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- [00:01]
Don Hahn
So good, so good, so good.
- [00:03]
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- [00:28]
Don Hahn
You know, maybe they can go pee on each other. That'd be great.
- [00:30]
Caller Moose
Han, there's a lot of women out there that want you.
- [00:33]
Rosenberg
Ally and Rosenberg.
- [00:35]
Don Hahn
Give me the porn. For God's sake. This isn't North Dakota. This is New York.
- [00:39]
Rosenberg
This is Don, Han and Rosenberg.
- [00:43]
Caller Rich
The best threesome I've ever heard on
- [00:45]
Rosenberg
ESPN New York and streaming live on YouTube.
- [00:48]
Don Hahn
3 o' clock in the big city. Don Hahn and Rosenberg on a Monday. Hopefully everybody had a fantastic weekend. I'm flying solo today till 6:30 and then it's the Mets and the Braves over at Citi Field. Weather pending. Got some thunderstorms rolling in, but I think they're going to get this game in. But I get a chance to kind of flex it a little bit all by myself for three and a half hours, but not really. I've got Jacob manning the controls, I've got Anthony Pusick producing this fine program. And I have you to participate at 1-800-919-3776. Lots to get into. He got this Kyle Shanahan story. Gets into a car accident. Banged up pretty bad. He's okay. But when in this world do you see a story just be sat on for a dozen days? Usually TMZ has it five minutes after it happens. What's going out there in the Bay Area, they're able to sit on that kind of a story. And why exactly did they sit on it? Just got into a car accident. It's not that big of a deal. Apparently nobody was drunk, nobody was killed. But what's going on there? We'll get into that. We'll get into some football. Gonna talk to Bob with shoesin a little bit later on. We haven't had a chance to talk to him at all and get his expectations for the upcoming jet season. I already told you about you kind of pulling in both directions. You want them to lose so you get the quarterback, but you want them to win. To know that you have the head coach. Because there's only two things that you need. Well, not only two things, but the two biggest things you need to be successful in the NFL is a quarterback and a head Coach, they don't have the quarterback. We know that, you know Smith's not part of the future but do they have the coach? Some believe they do, some believe they don't. Some aren't sure. I was listening to the morning show with dpa Tron Rothenberg and Dave is convinced, absolutely convinced that Aaron Glenn is not the guy. So just lose out, get the quarterback and then with all the picks and with a top flight quarterback coming out of college that should be attractive enough to land a really good head coach. The way the Giants were able to land John Harbaugh because they've got, it looks like the quarterback in place and that that should be enough for them to be able to go out there and get the coach and it did in John Harbaugh. So that's what the jets are hoping to do. So we'll talk to about that. But I wanted to start with the Yankees. They had a really good weekend. They took two out of three from a good Philadelphia team in Philly. Still the feeling around the New York Yankees is well, they didn't hit well. The best offensive machine in the game is out. Then Bellinger gets hurt on Saturday and he gets put on the il. So it's not like Bellinger is really doing anything anyway but potentially can be a big gun for them offensively. But the one thing that I think the Yankees have going for them is they could flat out pitch now they lost the game yesterday, got ugly but Warren pitched, you know and they've lost some games recently, not this weekend because they won the game on Saturday with Weathers but it seems like when they have Weathers or Warren pitching and they're going to need some offense, they don't get it because they're just not a great offensive team. You're just listening to Michael K. Outside of Rice, I mean who's consistently hitting? Jazz has been clutch for them but again not hitting for much of an average. There really isn't any kind of power outside of Rice and Dominguez had a big home run over the weekend but they need to get Judge back and now Bellinger is going to be on the il for the next 10 days so hopefully it'll just be for those 10. But if it's any length of time they're going to be in trouble offensively. But the problem people and I'd love to be able to hear from you because I know a lot of you out there like scout all of the bad teams trying to figure out who the Yankees are going to trade for at 1 800-919-3776 but who are you training for? You know, I keep hearing everybody talk about the Yankees got to be all in, they got to go for. Go for who? You know, Langoliers was a guy, good catcher with the Sacramento Athletics, Vegas Athletics, Oakland, whatever you want to call him. But now he's hurt with a meniscus. Could be done for the year. You're not going to be trading for somebody that's got a bad knee. You heard Michael talking about Goodman is a good offensive player, but the Yankees like good defensive catchers and he's not a good defensive catcher, so they might not have any interest in him. It doesn't seem like there's anybody sexy out there to get and it doesn't feel like there's anybody healthy enough to go out there and get. But yet everybody wants them to be all in. All in for what? The only thing to be all in for is pitching. If you're sitting here and you can't hit and you go out and get another starting pitcher, I mean that's nice little insurance policy in case Rodin doesn't come back or Cole suffers a setback or freed because it doesn't come all the way back, it might, it'd be nice maybe to be able to get a starting pitcher. You hear Mason Miller closer? I mean, I don't know. Is San Diego out? I mean, they're, they're, they've got a lot of teams they've got to climb over. But are they going to be trading him away? I'm not sure he's available. I haven't heard that he's