Urgent Need for Mets Roster Changes

It's the Mike Francesa Podcast on the Bet Rivers Network. Hello again, everybody, and welcome to the Mike Francesa Podcast, part of the Bet Rivers Network. We come to you on Mother's Day, and first and foremost, a uh very, very uh happy Mother's Day to all the ladies out there, whatever role you play in life, uh uh from grandmother to mother to aunt to whatever it may be, to teacher to all the way down the line. But those of you fortunate enough to still have your mother with you, cherish that. If not, then just remember the fond memories and all the amazing things that uh she sacrificed for you and uh also to our uh wives uh obviously to uh my wife Ro who just uh every time I get hurt and I've been hurt enough uh takes care of me and takes care of the house and takes care of everything for her the three kids and for me and for everybody. So he's you know, does the work of ten people but uh uh can't even slow it down on Mother's Day, but hey, that's the way it is. So uh a happy Mother's Day and uh obviously we uh cherish all the ladies out there. Now um today's game and I I didn't you know you never know in game fours that are three love, especially when the visiting team is three love. You don't know if they're gonna mail it in and go back and play a game five for a little coronation . Uh if game if the other team has got any life in it uh obviously the Knicks with uh OG hurt, you know you knew he wasn't gonna see the court. Um he wouldn't have seen the court in this series again until maybe a game seven, which was never gonna happen. Uh but this game was just a continu ed uh obliteration by the Knicks as they continue to just manhandle uh the Sixers and I drew a line under the game at game over at 8 26 in the second quarter . 59-3 2, 59 points in 15 minutes , 14 and 19 from three, which is utterly ridiculo us . Um, one turnover . The Sixers had made two threes . Uh McBride was five for five for fifteen points, playing starting in uh OG stead. Brunson was eleven points, three for four from three. Towns already had eight assists . He has had six or more assists in, I believe, eightight stra games. Uh eight points, two for two from three and eight assists. Hart had eight points. Shaman already had nine points, three for five from three. Fourteen of nineteen from 3, 59 points in 15 minutes. The game was complet ely over, and in the huddle, Nurse said to the Sixers, play harder . Play harder . Try to play harder. When your team when he's appealing to his team to play harder . The Knicks have since the early disasters against Atlanta, the Knicks have gone on a run , the likes of which they have never exemplified before as a team . They have started to make complete believers out of the NBA that not only will they make the finals, but that they can win the finals . Now , am I a complete believer in that yet? No, I'm not. I don't think anybody's beating OKC. But again, I will have to say this, OKC's gonna have to bring their game. They're not gonna be able to fool around like they can against the Lakers. The Knicks are playing at such a confident pitch now, not just on offense, but they are playing superbly on defense. They are attacking. They are harassing, they are playing with a spirit and a continu ity that you're even seeing stuff out of towns that you haven't seen before. You've got a rejuvenated bridges on both ends of the floor . Guys off the bench know they have purpose and they bring energy and they bring daring and they bring an attack mode to this to the game . Now the Knicks are gonna get some time off here . There's no question about it. Um I think that series I think Cleveland which like I said you can never figure Clevel yesterday's game's a perfect example. I thought Cleveland would win . And I watched them blow lead after lead after le ad for no good reason. And then make the plays, obviously, the two guards made the plays at the end of the game that they had to make . But But it should not have been that difficult . And everything for them is pulling teeth . They seem to have no desire . They have talent. No one can dispute their talent. And you know, I've always detested Harden . I like their coach a lot. I've known him, like I said, since he was a high school player and a very good one . But they're very hard to figure. Now I think they're going to tie the series up, and I think this series is going to go seven. I think Detroit's gonna want the series more and they have the best player on the floor in Cunningham who is a really rugged tough player and And you keep waiting for Tobias Harris to become Tobias Harris again, but he hasn't, and he has played terrific basketball and has assumed that secondary role on that team, game after game after game, delivering 20 points every single night . But the Knicks are going to get some time off. OJ's going to get a chance to heal. We still don't know the status of what that hamstring really is, and they're not going to tell us. Let's all figure he'll be back whenever the Eastern Conference Finals. I know that sounds very good. You can say it again. Eastern Conference Finals begins . Nixon most likely gonna get a week off you . I think that series I'll be Cleveland's gonna win again . I think they'll win . I think this series will probably go seven games. So the Knicks are gonna get some time off and they deserve to be favor ed . Home court, no home court. They deserve to be favored against either team in the finals . If you look right now at the latest odds to win the championship , the OKC is minus