Roster Decisions and Opening Day Outlook

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Welcome into a very special edition of the Rico, episode six hundred and fifty-three. We will get uh Carson Benge's roster status, the decision on Craig Kimbrell, the news on Mike Talkman, and the latest on the 26-man roster towards the end of the episode. But today is our annual tradition of Yankees versus Mets Betts. And joining us right now, a guy who was on the Rico when Juan Soto decided to leave his beloved Yankees and join the New York Mets. He is the host and really, let's face it, he is the engine of the Carton Show. The Carton Show goes nowhere without Big Mac Chris McMonagall, who is also launching his very own Yankee podcast, Go get 'em, which you can download wherever you download these podcasts. Thank you for coming on, Big Mac. Oh, thank you for that introduction. I appreciate it. Thank you. I'm happy to be back. I guess uh like every time I come on now, is it going to be he was on when Juan Soto signed with the Mets? That's it, that's how I'm known. Okay, I'll live with it. Well, to the Rico community, accurate. Yes, to the Rico community. That's how you're known. Uh okay, with everybody else, you're known for a lot more. You're known as a Ganky Phil, right? Yes, that's true. That's for sure. Now, if you go back to October, if you go back to October, like at the end of the Met season, we went through all of our bets from last season that we made on this annual Yankee Met uh bets. So if you go back to October, I guess it would be episode like 570 or whatever it is. You can hear me break down some of the bets we made last year. It was really competitive. You did win, no doubt about it, but a lot of the creative bets that we came up with turned out to be incredibly close. So it was a very fun competitive season, and I'm ready to do it aga in. Let's go. I won. I didn't know. That's that's uh that's good to know. But uh I'm excited and ready to win again because that's what the Yankees do until until October. It's it's funny that your ep the episode was in October. Because that's usually where the Yankees stumble. Think about it. If you set the bar as Mets versus Yankees in ninety-seven percent of my life, you guys have had a better season in terms of just having a better record or going further. So even 2024, which was such a fun year for us Met fans, you guys went further. Even if your fans don't appreciate what you did, and our fans think it was so amazing. You guys did have a better year. You went to the World Series. You beat the Dodgers twice, and the Yankees only beat them once. So Met fans hang on to that. Believe me, I've heard that quite of ten. You have. And look, I'm not a trolling kind of fan. I try to be very honest here on the Rico. Even though, yes, that's true, the series between the Yankees and the Dodgers was much more winnable for you than it was for us. Like we were basically annihilated in the four losses that we had, and you guys literally could have won almost all of them, if not all of them. So certainly certainly one and five.. Yeah No doubt. I I get how the trash talk goes, but we we're real around here. I mean, you guys were more competitive against the LA Dodgers than the Mets were. That's just that's just the reality. So very kind of you. I I'm an honest guy. Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna look at and analyze all the ideas that came from the people. I put out a tweet earlier on Sunday. And by the way, congratulations to St. John's. Uh so everyone's gonna be a hell of a game. They almost blew it at the end. And I don't know how how did they not call that tip back in out of bounds? I mean, it looked like it was three feet out of bounds. There was a lot of things from the last two and a half minutes that are well worth examining. And I'm sure we'll get a chance to do that on sports talk radio. So I'm gonna go through some of the ideas that the people have. And if there's something when I say it, you tell me like, hey, that's actually a pretty good idea. Let's write that one down that could work so the fur the first idea came from sean morash at Sean Morash was one of the first people to respond and he wrote what happens first Spencer Jones is called up or Carlos Mendoza is fired. So what do you think of that one there, Big Mac? I mean, the uh um I think that's tough for you. I think um you want me to answer it honestly? I I don't think Mendoza's getting fired. The Mets would have to have a disastrous season. And I don't know if Spencer Jones is getting called up. I mean, I think right now it's Jason Dominguez. I guess that's a that's a decent one. It's a it's it probably means something went wrong for both of us on some level, obviously for Mendoza. If Spencer Jones get I mean obviously if Spencer Jones gets called up it probably means there was an injury. Now we're kind of all expecting the Stanton one at some point. Yeah. But um I I would still think Dominguez as much as he missed another ball and left today and I know he's uh the sun it was the sun it was the sun no there's no there's no third deck and it's a high sky out in those minor league ballparks. We know. Uh Rosario missed one too in Rightfield, by the way. I was gonna say that actually makes him look better. So two guys missed him look better. But um yeah I mean I I would have to say Spencer Jones would get called up first because I don't see Mendoza getting fired. This team's good enough to be a playoff team. I don't fire him midseason. Do you think there's anything bad enough to fire Mendoza midseason? If they don't make the won't be back here. But I don't I mean, barring in absolute be barring on you know 20 games the under 500 at all-star break like i don't i don't think he's getting fired yeah it it would have to be like really really really bad like clubhouse issues explode the team is buried like 20 games under 500 somet,hing really extreme, I think personally, for Mendy to be fired. But I I did that one first because sometimes we get confused on the concept of a bet. Like I want to root for something and you want to root for something. How do I I w winin this this bet? bet if Mendoza gets fired? Like it's there's it's a weird concept. So Sean, as you know, Big Mac, not the brightest bulb in the uh in the drawer, if you will. Or the brightest bulb in the uh wherever you put bulbs. Tool in the shed. Not the just not the brightest bulb. You don't put bowls anywhere. You just you leave it at not a bright bulb, I think. Another tool in the shed. That is a good one. Another one of our colleagues at WFN had an idea, Lori Rubinson, who you could hear Sunday nights on WFN. She writes, Who's gonna have a better season? Anthony Volpe or Brett Beatty? We could use war as the measure of what sh it means if Volpe is healthy. He might have a big bump defensively while Beatty has to play a few positions and his defense takes a hit. Even his versatility is not valuable by war. I think the negative with that is I don't know when Volpey's gonna come back. Beatty is already on the roster, but I mean Beatty doesn't have a guaranteed everyday spot. I think he's gonna get a chance to play a lot of first base, which war does not help out with, as we certainly saw with Pete Alonzo. Yeah. Um I like the idea of something with Volpe. I don't know, only because Beatty's gonna have such an unfair head start by being on the major league roster and getting, at least at first, an opportunity to play. Yeah, I I Volpey's interesting. They already announced, I I think it's gonna be longer than we thought, even, because they said they're gonna start a rehab assignment two weeks from now and then he's anticipated to get a full spring training. So that's that's a month and a half from now. So I I I uh earlier like two weeks ago I would have thought he had a chance to be back in April if they don't send him to the minors, which is a possibility as well. Um, so I don't know how I like I don't know when Volpey's coming back. And if Caballero is playing