available. People are making that assumption because the Padres have had a really disappointing second half of the season. They're not winning the division and they've got so many teams between them and the last wild card spot that people assume that maybe he'd be available. But is that the Yankees problem? I know sometimes with Bednar it's a high wire act and it'd be a nice thing to have. But if your problem is hitting, getting more pitching, I guess it sounds nice, but you can't allow less than, than, than zero runs, right? Like we're not playing aggregate. When you get to the postseason where it's about outscoring the opponent overall in the series by winning games. And right now the Yankees look like they've got a starting rotation and a bullpen that should be able to hold teams down. Philadelphia is a really good offensive team and they were held down for those two games because they got great pitching performances in a, in a, in a bandbox of a ballpark and yet held Philadelphia to just two runs of the first two games of the series. And then it went sideways. You know why? Because, you know, you just didn't have everybody available in the bullpen and you didn't have a starting pitcher that is going to be pitching in the postseason. Warren is not starting a game in the postseason. In all likelihood, Weathers is not going to start a game in the postseason. In all likelihood, it's going to be Schlitler, it's going to be Cole, it's going to be Freed, it's going to be Rodin. And even if Rodin is somebody that you're not really that confident in, really, it's about three good starting pitchers, right? Once you get into the playoffs, it's really about just those three that are going to be able to get you and they seem to have enough when they lose, gain. I know Cole lost a couple of games recently because the offense didn't hit, but you're going to get judged back. There is no indication other than paranoia from Yankee fans that Judge isn't going to come back. The question is, will he be judged when he comes back? But he should be able to be back. It's disconcerting that Stanton hasn't played since April 24 and there's no timetable for him to come back. But the feeling is he should be ready for the postseason and that should be good enough. Based on his history, this injury to Bellinger doesn't look like it's long term. I am not going to sit here and tell you that the offense is okay. It's not. But is there anybody to go out and get that is going to make or break this season for the Yankees? So this all in. All in on who? 1-800-9193776 all in on oh, what offensive player is going to do it? And I talked about this last week when we had Jake Aspen on. You explained to me how Cashman is going to be all in when there's nobody really to be all in on. And he probably looks at the American League and says, I still think we're good. And I can't disagree with that sentiment. I know as a fan, a Yankee fan, Anthony Pusick is a perfect example of that. They're a dead stick. They're not going anywhere. But if you take a look at the odds, they've got the best odds to make it out of the American League better than the Rays, who are in first place, better than. Better than Seattle, better than Texas, who've been going back and forth for first place in the West. And believe me, you almost throw your bat and helmet and glove on the field and beat any of the teams coming out of the Central. That's been the case since the Midges. So Brian Cashman is going to look at the American League and go, we got this. Because there's the two schools of thought. If you got it and it's a weak American League, don't do anything. I don't have to mortgage the future. We're going to probably get to the World Series anyway. Or let's be all in and let's not even leave any doubt at all. Let's just stop the competition and just run right through everybody in the American League. Brian doesn't think that way. He's always thinking about the future. And if he thinks his team is good enough, he's not going to do anything for insurance. He'll make maintenance moves, but he's not going to be all in on just some player. He'll be all in on the player. But who is the player? Who is the guy that's going to put this team over the top? You know who it might be? It might be Lombard Jr. That might be the guy. You know, it's a lot to ask a kid, but maybe at some point he gets called up and he's the guy that is the turnaround. I remember that in 1988, again, I'm an old man when the Mets called up Greg Jeffries and he was the future and they called him up in 88 and he was a major part of that team, winning a hundred games and going to the League Championship Series. They didn't go to the World Series that year. They ended up having that awful loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Socia hit that home run off of good and all that. But sometimes calling up a kid can be what you need. And he's raking in the minor leagues. At some point he's going to have to get called up, right? I mean, you could sit there and wait and nurture and nurse a guy, but at some point he just deserves to be up there. If he's hitting in Triple A, there's nothing left to prove anymore. And maybe he can bring some offense, because let's face it, the left side of that infield isn't producing very much offensively. Yeah, you're going to get pretty decent D out of third and short, but you're not going to get much offense. Maybe he can supply that or at least be somebody that could be in a position to do it. Like you're not asking him to be the guy, but maybe you call him up and he ends up being the guy. Now, it doesn't seem like they have an appetite to do it. Last week we kind of got duped when he was out of a lineup in Triple A, but it turned out it was just he needed a rest. And he didn't get called up when Bellinger went down because they called up Jones again. But we got a long time between now and September 1st. The trade deadline is August 3rd, but at any moment during the