two hundred to win the champ ionship . San Antonio's uh four hundred, four to one to win it, and the Knicks is six and a half to one to win it . They are giving the Knicks the realistic chance to win the championship . Like I said , do not anyone who takes OKC s lightly is just not paying attention to what they are . You don't even know where they're where their bottom is because they rarely have to go there . Rarely do they ever get seriously tested ? To where you know when a basketball team, when a championship , when a and this is a legitimate champ, not only is it a championship team, it's probably a dynasty. Probably will be by top before it's finished a dynasty. And it's an odd one, I admit , but it's one where if you look at the pieces, you can see why it works . But you don't even have you don't even see them have to reach down . There are times where every team , no matter how good it is, has to reach down . I don't know where that is for them yet. Can San Can San Antonio push them to that ? We'll see . I think San Antonio's gonna win this series . Obviously. We know the Lakers series is just a question of when if it's you know you know and most likely we know when when one more game will be when. Um we know what's waiting at the final, but the first step is this. This is an enormous step for the Knicks. The expectations have now reached a crazy crazy pitch, and they will as this next round unfolds. This town's gonna go crazy over this next round This round turned out to be exceedingly easy. Since the turning point against Atlanta , a very different team . And I think anything short of a trip to the finals will be not only an utter and bitter disappointment , it would now be catastrophic, but I just don't see it happening. They're better than both those teams. Detroit is seriously flawed. It cannot score . Cleveland is just hard to figure out. And just don't come to play. And if they bring that lack of intensity, the Knicks will drive them right out of the building. I think we'll be next Detroit . They don't have enough firepower to beat the Knicks . I thought for a long time now this was going to be Nick's OKC. I think it is going to be Nick's OKC . I did not think this series would be this easy. I did not think we'd see the Knicks play some of the games they have played in recent days against both Atlanta and Philadelphia, which have been utterly mind-boggling. 80 point first halves . Overwhelming performances. Both ends of the floor . The Knicks make 12 threes for a game. They had 14 in the first 15 minutes tonight . Fourteen in the first fifte en minutes . Eight of them by McBride and Sham it , who normally wouldn't even be on the floor in those first 15 minutes . Eight threes from those two guys in the first fifteen minutes of play. What we are seeing now is special . Cherish it. This city, I've said this many times. We talk about who what team has the greatest command over the city. And what I've always said is when the Knicks are really good , they have a hold that no one else has because they have a hold over Manhattan because the Knicks are trendy. The Knicks are fashionable. Going to the Knicks game is a big deal. Being seen at the Knicks game is a big deal . Okay, go on Yankee game is not a big deal. Going to Giant game is not a big deal. If the Giants are in the Super Bowl, everyone shows up. We know that . Yankees win the World Series, that's a different story. The bottom line is when the Knicks get like this , they are they are A-listers in New York City. And no other team has that . They are the story . And they will be now in incredible intensity going forward until we see them win or lose in what I believe will be the NBA Finals . And I want to see them play the next series before I make any grand statements . And I also want to see how healthy Oklahoma City is. Do I think Oklahoma City will be waiting in the wings? I do. I don't think San Antonio will beat them . I don't . So So I haven't even given you because to me, like I said , I put a line under game over 5932, 59 in 15 minutes , fourteen threes out of nineteen, one turnover. Fifty nine thirty two in fifteen minutes. The fur at the end of the first half it was 81.5 4. I will now give you the final . The final was 1 4 4 . Now remember, they cleared the they all cleared the benches. The whole second half was garbage time . Okay . McBry was the an the next leading scorer . With twenty five points and and seven threes. The Knicks on the day made twenty five threes to eight for Philadelphia . Now Philly you know after the early run Geor ge Ubre it took off the rest of the day. I mean they they were gone. They didn't do anything. I mean they didn't they didn't even pla y. So obviously everyone played to the bottom of the bench. 144-14 , 81-54 at half, but the score to remember is 59 -3 2 in 15 minutes of play. Three minutes into the second quarter. 