well and they can save another year of control by putting him in the minors for, you know, two or three weeks, like I I don't know. I I I'd be surprised. But yeah, if he plays shortstop every day and he's back to his goal caliber self, the the oh the war could shoot up past Beatty because Beatty's playing first base in right field. So it's I would be willing to make that bet because I think it's fun and interesting. But really? Yeah, I think I'd be willing to make it just because I mean okay, let's do it. That's fine by me. I think Volpe's gonna because because I think they believe in Volpe. I think he's gonna get run. And I think there's a chance that like, you know, he's gonna have a bounce, he's gonna have a better season. One of these years he's bound to do something. And if he could play defense at shortstop, he's gonna get a war. Like if it's OPS, I wouldn't if it was OPS, I wouldn't make the bet. War making the bet. No, Laurie makes a great point about that, that he does have a leg up just because he's gonna play shortstop and you know until last year, last year was a disaster for him defensively. He's been a really good defensive shortstop. Like what happened last year is almost unexplainable, unless you just want to say he wasn't healthy. But he was terrible defensively. But in years prior to that, he was pretty good. Beatty, you know, I loved Brett's defense at third base, but I think he's going to end up playing a lot of first base, and it's tough to kind of up your war that way. And there's also that possibility that Beatty, while I think he starts the year as an everyday player, he may not end up the year as an everyday player. Like there's a lot of like Mark Vientos. I know he's had a terrible spring training, but here's the thing: Mark Vientos gets a little opportunity early on and hits. He could certainly take DH at bats and end up taking first base at bats. It's not like he's buried on the bench completely. So I think the risk I'd run into on a bet like that is A, Volpe's got the edge on war. And B, Volpe probably because they love him, as you said, has more of a, I guess, a chance to play every single day. But with that said, I drafted Brett Beatty in the fantasy league draft we recently did. And so I'll put my chips in the table on Beatty. So I'll agree to that bet. War okay. Like it. Should be fun. I have one I came up with. Um, tell me your thoughts on this. So if you remember back early in spring training when Aaron Judge first showed up, he talked about stealing more bases. I kind of made a big deal of that on Evident Tiki where I said, Hey, look, this is scary. I mean, we saw what Juan Soto was able to do last year. Aaron Judge is talking about stealing more bases. Aaron Judge stole 12 bases last year. He stole 10 the year before that, three the year before that. His career high is 16 back in 2022. So I was thinking Aaron Judge stolen bases versus the wins leader of the New York Mets. So I have the field, it could be any one of my starting pitchers, but whoever leads the team and wins that's the number that goes up against Aaron Judge stolen bases. Obviously if Aaron Judge steals 20 25 bases, yeah you win. Yeah I can't compete in that right I give You you're th alsooughts on that. you're also in a you're also in a six man rotation possibly after the first two rounds, like um after the first two go rounds. Uh they're piggybacking Minai, you should be happy. Um yeah, my idea. So I guess um I would absolutely make that bet. I th I feel very confident in that bet. Very confident. I think Judge is gonna try and steal some bas es. And and let's be honest, if he gets to 18, I feel good about that bet. It's done. No, no, I agree. You're in that bet puts you in a spot where if he hits a certain number, I can't compete. I was trying to think of another like stat I could put up against that, like something that ranges between 10 and 30. Because honestly, if Judge doesn't run a lot, it's normal, it's 10. But if he does explode, probably 30 feels like the high end for him. So the other the other stat I was thinking about is home runs by Luis Robert Jr. Because that's a good one. Who knows? I was just thinking in my head, home runs by Bachet. 18 last year. That's fair. That's fair. He's not a slugger. He doesn't hit a lot of home runs. No. Yeah, I would feel more comfortable with that than pitcher wins. Now, just to give you a little perspective on last year, the wins leader for the New York Mets a year ago was 12 by Clay Holmes, and Aaron Judge stole 12 bases. So it was a completely even bet one year. ago So if Aaron Judge doesn't run a lot more, well, that it would turn out to be something like that. Yeah. And and I I I don't think it would be I think I don't think Judge is going to do what what um Soto did last year. I know he talked about stealing more bases. I don't think he's going to attempt to get and be a 30-30 player. Like I just don't I don't see that in the cards. I don't know the Yankees will really allow him to do that. I don't think he's going to take it to that level. I do think he'll go up in steals, but I I don't think we're gonna see and then you know we'll see and then maybe if if Caballero or you know is on base in front of him, maybe you get him as the back runner on some steals or something. But like I I don't think he's gonna suddenly try and do what Juan Soto did. Not and I'm not trying to knock Juan Soto, but it became clear he wanted to steal he wanted to hit a number. He wanted to get as many bases as he could. I think judge is gonna pick his spots more, and I think the number could go up, but i i would feel confident making the bet but i don't think this is something i don't well i don't think we're gonna see judge with 27 30 stolen bases i'd be surprised i think it's more if i i think he's gonna bump it up to right around 20 from 12 to 20 and and that's why i think the fairest one for me, because I am looking out for myself on this, is Luis Robert Jr. home runs. Because just again, give you perspective on this whole thing. Last year, he only played 110 games, which is a big factor with Robert Jr., but we got to keep that as a factor. He had 14 home runs. So I would have won the bet 14 to 12. Last year, or the year before that in 2024, he also hit 14 home runs. And then the year before that was obviously his one monster year where he had 38 home runs. So it's one of those things where, and and again with Judge, it was 12 last year. So I would have won the bet 14, 12. And the year before that he was at 10. His career high is 16. Yeah. Uh but if Judge explodes and gets to 30 or 25, things could be close. So I would feel more comfortable doing Robert Jr. home runs versus Judge Stolen bases. Would you accept that? Yeah, why not? Thinking about it. I'm thinking about it. I mean, I think it's I think it's close. And for some reason I think, you know, I I don't know how you feel. Like Luis Robert Jr. is either gonna hit thirty or seven. Like don't you just like like I think he's gonna either have I think it's it's either gonna be a rough year for him and it's not gonna work out or he's gonna like have that monster season. I I don't know if the the average like I don't think he hits like the twenty-three home runs and has like a average you know year better than he's been, not as good as you hope. I think it's either going to be the definitive. He's either going to be not the guy or he's going to have this breakthrough year. But I'll I'm bullish on him just because of the circumstances and the situation that he's in. The one thing I'm a little queasy about, and this is just to I guess bring in some Met talk, is where he's batting in the order. I mean Carlos Mendoza gave us a hint over the last few days of what this starting lineup would look like. And he's got Robert Jr. batting fifth. I am very big on batting him ninth. Like, take the pressure off. He steals bases. So have him run ahead of your RBI guys and give him protection with the RBI guys. Think about it. If you're batting ninth, you got pretty damn good protection in Francisco Lindore. Uh so I I disagree. It's not not not that it's the end of the world here, because okay, hit him fifth. He could be productive. But I kinda like the idea of him down in the order. But I think almost by accident, if they can keep him healthy, which has been their goal in spring training, I think he's going to be productive just because the Mets are just a better team than the crap he's been on the last couple of years. And I do think that matters. I think that affected him. I think when you're on a bad team, it just it brings you down. Tyler Reddick here from 2311 Racing and Bubba Wallace. You know what's the worst part of a race? A rain delay. Sitting around, waiting for the track to dry is dull. But instead of waiting, we hang out with Chumba Casino. 