month of August, as long as it's before September 1st, they can call up Lombard Jr. And be available for the postseason. Because the Yankees are going to the postseason. And even though they're three games back of the Rays, I still believe if I bet, even with all the issues that they have with their offense, I would still bet they're winning this division. But you're no longer in that one and done wild card situation. You want to avoid the wild card, but it's not like the one and dones from back in the day. If they had to go through the wild card, as weak as the American League is, nobody scares me because that's what it really comes down to, who scares you. So we'll see if they make a move. But. But here is my hot take to get the ball rolling here at 1-800-919-3776 and I know people are going to get into this conversation. If they make a move and don't go to the World Series, it'll look bad because they made a move, especially if they get judged back. If they don't make a move. It's a statement by Cashman. I think this team's good enough to go to the World Series, especially if they get judge back. So here's the easy statement to make. If they get judged back and when I say get judged back, they get judged back sometime around September. He gets a month to three weeks to get his bat back and he's fine. Come playoffs, this team has to go to the World Series, right? Has to. Whether they do something or not. A healthy judge in the postseason with this American League, you don't believe in the Rays, you don't believe in the Red Sox, who still granted, you go out there and boom, 15 straight games. That's not nothing. But they still have a lot of gap to make up. They're most likely not going to pass the Yankees or the Rays, they're most likely going to be the second or third wild card most likely to second. So they're going to have home field disadvantage in the postseason. Not saying they're not a threat, but they're not that big of a threat. Okay? So whether the Yankees make a move or not, you got to go to the World Series. So with that said, how can you, with a straight face, if you're the New York Yankee brass, not make the World Series and not make a change? Because you've set yourself up a weak ass American League, you should be able to get Judge back. Now, if Judge doesn't come back, all bets are off. Because I don't like to use injuries as an excuse. But losing Aaron Judge for almost half a season and not having him in the postseason or having him a shell of himself in the postseason, that's an issue that you can't ignore. And that's a pretty decent excuse. But come on, man, if you don't make a move, you're telling the world, listen, we're good. And then if you're not good, no one's held accountable. And if you do make a move of any kind of significance and you don't go to the World Series, how is no one held accountable for that? I'm always the defender of Cashman and Boone because they're always in it. They're always winning. They're always in a position to win a championship. They don't in recent vintage for Cashman, ever for Boone. But hey, they could be other the team in the American League. The Blue Jays go from game seven of the World Series to be in 10 games under.500 teams. Yo, yo, all over the place. Never the Yankees always above board, Always, always have their head above water. Always every year for a for generations. But how can you not go to the World Series and not hold somebody accountable, man? You fired Joe Girardi, essentially losing Game 7 of the league Championship series. You gave Torrey no rope after a series of mishaps in the postseason. And that was a guy that got you four championships in five years. I would be utterly convinced that if the Yankees miss out on the World Series this year and especially have an early exit and nobody's held accountable, then I think I will then believe that these jobs are absolutely for life. 1-800-9193776 what better place to start it all off than with Griffin in Connecticut? You're on ESPN New York. What's up, Griff?
- [16:44]
Caller Griffin
Hey, Don, how are you? I'm good. I Just maybe I'm someone who's always positive and you always hear me all the time. I'm always positive with the Yankees and I look at the negative. So maybe it's to me where I don't believe they need like everyone says, go all in, go all in. They need five guys, they need six hitters. I'm thinking myself. I don't think we do. I think we call up George Lombard like you talked about. You get maybe someone like Elaine Thomas or Joe Adele or Jorge Solaire that can play the outfield. And when you want to give judge a half, when takes to help, when you face lefties and stuff in the playoffs, you add that, then you have, you get a right handed in catcher, you get Judge back, you get Stanton back and you get Ballinger back. Plus this pitching is phenomenal. Like you said in Rodan is supposed to be back, Clark Schmidt is supposed to be back. So you can throw him into the bullpen and help. And you never know, they might acquire someone in the boat, they might require someone at this trade deadline and we think of that name and we go really? And the next thing you know, they do great. Because no way in the world did we think Brett Hendricks, Angel Shavihi or Paul Blackburn. We're gonna be big pieces for this team. And right now those three people were being talked about. When we talk about the Yankee bullpen. Never thought that you would throw those three in there as big pieces for this bullpen, how great they've been. So they always find this weird guy in the bullpen that you never know what they are so they could acquire that. It's just. I believe you have the pitching and if you just get just enough offense, you can go to the World Series. Because like you said, there's not a team in the American League that you are scared of. The, the. The AL west is so bad that these teams are so. The. The Mariners are below.500 and there are half a game I know for maybe winning that division.