59-3 2. Utterly remarkable. Utterly remarkable. Now let's get to a little baseb all . Remember last year when the Yankees beat up on Milwaukee at home ? But the Yankees have always had tough times going back in Milwaukee going back in many years, as you know . Um they ran into a tough pitching staff this weekend, both in terms of obviously the game one starter, who was electric, and the bullpen , which was so impressive . Led by Espie . Um so the Yankees get swept in Milwaukee. Uh no big deal. They weren't gonna win all the games this year, folks. Okay. That's just the way it is. They weren't gonna win all the games. Uh maybe you thought they were. They weren't gonna win all the games. Okay, they were going to have some days where they lost, and obviously they've had a couple now in a row. Tampa Bay now leads the division. So if you want something, and that's an incredible statement, but you think look at take a look if you haven't at the way can't Tampa Bay has pitched this year . Look at the string of performances by their starting pitchers and by their pitchers. They've won eight out of ten, but their pitching numbers are insane . They are twenty six and thirteen. The Yankees are twenty six and fifteen. The Yankees get beat . They get shut out. They get struck out a lot. Spencer Jones , this was a tough weekend to start your career against the starting against the staff. But you know, he I saw him after the game and he made the right statement. He said, hey, I want to break in against this kind of pitchers. I want to see these kind of pitches so I can see where I am. And that's a good that's a good way to look at it. He went one for nine. He finally got a base hit today . Okay . He had five strikeouts. You know he's going to strike out a lot. He was facing some really nasty stuff over the three days. The Yankees struck out a lot. I think they struck out 39 times in the three games . Rice over 13 since his injury. Judge hit a 16th homer, another first inning homer, which obviously is his calling card. Rodan comes back, didn't have command, but what would you expect? He'll be fine. They go to the Orioles, then they go to the Mets . So the Yanks, they'll go to Baltimore and play well, they'll go to Baltimore and hit some home runs, and they'll get ready to go play the Mets next week. end And that's gonna be the storyline because the Mets are this Mets are gonna come home after today off another uh another lost series. They're gonna come home after they lose this game today and they're in the ninth inning now. They might still be it might be just gone final . I left after the eighth inning and came down uh two outs in the ninth . Uh let's have a couple of guys on base . Let me see who's up. It's two outs in the ninth and a couple guys on. Oh, it's over now. Okay. So they lose five one . They get four hits . All right . Soto and Bachet don't get any . Their catcher who is a journeyman gets two hits . The kid gets one hit. Vientos, who actually has hit a lot of balls that could have been home runs and hit a lot of balls on the screws. So vientos to me is not the problem right now. He at least can hit the ball hard. And he's a threat to hit the ball out of the ballpark. And as the weather gets better, I think he'll do that. So I'm I'm not talking about him, even though he's dreadful at first base . Um we know he's a DH . The soto batting leader has been a disaster . Uh the Mets limp home they score one run today . And how this owner and this baseball brain , who are in charge , can continue to put this kind of lineup on the field. Now remember, Soto is two for twenty-six. So if he's not gonna hit, we can all go home . Lindor's hurt and not coming back anytime soon. Polanco is the wrist is healed, but he's still walking around on a bad uh Achilles tendon, so who knows when he's gonna play. Bouchette 0 for 15. So you have Soto for two for 26 and Bouchette 1-2 in the lineup 0 for his last 15 and 2 for twenty-six. Are we serious here ? They can't score three runs in a game . And how would you expect anybody to buy a ticket to see this team play? Can they pitch ? Yes. Have they had guys pitch well at times this year? Yes. Has homes pitched well? Yes. Has the kid pitched well? For the most part? I've been a little disappointed in a couple things, but uh for the most part. Can they pitch? Yes . Do they have some guys who compete at a bullpen ? Yes , not great, but they're trying . Their defense for the most part hasn't been shoddy. It was bad today . The lineup they are putting forth day after day is Is so anem ic , so ill conceived that it borders on the insane . It is not yet the fifteenth of May . The New York Yankees are coming into your building next weekend . Do you have no pride as a franchise ? Are you going to offer your fans up nothing for this season? Are you n when when you have this embarrassment of riches that you have held over the city and held over the franchise . I'm not saying you haven't gone into your pocket, you have . But you have to now tell your architect, even if he is reluctant to do this and wants to stay with his plan and why he would want to do that at this point, I have no idea . Admit it was a disaster and You know, press the evac button . They have to bring a couple a couple I don't care if you're bringing up guys who look good in the miners. I don't care if you have to overpay to make a trade. You have to give this fan base a reason to come to the ballpark . It is not even May 15th. Are you going to turn with your payroll with a team that was picked third to get to the World Series this year, with that kind of forecast and the promises that you've laid out, are you going to cash the season in this early and put forth this absol utely putrid, anem ic , offensive product on your fan base ? You've got to give them a reason to come to the ballpark, or you are going to have nobody there as the Yankees storm through the regular seas on, head towards the postseason, and I don't know if they're going to win or not. Who knows? They can win. Maybe this will be their year . But But the bottom line is they will own this place lock, stock, and barrel . There will be nobody at City Field, nobody. The Yankees will be have a full house on a Thursday afternoon