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As the odds move, you can buy in and out of your position all tournament long. Download the Kelsi app and use code FAN to get $10 when you trade $10. K-A-L-S-H-I-KALSHI. Trade on anything . Yeah, no, absolutely. I think it changes scenery's gonna help him. I just, you know, I mean I'm just uh a little concerned about his health and the idea that we just assume he's gonna have this monster year, but I think like I just think that's what it's gonna be. I think he's either gonna find it quick and it's gonna be a real positive thing for him. Or 'cause the other thing is like I just think it's it's also tough here and if that change of scenery doesn't happen right away and he's dealing with what? I mean just a weaker bottom half they they want to give him like if it just gets off to a slow start I could see it being one of those things that drag with him but important start and also like to me I've I've said this a lot like he's that bellwether player for the Mets. Like if he has that 2023 season, you can envision an a lineup that is devastatingly good for the Mets. Oh, no doubt. I I think he's the guy you look to. Like if he has a good year, that met lineup changes completely. Yeah. And you're basically saying from a long time ago, it's Ohio. If you carry Ohio, you're gonna win the presidential election. Right. If you carry Luis Robert Jr., you're gonna win the pennant. Or yeah or at least the division. Yeah. Uh this one is right up your alley. Yeah, what do you got? The Z report writes Which fan base calls in a WFN first, claiming they should fire the manager? I know you're clearly thinking that's your guy, Aaron Bones. Yes, it clearly is. Um I don't know. Last year a lot of Mendoza hate. A lot of Mendoza hate. Um, I was surprised with how much, uh, to be honest with you. You were surprised? Like what I thought so, yeah. Off of last year, I know, but off of last year, the dude the dude rallied the troops from 10 games back to the NLCS big Mac I you have been a defender of Aaron Boone, and if not a defender of Aaron Boone, a defender of hey, we're so quick to blame him for everything. And you're you're right a lot of the times. Like sometimes they get blamed for everything. Right. I don't think that's specifically unique to just the Yankees. I think it's unique to managers in New York who've been around a while. See, the Mets have been so quick with their managers, you know, so quick. And in Buck Show Alter's case, the first year was so great. There was nothing to kill him for. And when you're here early and you have success, like you're gonna even a Yankee manager would be in a honeymoon, you know what I mean? Like I think Boone was in a tough spot only because he was coming off a miracle year where they got to the you know the seventh game of the ALCS, but I think once you're here for a second, third, and fourth year as Met Manager and things aren't going well, dude, you're gonna be run through the table. I mean, Terry Collins was crushed even after winning the pennant. No, I get it. And by me, by the way. I was one of them. No, I I yeah, I get it, but I'm just saying, like it was it seemed kind of quick that you know, off of going to the NLCS, being the best team in baseball for the first half of the season, like all of a sudden he was an idiot who needed to be fired. Like it just it just felt it felt quick. I get you. But it it is it's quick and a lot of it's unfair, but no, there's gonna be a lot of heat on I think Mendy's gonna face more heat early on than Boone, quite frankly. Um if they struggle? Yeah, no, I guess well if both teams struggle. But yeah, I I guess because I think I think part of it is the Yankee fans feel like Boone's not going anywhere. Like there's nothing they could do or say. I feel like they're the Met fan is the idea that the seat is hot. I don't think I don't know if Yankee fans feel like Aaron Boone's seat is hot unless they don't make the playoff s. Like I agree. I think I think Mendoza, I think Mendoza may be Met fans think that they could have a little bit of impact if they make the noise loud enough . Where I think if the Mets the the owner's reactionary, Hal is non reactionary. If the Mets miss the playoffs, I think Mendy will be gone. Where people mistake them where the mistake occurs. And I heard Joe say this on Saturday, and maybe it's more wish than think. David Stearns ain't going anywhere. Like, even if everything he does this year blows up, like they're not firing him. It's not like it won't even be considered that they would fire him. So he's not on the hot seat. Mendy could be if the team struggles. This is a good one. This is an interesting one. You ready to do some math there, Big Mac? I can tr y. John Cutcher on Twitter writes: more home runs. Beatty plus Benj versus Giancarlo Stanton. So you've got a rookie who we'll talk more about later in the episode should make the team, but we'll see. And Brett Beatty, who's certainly not guaranteed playing time. We talked about him earlier, versus Giancarlo, who last year in seventy-seven games hit twenty-four home runs. He is an absolute slugger when he plays. Yep. Obviously, that's a big question around him. If you look at his home run totals the last few years, here's how they read: 24, 27, 24. This was all missing time. 31 in 110 games, 35 in a hundred and nineteen games, or hundred thirty nine games. Obviously, I mean you've got Brett Beatty. I I think if he plays every day, you're talking about a guy that could hit, I think at the most, if I'm guessing, you know, twenty to twenty five home runs. He did hit 18 last year in 130 games, but still, who knows? And then Carson Bench. Would you be comfortable in Stanton's home run prowess to take that bet? Yes . I love that bet. Yes. I'll tell you, I mean, I don't this is one of my bold predictions. I'll give away a little bit for the uh for the go get 'em podcast. I don't know why, and I said this on the air. Like something about the narrative, first of all, I don't ever remember him coming to spring training and being so demonstrative of I gotta stay healthy. Like he talked about it prior. I don't know. And then he's comfortable enough to admit he can't open a bag of chips. Like it feels like this is the year Stanton's like, screw it on play. Like if like last year he only missed time because his arms were sore, and he was like, Let's give it two months and see if they feel better. Like he didn't actually have an injury, he had the same injury he's dealing with right now. They just thought it was best not to play through it. He's playing through it this year. Like he's made it very clear. I have a feeling this is the year he plays a lot of games. I don't know why. Today he he took um he uh tagged up and went from second to third. He looked good on that. I saw that, yeah. Like again, we all know he's capable of running faster than he runs. He chooses not to because he's afraid of getting hurt. Like, but I I just have this weird feeling that this is the year he says, screw it and I'm playing through everything. And if he does, even if he struggles at times, he's still going to hit the occasional 450-foot home run. So I have a feeling this is the year I think