- [18:57]
Don Hahn
That's what's so crazy that those teams aren't any good. I understand you want to be all in grif, but I do. As bad as the Yankees are offensively, they should still go to the American League championship game at least if not the World Series. The Rays have proven you nothing. The Red Sox needed a 15 game winning streak. They're still only the second wild card team. I don't believe in any of those teams in the Central Division and I certainly don't believe any of the teams in the West. Griffin's right. We may see a team under.500 win that division. Rangers aren't any good, Mariners aren't any good. It's a lot of bad baseball. So I don't think. Never mind what I think. I just don't think Cashman is going to look at this and go, I need to be all in and mortgage the future. I think we can make it anyway. And what they do at the deadline and we're a week away, so there's still a lot of baseball to be played before any major decisions have to be made. But if they don't make any moves, you got to figure they know Judge is going to be back. Scott Inanuette, you're on. Don Hannah, Rosenberg. What's up, man?
- [20:08]
Caller Griffin
What's up, o'?
- [20:10]
Caller Scott
Neill? Cruz would be on my radar. He still has lots of control.
- [20:15]
Don Hahn
Yeah, he's arbitration eligible next year. But, but here's the thing. Pittsburgh's only a game out of a wild card spot and they haven't done anything in forever, Scott. So can they be like Sellers? I'm a Pirate fan.
- [20:27]
Caller Scott
You don't have to tell me about that. But I've been a Pirate fan since Forbes field, so you don't have to tell me about that. Okay, but what I'm saying is the Pirates have been able to do stuff without Cruz, so why not get rid of Cruz and get something back for Cruz?
- [20:40]
Don Hahn
Well, you'd know better than me how they play without him. Now, I'm looking at his stats. I mean, okay, batting average, he's got 14 home runs. He certainly be better than what they've that they've had from an insurance policy compared to Dominguez who's been hurt and Jones who's been up and down in the minor leagues. But I just don't know when you've got a guy, a small market team. Scott, that's that.
- [21:05]
Caller Moose
All right.
- [21:05]
Don Hahn
Arbitration. He's still not a free agent until 29. You're only a game out. I mean, what would you want from the Yankees that can keep you in this race?
- [21:17]
Caller Scott
Well, I'm not sure, but obviously the Pirates need bullpen help, so, you know, would have to be something like that.
- [21:22]
Don Hahn
Yeah, but I just don't know if the Yankees are going to be parting ways with a bullpen that probably is looking for some insurance in the bullpen rather than dealing bullpen off because Cashman's going to look at it like I got options in the outfield. Bellinger is going to come back from his injury. I've got Jones, he's another audition here with Bellinger being out. I've got Dominguez that went healthy. He's supposed to be the Martian. I don't, I don't know if the Yankees will be selling off any bullpen to bring in an insurance policy for the outfield. Now Bellinger gets hurt. Different story. But again, if you're a Pirate fan, you probably watch a lot more Pirate baseball than I do. I only watch the Pirates when they're taking on the Mets, Giants or Yankees in my household. But for a team that hasn't done, you know, anything in a decade and a half, I don't think they're going to be throwing anything away when they're a game out of a wild card spot and a chance to go into the postseason for the first time in a long time.
- [22:16]
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- [22:46]
Caller Griffin
You know, when you're locked in, focused and fearless, welcome to the wnba.
- [22:52]
Don Hahn
Your vision narrows.
- [22:53]
Caller Griffin
You can't look away.
- [22:55]
Don Hahn
Every assist, every stop, every logo, three from beyond the logo. Every did you see that moment?
- [23:04]
Caller Rich
Moment.
- [23:05]
Don Hahn
What records are going to be broken this season? All of it. Right here. Lock in. It's the WNBA on ESPN all season long.
- [23:18]
Rosenberg
Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.
- [23:21]
Don Hahn
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
- [23:23]
Rosenberg
Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
- [23:30]
Don Hahn
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- [25:45]
Caller Rich
Another.