against a terrible team, and you will have nobody in the place. Archery practice. There'll be nobody there because you're giving the fans not any reason to go to the ballpark . Not for this product . Not for this garbage . Admit you made mistakes and go out and get some players. Is it going to be costly? Yes . Yes. But money hasn't been the issue. Are you going to just take this year and dismantle and become sellers and trade off Peralta to the Cubs in jo in June and say, Oh, we have a good farm system ? And watch your team go through this anemic trance of the season ? Are you gonna go out and get some players? Are you gonna give the fans a reason to hope and to dream and to believe that there's something can happen out of this season . You have the resources to do it. Some of the date that Piazza came to the stadium . I drove by that stadium that year on a Tuesday night . When I went home from the fan, which in that those days was an Astoria . I went and always went behind, you know, behind the city, you know, to take the cross island. I I I went behind the the stadium and the play they were playing the Cincinnati Reds . Twinight Doubleheader . I think it was Tuesday night, but it could have been Wednesday night . And And the place was complet ely empty . And I was like , this is sick . And after their reluctance , no no no no no's from Phillips and from the guys and from Will Pond until Doubleday put his foot down . The complete dismissals of one of the greatest moves they ever made as a franchise . They went and got Piazza. It drew 31,000 people the rest of the season . He pumped life into the entire building like it was a transfusion like it was a transfusion . This team is that sick. Now, I don't know Polanco's gonna play this year or not. And you don't either, because obviously you have no idea what's going on with them . We all have heard all the whispers that Lindor's calf muscle was a bad one and that he could be out over two months . I don't know if that's accurate or not, but he's obviously already been out a while and uh he's not anywhere near coming back . Bich ette is going through the worst kind of disaster here . Everything has gone wrong . He's trying to justify the money . He's in a terrible lineup and he's miserable. And now Soto has joined the fun after coming back and hitting the ball really great for like in tough weather and in bad days when the wind's blowing in and he hit rocket ships and hey, he hit the ball great. He could have had five home runs the first couple days he came back. But now he's in a slump . He's gonna come out of it. I I don't I'm not I'm not questioning whether Soto's gonna hit or not. That's gonna come. What I'm gonna th what I'm gonna say is: first of all, embetting leado ff is dumb. Secondly , the look on his face when he goes back to the dugout now scares me . It's almost like what am I doing here What I get myself into . And if those couple of guys who you paid for and who are legitimate big time stars are saying to themselves, what did I get myself into ? You're done . You're done. Because the rest of the lineup is a bunch of bums. I'm not counting Benji, you know what? Listen, he's uh he looks like a promising player. I'm not talking about the kid . And I think Vientos were hit, but he's gotta be a DH . He can't build . Sometimes when you own a team and you have all this money. Remember, Will Pond didn't have all that money. Doubleday had plenty. And well Doubleday put his foot down . And he did . And the Metzgot Piazza. It changed the face of the franch ise . He was right and they were wrong . They were scared. They didn't want to make the big move for an aging catcher and pay him all that money and have him fail. Well, he didn't fail. He came here and he was brilliant . He bra he breathed life. He breathes excitement. He breathed a A heart into the franchise that had none. And that's where they are now. They have none . They are a dead peace . And when you have a dead peace, and you had a dead peace before you went to the West Coast. And I'm not trying to pick on a manager, but it's a dead piece. And when you have a dead piece, you have to do something . You can't keep sending the dead body out there . I don't care if you won a couple of games against terrible teams. You were playing terrible teams . You've been play you can't go 500 against the worst teams in baseball. You just went through the softest part of the line of the season that you're ever gonna see. Now you're gonna see the tigers. Luckily, no school bowl. Now you're gonna see the Yankees . Before you know what the Braves are gonna be around the corner . They're gonna have no chance You can pound your chess . It's one of the richest guys in America . You made big promises here . And now you and your architect just run and hide . Can't run and hide in this town. The Knicks will give you cover for a couple of weeks because no one's gonna care about you. They'll care about the Yankee games. And if the Yankees come in and bop you around . You have no idea what it's gonna be like . The Yankees might just come in and beat the heck out of you if they're in the mood . Nick's are gonna give you some cover because everything's gonna be Knicks for the next couple of weeks . We know that . But I can't believe with the payroll that you have, with the promises and the promises that you have m ade , that you are gonna let this team die on the vine in the second week in May . Do something big . We'll see you later. Thanks for listening to the Mike Francesa podcast on the Bet Rivers Network.