Stan's going to hit 35, 40 home runs this year. And and let's say he does, just for the sake of this, and this is why I'm gonna make this bet. Carson Benjamin last year over three different minor league affiliates, Syracuse, Binghamton, Brooklyn, played 116 games, which is more than Stanton, but you know, not a full season. He hit 15 home runs. Okay, that but that's our only sample size because in 2024 he was drafted. So we don't that's how like quick quick this rush up to the majors was for him. Like in college, I don't even know if I should look at college, but I've got the numbers in front of me. He had 18 home runs in 61 games. So he's got pop. He could hit, I guess if everything works, 30 home runs, but let's say he gets to 15, which feels like a hey, that's a solid rookie season kind of number. We played a lot, you know, not bad. And Beatty gets to 20. That's 35, which is right there with your Stanton prediction. So you think Beatty's gonna get 136 games, though? I think he's got a real shot at it. Like I mentioned earlier, it's not guaranteed and it's a major risk. But I think when this season starts, he's an everyday player. I think he's an everyday player at first base slash DH against right-handers. And he hit lefties late last season, too, which I was screaming a lot about on the Rico when they would sit him against lefties. So I think early in the season the opportunity is there. If he performs, he will continue to play every day. Uh even right field is a possibility for him on days where they want to sit Robert Jr. and move bench to center field, or on days where they want to sit Carson Bench. Obviously, they're never gonna sit Juan Soto assuming he's healthy. So yeah, I'm bullish on Beatty and I believe in bench. So why not? And look, one injury away, I could win this thing easily if Stanton plays. No, easy. I'm I'm taking the risk here on the Stanton homers. Uh, even if because th that that's the thing, like even if those guys don't have great home number home home run numbers, even if they, you know, even if it's third, even if it's fifteen and fifteen, hell, even if it's right twenty-six, if he has an injury, you're talking about him probably not playing all that much. Like they're gonna rotate him in and out. Like he's gonna miss some games. Like if he' hes's healthy, playing 135, like at most. So if he has one injury, I'm talking about missing half the you know, possibly half the season, 100 games. You know, playing only 100 games. So I'll take a risk on it because this is one of my bold predictions. I've said it on the air and I'm gonna do it on the podcast. So I'll take the I'll take the bet. I think it's fun. I think it's gonna be close. All right. We got three bets so far that are locked in. We've got Rhett Beatty versus Anthony Volpe and War. We've got Luis Robert Jr. home runs versus Aaron Judge stolen bases. And we've got home runs bench plus Beatty versus Stance. We got three bets locked in. All right, let's get to what I think is the main event. And we just got it. Well, it's not no, no, it's the co-main event. Because I think there were two rivalries between the Mets and the Yankees that there needs to be bets involving. The main main event is obviously Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. We'll get to that in a second. But I think the undercard, or maybe my main event is Cam Schlitter versus Nolan McClain because both guys had burst on the scene appearances. I can't say rookie seasons because Schlitter is a rookie and it's over. McLean is technically a rookie this season. Hold on one second. I've got to be a dad because I have a live studio audience. Yeah, could you make that a little bit lower? Thank you very much, pal. Sorry about that. Um, so I'll ask you, Big Mac, how do you want to do it? Because there's a lot of ways we can do McLean versus Schlitler. We can do multiple stats, we can go just strikeouts, we can go innings, we can go ERA, or we can make it a series where we can say it's Schlitler versus McLean and let's pick some stats. Best of who has the better year using those stats as the determining factor. Ye ah. I I think that's the best, the best bet if you're willing to pick a couple, let's pick a coup le. Oh, I'm strikeouts got McLean out. Excuse me. Go ahead. What were you about to say? No, I was saying what stats do you want to use? Strikeouts clearly should be one of them, right? No. I I think that there are there there's a few stats that jump out of me. This may have to be best of five, if we're being fair. Okay, I think innings pitched is a big deal. I really do. And I know that early on there's a negative for you because Aaron Boone already came out. I'm sure this is gonna be like a mini controversy and said his pitch count on that second day of the year is gonna be like sixty-five to seventy, which is nothing. I mean, well, I I shouldn't say nothing. I mean, I guess if he's very economical, he could get through five or six, but it's going to be economical. So early on, there's like a little bit of a restriction on Cam Schlitter, but as you pointed out earlier when talking about the Met rotation, they may eventually have a six-man rotation. That is certainly on the table. Now, Mendy ruled out to me. I don't know if he said this publicly recently, and this is obvious, so it's not breaking news. He will not use a piggyback or a tag team with Nolan McClain or Freddie Peralta. Those two guys are cleared out. They're pitching like men. All right. They're doing it. Um, but I would definitely say innings pitch needs to be one of them. Okay. Strikeouts. Sure. You want to go ERA as a third one? S ure. And the the beautiful thing about ERA is I know we should have like a minimum innings just in case, like one of these guys, I don't want to pick which one ten scoreless innings and then gets hurt and he's done for the season. We can't, you know. Right. Can't give me RA. No, but I go in nings. Yeah, like a minimum. I I'd say the minimum is a hundred, you know, something like that. Innings pitched, strikeouts, ERA. What other stats you want to put in there, if any? Um batting average against ? Banning average against. Yeah. How many hits? What stats mean the most to you? That would be my question. Because the reason I pick those three is when I'm as a fan picking who should win the Cy Young, those are my three most important categories and I rank it as ERA innings pitched and then strikeouts like strikeouts doesn't I mean if you're getting guys out who cares how you do it right it doesn't matter well I mean that's what batting averages batting average against kind of is how hard are you to get how hard is it to get a hit against them. How about whip? Okay, right. Whip wh ip. Whip's a good one, y ep. So we got it you're not gonna fight me for wins, right? Are we gonna do wins? I think no we don't have to do. Yeah, I me an if we're struggling for one, I mean you could just go wins uh game started. I don't know if that matters either, but you know. As opposed to actually if the pitcher got the win, we could just say did the teams win on the days they star ted. I don't mind that actually. I don't mind that as much because and look, obviously a lot of times that is not the pitcher's fault as we know. You know, a team goes out, doesn't score any runs. I mean Jacob DeGrom was the king of that. My my favorite M was gr grossly affected by that. Sure. Um But the idea is to win games and how successful is the team when they're on the mound? You want to do uh any you want to do ace level stuff like um complete games? No, not complete record after loss or something like that, like um stuff that you look off from your aces to pitch well after a a uh uh a los s. That's interesting. Yeah, because I remember last year Max Fried was amazing at that, right? Amazing after every Yankee loss, he would just dominate. You know what? I'm I I want to give to the community because there's a lot of old school fans out there that want wins to still matter. So I'll meet you in the middle or I'll meet them in the