- [25:46]
Don Hahn
Don, did you tweet rest in peace to Sidney Poitier? Yeah, 92. He passed away. It's his birthday today. No, no, no. Oh, turns 92. Dear God. least it was corrected in real time. A prominent radio host killed off a prominent person and to my knowledge, some three days later has not been corrected. And I will have all of that coming up at 4:30 on the weekend recap. But talking about the Yankees, what are they going to do? What are they not going to do? Here's my synopsis in case you missed the beginning of the show. I'm not sure who's out there. I'm not sure what they're going to do, but either way, guys, this team has to go to the World Series or something has to happen. It probably won't. These guys seem to have jobs for life. And this is coming from somebody that. That is an Aaron Boone fan. I think he's a good manager. I think he's a better guy. I'm not calling for his job per se, but if this team does not go to the World Series and has an early exit, I just don't know how you could sit there and tell the fans again, oh, injuries. Well, we didn't have Cole, we didn't have Stanton, we didn't have Judge, we didn't have Freed, we didn't have Rodin for certain periods of time or. All I know is you basically got your pitching back pretty much whole. All right. And even without Judge, this team should still be able to make the playoffs, if not win the division. And if you get judged back, forget Stan. If you get judged back and all your pitchers back in time in this weak American League and you don't go and you followed up a loss to the Dodgers in the World Series by missing the World Series the next two years. And a team that talks about mission statement, championship not doing anything. I don't know what to say at that point. Now, World Series win, that's tough because I don't know if they're beating the Dodgers, although they did play the Dodgers. Tough losing those two out of three without Judge. With Judge, I think they'd have a fair chance of beating them. And outside of the Dodgers, you just saw they handle the Phillies winning two out of three. Brewers never do anything in the postseason. So I'm not sure you should be, you know, knocking knees against the team of the World Series either. But I don't think you should be scared of anybody. But I'll lay it short of a championship because I do think the National League is going to be better. And certainly if you're not whole. But this American League, man, is embarrassing. Not good. They used to be. Oh, well, the last wild card team's not good or somebody out of the Central Division is not good, nobody's good. There's two good teams, the Rays and the Yankees. And I doubt the Rays are going to add at the deadline. And whether the Yankees do or don't, as presently constituted, with guys coming back and only three back of the Rays who are definitely propelling themselves where they are on an amazing start, I still think the Yankees are the class of the American League. Vegas has them the class of the American League. Now, Vegas got the NBA all wrong with the Knicks but usually Vegas is pretty on and the Yankees by far the favorites to come out of the American League despite the fact that the three games back of the Rays, heck, they got the Mariners with better odds going to the World Series than the Rays. Nobody seems to respect the Rays. I think they should be respected, but not to the point where I got to fear them or they should stand in my way of going to the World Series. And if the Rays stand in the way of the Yankees winning the world series with 1/3 of the Yankees payroll, how does everybody come back and sing Kumbaya? How? Let's go to Moose in Jamaica. Always good to talk to Moose. How are you buddy?
- [29:52]
Caller Moose
Doing well, Don. Can you hear me easily?
- [29:54]
Don Hahn
Yes.
