35it like that.
06:35I would want to get something positive if I'm going to do that. And I'm not going to be shocked
06:41if they investigate it. We thought potentially they might do it in the winter. And again, I'm not blaming Lindor.
06:48We both like Lindor. We both like Soro. I wish they liked each other more than it appears that they
06:54do.
06:55I don't know that it's any of the reasons. Certainly, they have much bigger reasons of problems with this team,
07:03right? They brought in all guys who never played in New York, and it seems like they're having trouble adjusting.
07:07They brought in guys who had injury history. They're getting hurt. You know, those are much bigger problems, probably. You
07:16know, I don't know if they're immediately solvable either. But since you brought up, should they trade Lindor and Soro,
07:21it got me on that road.
07:23Yeah. Look, again, I know this doesn't stop aggregators from doing what they do. I think both players will stay.
07:30I think that they'll continue to build around them. But I think the way this season has gone, they have
07:37to be open to everything. And besides Peralta, I don't think they have another thing that they would trade that
07:42they could get significant return on.
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