middle by going the team's record. So the amount of times the team won when that guy made the start. I think that's a nice middle ground. Five categories will make it best of five. And whoever wins the best of here, obviously wins. We have to win three Noah McLean. Win three categories that we the winner wins the bet. Absolutely. Because that's going to be fun. I think this has a chance, you know, who knows what's going to happen with health. Obviously, we want these guys to be healthy, but Cam Schlitter versus Nolan McLean has a chance to be like this fun rivalry for a long time. Homwnegro guys, they're young, the big strikeout guys. Obviously, Schlittler's already had this incredible postseason moment that's tough to match. I mean, I think it's funny when McLean uh when Schlittler did that, it bothered me not not for him, for the Yankees, but because that's part of why I wanted the Mets in the playoffs so bad, just to give McClain the chance. Like, how would he do against the Dodgers? Even if we lose the series, could he give us that just filthy dominant start. And we never got it. And I'm sorry, the WBC doesn't do it for me. Like I can't look at those starts and say, no, he sucked, screw him or great, amazing. Like it ain't the same. But when you sure we can't start that because we can we can't start those games because he's already over two. He's 0-2 in World Baseball Classic. They lost both. They lost both. That start was good, man. Nah, we all know it was judges. We all know it was judges' fault. Um It was. Yeah. It was. Clearly was. Clearly was. Um I'm glad you accept that. I appreciate it. Well, certainly more than McLean. I'll give you that. Um but yeah, no, I'm into that. That's fine. I think it is gonna be exciting. Those two pitchers really. I mean, look, I think if we're being honest, McLean's eight starts were probably more impressive than eight any eight starts. If I maybe I'm wrong here, but I I think he was better in his eight starts than Cam Schlitler probably was in any eight starts. But he had the moment. He had the moment. He had the moment. And I think you're I think that's significant. I think it speaks to the kind of pitcheries, the kind of confidence he has. And he also wasn't a top level prospect. You know, McLean was a I know I don't know if he was like a he was their top level pitching prospect for a little bit. Actually no, right? Tong even now. Big Mac. Right now, because he's still a rookie, he is on the prospect rankings as I think a top five prospect. So yeah, I think look, I think you you explained it very well. Nolan McClane was better in his eight starts. Schlitler had an undeniable baseball postseason moment. And McClain is just highly regarded. Now as a de Gromstan, highly regarded don't mean a damn thing. Like I'll be the first one to tell you who cares how highly regarded you are de Grom was barely a prospect so it doesn't Schlitzer won't be better. No absolutely and that's what I like about I like about I like that about Schlitzer that he wasn't this top-level prospect. I mean, he's worked his way up uh to be this guy. He's developed, he's gotten better. He's added, he's added a lot of uh miles per hour to his fastball, and he's he's worked himself into this. He didn't he wasn't drafted as a high prospect, he wasn't thought of as a high spot prospect this time last year, really. He was making noise in spring training. It was the first time we ever heard of him. So um I actually like that he's not a top-level prospect, that he he's done this on his own. And this isn't uh, you know, from the minute they met him. He's worked at this. So I like that. Uh a couple of fun ones, and then we'll get into what we should do with Aaron Judge versus Juan Soto. How about this one? Higher OPS, Francisco Alvarez versus Austin Wells, the two starting catchers of the New York Times. What do you think of that? Tyler Reddick here from 2311 Racing and Bubba Wallace. You know what's the worst part of a race? A rain delay. Sitting around waiting for the track to dry is dull. But instead of waiting, we hang out with Chumba Casino. Social Casino slots, bingo, solitaire, plenty of fun to keep us entertained. So why let a rain delay slow you down? Play now at chumba Casino.com. Let's Chumba. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. PGW report and prohibited by law. 21 plus terms and conditions app ly. Tyler Reddick here from 2311 Racing. And Bubba Wallace. You know what's the worst part of a race? A rain delay. Sitting around, waiting for the track to dry is dull. But instead of waiting, we hang out with Chumpa Casino. Social casino slots, bingo, solitaire, plenty of fun to keep us entertained. So why let a rain delay slow you down? Play now at chumba casino.com. Let's chumba. Sponsored by chumba casino. No purchase necessary. PGWP4 prohibited by law 21 plus terms and conditions app ly. March matchups are here. And now you can trade the tournament in all 50 states on Calci. Duke is currently trading at 19% to win it all. That means a hundred dollar trade pays out 498 if they win the title. Arizona and Michigan are trading at 21% to cut down the nets. On CalShi, you're trading against peers in a live market. As the odds move, you can buy in and out of your position all tournament long. Download the KalShi app and use code FAN to get $10 when you trade 10. K-A-L-S-H-I. KalShi. Trade on anyt hing Um I don't know. U h I th they're similar in ways. I think, you know, I think if both of them play up to their potential, Alvarez is probably the better player if they both do as well as they could possibly do. But um I mean Wells just had a good WBC. I know we don't care about it, but he was the best catcher, or at least voted the best catcher in the WBC. Uh he had a really good rookie season last year. He was just bad. So like I I don't know. Both guys have been really disappointing. I mean if you want to do it, I'll do it, but now I don't I don't feel that confident in in Austin Wells right now. No, I guess they're carrying three catchers for a reason. Um, and I really if Paul Goldschmidt does anything at any point? Like I think you're gonna see a lot of rice catching. Both both guys could lose jobs. You laid out the Yankee scenario, which is well said. And I think the Met scenario is Terenz is really good defensively. He was uh as Hoff has given me crap for we did grades for every Met player when the season was over and I gave out two A's Nolan McClain and Luis Terenz because he was so good defensively. So there's a scenario with Alvarez being hurt, which has been one of his biggest problems. And then he just doesn't produce where Torrenz is the catcher. So I agree. I wouldn't I wouldn't take that one. This is a funny one by Geor ge. Pitchers used by the Mets versus Aaron Judge home runs. The Mets used forty-six different pitchers last year. That's funny. Um that's funny. What's an average? Do you know what the league average was? Less than that. Less than that. How much less than that? Yeah. I knock on wood when I say this, but the Mets have gotten through spring training, at least so far, remarkably healthy when it comes to the rotation. It's almost stunning. Like I sat here a month ago on the Rico saying this six-man rotation thing is not a worry because someone's gonna get hurt. In fact, I predicted two guys would get hurt, like Tobias Myers will be in the rotation, and the fact that they have escaped spring training for now, because they do have an inter squad game they'll play for a couple of days, that they're healthy is amazing. So I guess it's possible, and this is where it's a weird bet I wouldn't take. The Mets could have a healthy year because they didn't last year. And you know the way baseball works. You know, sometimes it goes from one extreme to the other. Um, this is a good one. More games started. Sean Maniah versus Ryan Weath ers. That is a good one. Um trying to think of Brian Weathers, uh, I think is gonna end up in the bullpen at the end of the year. Minai's already in the bullpen. In the already