- [29:56]
Caller Moose
Great, because I've been having problems with my AirPods. First things first. Ditto to Grister. I echo everything he says in the chamber but at the same time entertain me and the nuance you're trying to provide because I literally heard you for a minute in your diatribe Explain the convolutes convolutions of options Catherine has and I'd like to portray the predicament. Okay, now granted a lot of Yankee fans like to see the Yankees go after De la Cruz, Pena or Abrams. But you know, the capital in terms of prospects that would cost. We're more likely to see the Adeles, the Jefferson, the three something era. You know, bull pen pieces that may be added on. But my whole thing was from the off season. I was trying to shout this out into the ether. Why don't you go after Fernando Tatisa, Manny Machado, pick up Xander Bogart's contract, pickup of Corey, see your proven postseason players that are going to hit in the postseason. My concern is obviously not the pitching, it starts hitting in the postseason. So regardless of what I'd like to see the Yankees do, what will happen? I'm going to sit in October, hope we don't lose games three to one and we have an outstanding pitching performance wasted and we lose in the CS or the ds. Granted what will and won't happen
- [31:24]
Don Hahn
big time contracts added to this team is not exactly the smartest thing to do on the eve of the CBA expiring. You talk about Fernando Tatis Jr. I mean that'd be the old school Yankee move, right? Go out and get the best right fielder. A guy that could play shortstop, he could play second base. Padres are a small market team probably looking to get out from under that contract. By the way, he signed through 2034 in the midst of a $340 million contract. And you don't know what the landscape of baseball is going to be this time next year. So the old days of just going out and getting, you know, the seegers, the tatish juniors, big guns on teams that are, that are out of it or teams that are, you know, a small market team, do you really want to have that kind of a contract? And all of a sudden Major League Baseball's got a salary cap. Now what do you do? You're already paying. Cole, you're already paying. Stanton, you're already paying. Judge, you're already paying. Freed, you're going to add another big contract. I mean, I don't know. I don't. Nobody knows what the landscape is going to be next year. Is there going to be a salary cap? Are you going to be able to grandfather certain contracts? Are you going to be able to buy out of contracts and not affect the salary cap like they do in the NHL? Is it going to be a soft cap? Is it going to be a hard cap? Are you gonna be able to sign your own players for whatever you want? And then it's gonna be the players that you acquire in free agency that are capped. Is there gonna be a salary cap at all? Or is there gonna be some other system where you are gonna be punished for having a high payroll or being over a certain luxury tax, where you're not gonna be able to spend international money or lose draft picks? Something that you may not care about, but I'm sure Brian Cashman's loathe to do. Like, you just gotta think differently now. You just can't spend like a junkin sailor and say, well, we're the Yankees, we can do whatever. I mean, the Dodgers may be paying the price for all the contracts that they have, but the difference is they might be riding three straight World Series championships into that abyss and not care. But the Yankees haven't won A championship since 2009. And if all of a sudden they just become a very ordinary team because their money doesn't mean anything anymore in the next cba, then what good are all these contracts going to be? I just think that. I know you don't want to think about the salary cap or the possibility of a salary cap, but it has to be on your mind and it certainly has to be on Brian Cashman's mind when he makes deals. Let's go to Rich in Brooklyn. You're on espn, New York. Hi, Rich.
- [34:16]
Caller Richard
Hey, Don.
- [34:17]
Caller Scott
How are you?
- [34:17]
Don Hahn
Good.
- [34:19]
Caller Rich
Don, I understand the Yankees have to hit home runs, but if the people Aren't there? Don't you have to take what you're given? Well, who fundamentally.
- [34:34]
Don Hahn
Who on this team? Let's have a conversation, Rich.
- [34:37]
Caller Rich
Okay. Yeah. Because I listen. I know baseball, I'm totally blind that I listen to radio and I listen to sports and I know sports.
- [34:45]
Don Hahn
All right, so who in their everyday lineup right now doesn't consider themselves a home run hitter?
- [34:55]
Caller Richard
Don, that's not the point.
- [34:56]
Caller Rich
That you've got to put them out there.
- [34:58]
Don Hahn
That is the point. No, no.
- [35:00]
Caller Rich
You put them out there two o' clock in the afternoon and you teach them.
- [35:06]
Don Hahn
I don't think a player at this stage of their career in on the verge of August is all of a sudden going to become a bunter. Because they go out an hour before batting practice and practice bunting. Do you ever see them bunt? When they do attempt to bunt, you're lucky they don't get hurt. I'm with you. It should not be all about the home run. It shouldn't all be be all about launch angle. I get it. But unfortunately, that's the way they think. You win games. I don't look at Jazz as a quintessential home run hitter. He does. He thought he was going to hit 50, 50 this year. Mc McMahon was a guy that was brought here because he was an A plus defender. And when they acquired him from Colorado, had 20 home runs. They want you to hit home runs. Now they've lost their best home run hitter, Aaron Judge. Now Bellinger is on the shelf. So, yeah, one would think that. All right, we've just lost a ton of home runs in our lineup. Let's play small ball. But who's there to play small ball? But Dominguez paid to hit home runs. Spencer Jones is here because the one thing he can do is hit home runs. Unfortunately, he can also strike out, but he can hit home runs. Goldschmidt home runs, Wells home runs, Rice home runs. They're all trying to hit home runs. They're all asked to hit home runs and now you want them to bunt. It doesn't work that way, man.
- [36:54]
Rosenberg
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.
- [36:57]
Don Hahn
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
- [36:59]
Rosenberg
Catch the show on demand. When? Whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
- [37:06]
Don Hahn
The New York Red Bulls take on the Orlando City SC on Saturday, August 1st at Sports Illustrated Stadium with kickoff set for 7:30pm Celebrate Hometown Heroes Night with Red Bulls New York and be among the first 10,000 fans for an exclusive beach towel, giveaway for your chance to win a family four pack of tickets. Enter now@espnnewyork.com or or through the ESPN New York app. Don't miss Julian hall and Antwan Griezmann when the Red Bulls Host Orlando City SC Saturday, August 1st. Secure your seats at NewYork Red Bulls.com back to the busy phones. 1-800-919-3776 and let's talk to George, who's in. Elizabeth, you're on ESPN New York. What's up, George?