in the bullpen. Weathers his stuff has been undeniable, but uh he has not he has gotten hit. He's gotten hit in the preseason uh in spring training. I don't know how we necessarily put that, but the the velocity is up. He's the velocity looks good. His movement looks good. His sliders look good, but he has gotten hit. Not as bad as Luis Heel. He is in the rotation. He is making a start. He's one of the four uh to start this four-man rotation for the Yankees. Um, but I can't imagine if Rodon, once Rodan and Cole come back, like I I don't know. His innings have been so down because of injuries. And I gotta be honest with you, I'm I'm kind of bullish on Warren. I I I I think I think he's had a great spring. He made like 31 starts last year. Uh his stuff has ticked up a little bit and he's just steady. If you take out if he could just figure out how to not get to not have those blow-up starts, like he had three or four blow-up starts. Like and it seemed like every time it was a moment like pitching well, here come the Dodgers, what can you do? Lit up. Like a big moment. Here we go. Here comes the Blue Jays. What can you do? Lit up. Like outside of a couple of starts where he was absolutely annihilated and couldn't get it out of the first couple of innings. He was really steady. And I I think if if guys start coming out of the bullpen, weather's injury history, lack of innings, and his ability to be a left-handed reliever, which the Yankees really don't have outside of Tim Hill. I I I think that you could see him in the bullpen by the July when maybe some other guys like LeBron Hey and some other guys come up to go into that bullpen and fill out that bullpen for the Yankees. So I I don't know. I don't um I I think m we'll see what Manai is, but I don't I don't know how many starts Weathers gets. Yeah. No, I I I kind of agree. I think that he's destined, especially like you said, if the Yankees are healthy to go to the bullpen. I was thinking of Le Gran He and getting him involved in a who makes more starts, because I think Le Granier has obviously has a big chance to make an impact out of the bullpen. Le Granier starts versus Jonathan starts, which I don't think I have as big of an edge as maybe you would have thought because Tonk pitched last year. I think they're hoping he pitches in AAA this year and doesn't actually have to come to the majors. Christian Scott's probably ahead of him at this point. Obviously, Tobias Myers is, Shalmanya is like there's a lot of guys ahead of him. Yeah. So how about Le Granier versus Pang in starts made? Um again, I I don't want to make that bet because I don't think I don't think they have any I would be surprised if Le Grande makes starts. I would. I think I think Le Grange is going to get it to an innings limit in the minors where they feel comfortable giving him the rest of the season in the bullpen, where he would have enough innings built up to feel good about him starting a full season next year. And I like something would have to go wrong. But I mean, things go wrong all the time. So I don't know. Unless if he's dominating and guys get pushed back or, someone fails, maybe, but I really think they envision him. Like is the bullpen's a weak spot. I think they like their depth at the rotation. And I think they could let him let him like let it loose at 103 in the back end of the bullpen where right now I I I don't know where the answers are. So I mean I'll do it if you want because like I I don't think I don't see Tong making many starts either but yeah um I I I don't think the Yankees have it in there. I he's a bullpen guy. All right, how about speaking of bullpen this year? Speaking of bullpen's and uh I am unsure of Devin Williams. How can I not be? I think there's some bias involved. You know, obviously watching the Yankees a lot, even though it was bad luck. Uh, we all know what Pete Pete Alonso did to him two years ago. It's an iconic moment of med history. Devin Williams saves versus David Bednar saves. Would you make that? I it feels like that's an easy one for the Yankee fan. How do I say no to it? How do I say no to it? I think Debbie Williams. Can I say yeah, you say no to it? Okay, please. Uh we are all biased to what we've seen in front of us. Which we all are, and I cannot deny it. David Bednar is two years removed from being sent to the minor leaks. Like it is not that long ago where Bednar was so bad, he was a minor league pitcher. Now he was great last season. I mean, there's no denying what he did, but we are like, I mean, two years is probably it's a year and a half from when he was in the minor league. So the blow-up factor of Bednar is a lot higher than I think Yankee fans want to realize because they didn't experience it, which I get it's it's like we don't realize how good Devin Williams was, right? We don't accept it because he was mediocre with the Yankees and Pete Alonso broke him. We do not accept that for a four-year period, he was as good as anybody in major league baseball as a closer because of what our eyes have told us. So based on their histories, I have to take this bet and you're clearly bullish so go ahead let's do it. Yeah I'll take I'll yeah listen I'll take it. There's yeah I mean listen bednar that two years ago with Pittsburgh definitely had his his struggles and went down to the minors, but what he did last year, uh, even just you know, again, I don't want to reference a WBC, but he uh he he got into two gems and got out of them. I think his mental toughness, and I just think uh, you know , I mean, I I hear you, I think Devin Williams will be fine this year. I do. I think he'll be fine this year. I think he'll be but I I still think you have to worry a little bit. If he was going back to Milwaukee, if he was going to Pittsburgh, if he was going to uh you know, Minnesota, if he was going somewhere like that, I would feel a lot better about Devin Williams. He it felt like a pressure thing. It did. It felt like part of it joining a new team, part of it the beard thing. I think that's probably overblown, but it was something at the beginning of the year. Um, I think the pressure of closing for the Yankees got to him. He got better moving out of the closer role and he was better down the stretch. And I think he'll be better than he was with the Yankees last year. But um I would right now I feel a hell of a lot more confident in Ben Nar taking saves in big pressure situations. And here's the other thing, and I I'm not trying to be a bad guy. Go ahead. It it better happen for him. Devin Williams better not struggle early. Because I think he's the number one he is the number one target of the fans ire if he struggles early. One just the nature of hundred percent closure closure struggling means you lose. Like that's what it means like when a closer struggles, you lost the game. That's why, like, you know, and uh, you know, um Luis Robert Jr. struggles, the lineup might pick him up. The fans will get pissed, but closers lose games when they struggle. And yeah, I the way I can the way last year started, and just the idea of that momentum building, if he gets off to a rough start, I think it's gonna be tough for him to overcome. So I'll I'll take his and plus some bullish on Bednar. So I'll do it. As you should be. He is the candidate. He's the only candidate to get booed on opening day. Like if he struggles. Like no one else would. Like Corhe Balanco goes over four. He won't get booed. There's only one shette, same thing. If Devin's the nature of his position as much as anything. No doubt. No doubt. Devin Williams got booed on opening day as a Yankee when he put guys on base. So I know. No, I said this to your boy. I said it to Boone when I uh did my chat with him in spring training. I said, look, I think he has more pressure as the closer for the Mets than he did as the closer of the Yankees. And the reason I say that is because of Edwin Diaz. Like Edwin Diaz will go down, even if we don't want to admit it right now, because we're upset he's gone, as maybe the best closer in the history of the franchise. When you put him up against , let me take that back because I know Jesse Orozco, Tug McGraw, I'm gonna rephrase that. The best closer in the last 35 years, in the John Franco, Armando Benitez, Billy Wagner, J-Ris Familia era, my era, right? The last 35 years of Met Baseball. Yeah, he's up there. Like he was that good. I'm not saying he was perfect. He's not Mariano. I get that, but he was damn good. And I think that replacing that is tough. And Devin's going to be a part of that. And that's where he faces a lot of pressure. You mentioned this earlier, or did you? I don't know if you mentioned this. Do you wanna do a fun ABS bet uh Yankees? Yeah, I mean we're gonna see it for the first time. Yeah, let's see who's got better uh winning uh percentage on the uh AB S. And then I had uh a fun one about how uh interesting on both teams. I was wondering if you wanted to do uh most errors at first base. You got Ben Rice over there for the Yankees. And we'll see how much he's not good. He's not good. No, I'm I'm uh this is complete self-deprecation as well. He's not he's I'm I'm having fun with with first base defensively. Uh errors by a first baseman. So I thought that would be a fun one because I agree with you. I mean, listen, I want Ben Rice to get the at bats. Like this is how, and this is like I think it's gonna be fun for Yankee fans because Yankee fans think that the Yankees don't believe in hot. The Yankees don't believe we've had this discussion famously, like you know, uh with Boone and Dominguez. He sat Dominguez after two hits. Right. So the Yankee fan right now is very nervous when Paul Goldschmidt signed that they're going to take away the bats from Ben Rice. Ben Rice needs to hit. Ben Rice needs to get his 500 bats. This is nonsense. They better not take hits away from Ben Rice. And I just wonder if Ben Rice struggles in the field, is going through a tough week and Paul Goldschmidt's hitting 350 for the last week. Yeah Yankee fans are going to be torn on what to do because they're going to they they're inherently going to say you g playotta the play the right hot hand, but also we're trying to find out who Ben Rice is and expect him to be that the honesty, I think like Ben Rice should be the second best player on the Yankees this year. Yeah, that's the expectation. Is he's the second best offensive player on the team this year. Yeah. So like I I think it's going to be interesting, and I'm glad I well, I'm saving stuff for the podcast now, but I'm glad that they did bring up the third catcher. I don't think they need a backup shortstop that badly for the beginning of the season. And I just don't like the idea of Ben Rice being the backup catcher. I know he's going to catch a little bit, but like he needs to be working on first base, figuring out a swing. And I know he can catch, and I know he's a better catcher than a first baseman, but I I don't need that extra added element of him being li lim without question catching once or catching once or twice a week. I didn't like that. He'll end up he'll end up getting at bats at DH. Like in struggles defensively because Stanton, as we talked about, will sit normally, and then obviously if there's an IL stance. So I think that he may end up getting a lot of D H at bats like he did last year. Um we have six bets so far, so clearly the seventh one needs to be Soto versus Judge. Which you won last year. I think we made it on base percent. It's just strictly on base. What stat would you or do you want to do a series of basically look at you? You're like, I'll tak ae pick stat a. Pick a stat. I mean, this is like you know, I don't care. And pick ones that the fan base would be surprised. Pick batting average with two strikes. Pick late and close. Pick clutch. Pick whatever you want. All right. I'm gonna pick. I think much like do it. Do it. Much like McLean versus Schlitler, I think there needs to be a series of stats in fairness. So one stat I would love to take is simply walks. Walks. Both have great eyes. Uh one soto versus Aaron Judge and Walks. Let me give you a total from last year just so we have uh perspective. Uh Juan Soto last seas on ended up walking a grand total of 127 times, which led the national league. Okay. Aaron Judge last season ended up walking a grand total of 124 times. The American league. So they both led their leagues and it was close. So three walks, ye ah. I I would gladly take that stat. That's number one. We could do walks. That's easy. And I like that too because the loser gets to say, well, that's because the uh the lineup behind them sucked. So that's uh I agree. That's why we that's a fun one. The other stat I'd love to to grab as I try to give myself a chance to win this against the best offensive player in baseball. As much as I love Soto, it ain't him. It's Judge. Stolen bases. Mm-hmm. You know, do we believe Juan Soto stealing 40 again? Do we believe Aaron Judge is going to up the number? Do you have the balls to accept stolen bases as a stat, Big Mac? Um yeah, I will because there's no way he's beating them in three. So I'll give you um I'll give I'll give you one. Because I don't think he's gonna get 38 again, I'd be surprised. Um, unless he really is now um, you know, it's in his head he wants to be a 40-40 guy. Um, I I think the numbers will come down for Soto. I think last year he wanted to prove a point. I don't know what stolen bases really do for him. Um, so I think that'll come down, but I still think you'll probably, you know, run more than judge. But yeah, I'd be willing to take Stolen Bases. Sure. Throw it in there. I told you pick any. So I I was such an I was such a snob about pick anything. So I might as well I can't back off now. Stolen base. I look, I'm gonna give you some that you should feel very good about. I gladly will take home runs. I mean obviously. I think we have to throw it in there. Of course. And sort of hits forty what he had, forty-three last year, so it's not like you know Exactly. He was not that far off. And it hasn't been the case in a while. So I'm not saying that this is something you should worry about, but there was a time in Naron Judge's career where he wasn't healthy all the time. And that could obviously hurt him if he misses any period of time. I also think we have to take OPS. It's the the a really good stat determining the better offensive player. So these are clearly two stats in the lane of Aaron Judge. So we got four. We got walks, stolen basis, home runs, and OPS. And the tiebreaker runs scored. They both get on base a lot. It's obviously heavily reliant on the roster around them. They're both probably gonna hit second. So it's not as much as I've argued for Soto leading off, it's clearly not gonna happen. So I would say the fifth stat would be runs scored. Are you good with those five or anything you want to change? It's a run scoring competition. So yes, I'm I'm good with that. All right, so I think we have our bets. A best of seven. Best of seven. Best of seven. Here are the seven ste ps. With multiple series in that. Yeah, okay. Yeah. There's multiple series. There's a lot. We got a lot. We've been talking for fifty minutes. We got a lot. I got good news. I'll keep track of this. All right, and I'll give you updates throughout the season. So here are your seven bets, and we advise Meton Yankee fans, obviously, friendly wagers, where you can play at home. Here are the seven categories. As brought to us by Louis Rubenson, thank you very much. Anthony Volpe versus Brett Beatty in war. Luis Robert Jr. home runs versus Aaron Judge stolen bases. Giancarlo Stanton home runs versus the combination of home runs from Brett Beatty and Carson Benge. A best of five between Nolan McLean and Camp Schlitler. Innings pitch, strikeouts, ERA whip and victories by the team when they started. David Bednar versus Devin Williams and saves the ABS winning percentage. And then finally a best of five between Aaron Judge and Ju. Love it. I wish you the best of luck, not only on these