- [37:51]
Caller Griffin
Hey.
- [37:52]
Caller Rich
Hey, how you doing, man? Thanks for taking my car. I really appreciate that. Don, Listen, I just have a question, man. As a casual baseball fan. I'm no hardcore baseball fan. I'm a basketball fan fan. But you know, I grew up in the New York, New Jersey area. I've always seen the Yankees and the Mets in the playoffs and whatnot. And I was just wondering, unless you're the Mets, the Yankees or the Dodgers, why as a fan, wouldn't you root for a hard salary cap to give everybody a shot? You know, you guys talk like it's so automatic that the Yankees go all the time, that the Dodgers go all the time. And I think people get tired of seeing the same world series every two, three years. Look at the Knicks. We waited 53 years because of bad management to win a championship. You know, we haven't had a straight championship in the NBA. Two back to back winners in eight years. That's fantastic for all the fans. And I was just wondering your take on it, whether you're in favor of a cap or not. And why? Because I just don't understand how the fans are not screaming for a salary cap.
- [38:48]
Don Hahn
Well, the fans aren't screaming for a salary cap in New York because the Yankees have the third highest payroll, the Mets have the second highest payroll and they want that to continue and they don't want that to change. But George, I'm with you. I want a team to be successful or to fail based on their abilities to manage a winning program, not because I happen to have a hundred million dollars more than you. I mean, if you and I are going to get into a race and you have a trainer and you have the best sneakers and you've got a coach and I just walk off the street and you beat me. You're supposed to beat me. You're supposed to beat me. If you. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. And the thing that bothers me, George. And the players will fight and they should. I mean, all the players fight against the salary cap in some cave and in baseball's case, they haven't caved. But hasn't football thrived with a salary cap? Haven't.
- [39:42]
Caller Rich
Absolutely.
- [39:43]
Don Hahn
Doesn't Patrick Mahomes still make $60 million a year in the NBA? Didn't you know LeBron James still make an absolute fortune? The players are afraid. Well, there won't be any more Juan Sotos and there won't be any more Aaron Judges. There still will be. There's guys that make an absolute fortune in the NBA, in the NFL, because their sports make a fortune. And baseball, what you do with a salary cap is you make the players the partners. They also have a piece of the pie. And the more money baseball makes, the more the cap goes up, the more players can make. And the shortsightedness from the players in my opinion is instead of looking at the top half being affected, how about the bottom half of baseball being affected? That the teams they're trying to get away with a $75 million payroll won't be able to do that anymore because with a cap they'll have a floor. So the Marlins of the world might have to spend $50 million more than they are now because they're going to have to get to the floor, which means that's more money for players to make on other teams, not just the same four or five teams every year. The end argument for me, the drop the mic moment for me, why baseball should have a salary cap is the other three major sports have it and have thrived. And in the case of basketball and football that generate a lot of revenue because of their television contracts, there are still players making 50, 60, in some cases in the NBA, $70 million a year. So the big time players in baseball will still have an avenue to make their money, but maybe there'll be an avenue for other lesser players to make money because they'll have more options. Because there'll be teams that will be spending more money instead of these poor teams that are crying poverty and using the luxury tax money to spend on other places besides the players. If hockey can thrive, if basketball could thrive, if football could thrive with a salary cap, what is the difference with baseball? That would be my argument. But baseball has more games. Baseball also has more chances for owners to make revenue. But you know, unfortunately you're hearing stories about all these local baseball entities, the regional networks being taken over by Major League Baseball, cuz they're, they're not able to make any money. There's got to be a way to be able to stop the Los Angeles Dodgers spending $100 million more than everybody else. And the reason why I think there's a chance there could be a salary cap is there's a team like the New York Yankees who are saying, wait a minute, we make a lot of money, but we can't spend $400 million on a payroll. And maybe we could, but that would mean less money for us, less money for our shareholders, which means we'd have to raise ticket prices to make up for it. And then the fans complain. What makes baseball different than the other sports that have been able to make it work? That would be my argument. But we'll see baseball's unions a lot stronger than the other unions in sports. Marvin Miller, you know, the godfather of the baseball union is someone that has built up a very, very strong union that does not cave. Hockey, football, basketball, caved. Baseball never caved. They canceled a World Series in 94. They don't cave. Hockey had to cancel an entire season to get the players to finally cave. Will baseball do that? But I am in favor of a salary cap. Oh, it's a pleasure to talk to Richard of Manhattan. How are you, sir?