categories, but of course the go get 'em podcast where you can download wherever you download your podcasts. I appreciate it, Evan. These are always fun. And good luck to you and your Mets. Baseball season is upon us. We are all better off for it. I cannot wait. We need it back, baby. Amen. Thank you very much for joining us, Big Mac Christmas Chronicle. I will let him now go, and we've got some met things to address from the final day of spring training baseball. Number one, Carson Ben ch. I don't know what game Mendoza and Stearns is playing right now because he's won the right field job. And that is even before Mike Tockman had this major injury, which is going to keep him out for months and months on the other Rico Brown, episode 652, I did not positively predict he'd be okay. I said he will start on the IL, but I also didn't think it would be a meniscus tear. I didn't either. So obviously, horrible news for Mike Tockman. I feel bad for him. He was going to make this team. He should have made this team. But in my opinion, he was going to make the team as a fourth outfielder, as a fifth outfi elder. What the Mets are doing at the close of spring training by not officially announcing Carson Bench, it's weird. I don't know if it's about the kid and not letting it go to his head. I don't know if it's that they're waiting to make a trade, which I can't imagine. They're trying to make a trade for a starting right fielder when they've got this top prospect who earn the job in spring training. It doesn't make sense. And if somehow the Mets don't have Benjamin the team. And I think they will. I'd be stunned. I mean, we will do an emergency Rico if it's announced Carson Bench is starting the year in AAA. I'd be stunned by that. The Mets would have a lot of explaining to do. It wouldn't just be, hey, I disagree with the decision. It would be, why did you sit here for months and months and tell us this he has a real chance at the j ob? Like it would make no sense. So preemptively, I tell everybody, he's going to be the right fielder. He he just is. I I can't see a world in which he isn't. You know, because they need Brett Beatty to be the right fielder and Mark Vientos to DH every day. I it it would make no sense. So it's odd, and maybe we will get a firmer explanation on it the coming days on why they've been coy on just announcing Benge as the everyday right fielder or as a guy who's made the major league team, but they haven't done that. That's step number one. More on that over the next few days as Mendy speaks and information comes out. Number two, genuinely surprised about Craig Kim brell. I thought, considering the options, which are not great when you look at Hudson and Love Lady, that Kimbrell was the guy. Now my hope is, since Craig Kimbrell is flirting with the idea of sticking around and going to the minor leagues and he really believes it here and he wants to prove it and eventually gets up here, which is great if that's the case, if he actually sticks around, I hope the answer is not on the team. Like, one of the things they talked about was: well, we want a guy who could throw 35 pitches. Want a guy who could be extended. Why ? You've got two really three guys in your bullpen. Four guys in your bullpen. Actually, most of your bullpen features guys who can go multiple innings. All right, let's take Brooks Rayleigh, put him to the side, and Devin Williams. Those two guys, yep, they're not going multiple innings. Fine, I agree with you. Even if you want to say Luis Garcia not going multiple innings, okay, you got three guys. Luke Weaver can go multiple innings. He's done it before. Huascar Brazaban did it a lot last year, and he did it in the WBC. Tobias Myers is a starter. Seanaiah is a star ter. So four of your guys in your bullpen are not just multiple inning guys, but two of them can go three or four innings and both have been stretched out to be starting pitchers. So the idea of, well, we prefer Love Lady or a Hudson over Kimbrell because he goes deeper and goes 35. Is that really necessary? Especially for guys who are not that good. So So I hope it's someone from outside the organization, not Drew Smith, because that would cause you Hoffman to be very upset if they brought him back. But Andrew Chain has been, as we've talked about, the white wh ale, like a guy they've had interest in for many years and he's never come here. But I look at Andrew Chaffin, and unfortunately, he doesn't go multiple innings either, if that's really what they're looking for. If you go back to 2025, he had three appearances in which he got four outs. But if you look at pitch count, because they were talking about a guy who could throw 30 pitches, he only threw 30 pitches in one game last year. So if you take the Mets at their word, Chaffin's not going to make sense . But Dickie Lovelady and Brian Hud son. No grassias. As far as the last roster spot, uh, I am more intrigued by Pashe than I am Brujan and Young. Not that Pashe is your ideal speedster off the bench, but if you look at his sprint speed, if you look at that, he he is a faster base runner than both of those guys. And what I would like with that last roster spot probably is speed more than anything else. And is it really offense? I don't think that guy's gonna play a lot, especially if we assume Benjamin on the team, which I am assuming. So I kind of value speed a little bit more as that final bench spot. But the Mets have a couple of days. They can look at the outside world. Guys are being released. Guys are not making rosters. And it certainly creates opportunities for the Mets to bring in other guys to fill out this 26-man roster as we get to Thursday and we finally begin this season. But the bench stuff, it's strange. Now, as far as the rest of spring training, I was reading this from Max Goodman, who covers the Mets for NJ.com. The plan for Monday is an inter squad game where Nolan McLean and Shaw Maniah is each gonna start, and both of them are gonna go 75 to 80 pitches. You know, the rats expect most of the Mets regulars to participate. Position players will get a couple of at-bats, some relievers will throw as well, since they won't pitch in a game until Thursday. It is kind of odd that spring training add ed or spring training ended for the Mets this early when it comes to g ames. Because you're you're talking about three days of just nothing. So you figured maybe there would be one day, you know, of games, maybe on Monday, taking off day Tuesday, Wednesday, begin the season on Thursday. But that's where things are at. The other notes, news and notes, NJ Melendez, a guy we talked about earlier on. I know Hoff was a big fan of him making the team. He is beginning the year at triple A according to Mendoza. They want him getting consistent at bats. And the other thing Mendy said was Benj looks like a big leag uer. And then talked about how great his at bats have been, his ability to make adjustments and his engagement on defen se. It again does not sound like somebody that's not going to make the team. Doesn't sound it at all. So I think we'll get the official news, whether it's on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, that Carson Bench is going to be the opening day right fielder. As we mentioned, Rico's every day until opening day. Uh Hoff and I will give you our in-depth MLB predictions. That's coming up this week. We'll do an extensive Met prediction and preview pod with Sal Lakata of SNY, of course, longtime at WFN as well. We'll talk to Sal in a couple of days. And obviously, once the decisions are final with this roster, we'll give you our reaction. We appreciate you hanging out with us on the Rico Brunia. Uh, we are going to start the Rico Fantasy League. That is on Monday. I've been going back and forth on if we should have the draft live on the Rico. I I've ultimately decided not to because I think ultimately I don't know how interesting it is. So for those that are interested, we did have that random lottery and we have 14 people in the Rico Fantasy League.