- [43:25]
Caller Richard
Hi, Don. Don, when Soto got to the Yankees.
- [43:31]
Don Hahn
Yes.
- [43:32]
Caller Richard
The judge was his cushion.
- [43:34]
Don Hahn
Yes.
- [43:34]
Caller Richard
So he didn't have to do much heavy lifting with the press and all of that. It is parallel to when Dave Winfield got to The Yankees in 81. Reggie was there. Reggie did all the heavy lifting that one year that he was with Winfield and Winfield excelled. Now after Reggie left, George said it was his biggest mistake he's ever made. Winfield was probably the man, but he had a lot of cushion there. He had Mattingly, Don Baylor, Rickey Henderson, Ken Griffey. But he was the guy ever since the World Series when he was Mr. October, that took the brunt of the hit. Reggie wasn't there anymore, so that was tough for him. Okay. That's how I feel about Soto now being with the Mets. He's taking all the hits from everything from the press. Now. Now, Don, I have a two part question for you. Let's see what the kind of answer you give me. I think it's going to be very difficult for you to give an answer. Who had a better career? Carlos Beltran as a Met or Dave Winfield as a Yankee? And the second part of that question, who was greater in total career wise? Dave Winfield or Juan Soto? I'm sorry, Dave Winfield or Carlos or Carlos Beltran?
- [45:01]
Don Hahn
It's such a, it's such a good question. I, I think that it was. He was. Winfield was unfairly criticized by his Own owner because of the fact that he didn't win. But he had 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 100 RBI seasons. He led the league in RBIs in 79 with the Padres, came to the Yankees and he continued to excel. I think, listen, Beltran was probably a better all around player. Winfield predominantly spent a lot of time as a da. I think Winfield was probably better.
- [45:36]
Caller Richard
What better Yankee or better all around? From total?
- [45:39]
Caller Rich
Well, both.
- [45:40]
Don Hahn
Well overall because he compiled as much as he did from start to finish. I think Winfield was the better player. Was the better player. But okay, now who was better in New York?
- [45:49]
Caller Rich
Who was better in New York?
- [45:52]
Don Hahn
I still think Winfield was better. I think he had more hundred.
- [45:54]
Caller Richard
Well, here's where I'd argue against that.
- [45:56]
Don Hahn
Okay, go ahead.
- [45:56]
Caller Richard
I mean, I'm not arguing, but I'm thinking Beltran was depended on to be the man on the Mets. Winfield, Dave had a lot, a lot of help. He had, like I mentioned, Baylor, Griffey, Henderson, Mattingly. Who did Beltran have?
- [46:11]
Don Hahn
Well, he had David Wright from a good portion of that time. He was captain of the team. You know, he had Jose Reyes on that team. But you're right, he was, he was, he was the better player. But I, there was a couple of injury plague seasons in, you know, 2009. He only played 81 games, only played 64 games in 2010. And he also didn't spend as much time with the Mets as Winfield had spent with the Yankees. So I would say Winfield was the better player and, and he was the better New York player. But all anybody ever remembers is the fact that Steinbrenner went after him because they lost the world series in 81, never won, called a Mr. May. So it's hard for people to appreciate you and your own owners ripping you. But Dave Winfield was a tremendous player. Tremendous. Now the Soto thing and I would have gotten the back and forth with Richard, but you guys know, going back and forth with Richard is pretty much impossible. What are we complaining about Soto for? Like we said, the problem with Soto is he. There's no problem with Soto. He had a great year last year and he's had a good year this year. He's hurt, he's on the IL with a calf, but he's hitting.283. He's got 21 home runs. And this is a guy that, you know, if healthy is going to hit, you know, hit 40 home runs, bat over.280, driving 100 runs. I mean, there's nothing wrong with Juan Soto. There's plenty wrong with the Mets. He had a good year last year. He's not the reason they only won 83 games, and he's certainly not the reason they're one of the worst teams in baseball. I don't like him not getting along with Lindor, but as far as there being a problem with Juan Soto, I don't think there's any problem with Juan Stto.
- [47:50]
Rosenberg
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
- [47:54]
Don Hahn
I don't want to know how the
- [47:55]
Rosenberg
sausage is made, but I just want to know it's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter Weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers.