Hour 1: Concern for the Mets?

Summary

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Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 1: Concern for the Mets?

Date: April 3, 2026
Hosts: Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg
Podcast: ESPN New York

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Episode Overview

The trio broadcasts live as the sports world buzzes with Opening Day at Yankee Stadium under unseasonably cold and gray New York weather. However, the focus quickly pivots from the Yankees' festivities to mounting anxiety around the lackluster start by the New York Mets. The hosts dissect whether it's too soon to raise concerns—or even consider a managerial change—after the team’s 3–4 start. They tackle questions of expectations, leadership, and accountability, all while keeping their trademark irreverent, reference-heavy banter alive. The episode also features lively discussions regarding sports streaming woes, classic “Captain America” nicknames, and prepares listeners for the station’s famed “Drop Madness” tournament, but the heart of the hour is the state of the Mets and the seat warming under manager Carlos Mendoza.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Opening Vibes and the Weather – Yankee Stadium’s Opening Day

• The hosts riff on the dichotomy between how Yankee Stadium looks on TV and how miserable it feels elsewhere in the city.
  • “If this is a first date, is there a second date?” – Don Hahn [01:05]
  • “It feels nastier than ‘eh’. Out here on the island, it feels just like worse than ‘eh’.” – Don La Greca [03:56]
• Alan Hahn checks in from Madison Square Garden; the crew exchanges typical NY-centric ribbing about borough differences.

2. “Captain America” Nickname Debate

• Playful debate around which athletes have truly earned the “Captain America” moniker.
  • “How many athletes have we called Captain America? … I’ve heard it two or three times alone on this show.” – Don La Greca [03:01]
• Multiple athletes discussed: David Wright (baseball), Aaron Judge, Landon Donovan (soccer), and the concept of “Captain Canada.”
  • “There’s no dope superhero named Captain Canada. He’d be a very nice guy, right? Kind of.” – Don Hahn [04:59]

3. Opening the Mets’ Managerial Hot Seat

• Don Hahn’s central thesis: It’s not too early to be worried if the Mets seem to have not changed, and that must inevitably put manager Carlos Mendoza on notice.
  • “I get tired of the whole ‘it’s early, it’s early, it’s early’. If I’m unhappy with the Mets being 3 and 4, I should be able to be unhappy with them being 3 and 4.” – Don Hahn [07:00]
• Points of concern:
  • Same issues as last year: lack of clutch hitting, underperforming pitching, clubhouse discord.
  • Rhetorical question—at what point would it make sense to fire the manager if the performance doesn’t turn?
  • The hosts agree: Not now, but Mendoza’s leash is short unless a turnaround comes by May 1 (around 30 games in).
  • “Wouldn’t the next move be to relieve the manager of his duties?” – Don Hahn [07:15]
• Alan sets context: The owner’s (Cohen) expectations, and Stearns’s authority as GM.
• Peter and Alan compare to the Yankees’ patience or lack thereof with Aaron Boone.

4. Accountability and Expectations—What Defines Managerial Success?

• The hosts challenge each other—and callers—about what managerial excellence looks like.
  • “What has Mendoza done as manager that made you say ‘you know what? They got a good one’?” – Peter Rosenberg [14:39]
• Acknowledgement that while a manager can’t bat for you, their job is defined by how well the team responds, how crises are handled, and whether player discord is resolved.
• Don: The Mets’ history is a series of “flares” rather than sustained excellence.
  • “This entire organization is a bunch of flair moments… little flares, no consistency.” – Don Hahn [12:38]

5. The May 1st Benchmark

• The table is set: If by May 1, the team is still well under .500, serious conversations about a managerial change become fair game.
  • “May 1, to me feels like a good line of demarcation... if you’re five, six games under .500, damn right you’re going to have to address it.” – Don Hahn [18:35]

6. Caller Reactions and The Great Accountability Debate

• Paul and David from the phones challenge the hosts: Is it too soon? What could a manager actually fix?
• Alan and Peter clarify that it’s not about a knee-jerk reaction, but about understanding context (last season’s failures, new roster, same results).
  • “If we get out of the first month and this team is 6, 7 games below .500, it’s already a conversation.” – Don La Greca [39:06]
• Peter: Mets fans shouldn’t lower expectations compared to Yankees fans, and if the playoffs are missed, Mendoza’s fate is sealed.
  • “Why do the Yankees have expectations but the Mets don’t? They should both have equal expectations…” – Peter Rosenberg [16:07]

7. Sports Streaming Frustrations

• Extended riff about the agony of streaming-delayed game footage versus cable, spoiled alerts, increased commercials, and the diminished experience for fans.
  • “The streaming system is… the perfect encapsulation of capitalism in America.” – Don La Greca [30:49]
  • “The last channel button is the greatest invention in the history of television… and it’s been killed.” – Alan Hahn & Don La Greca [34:17]
• Loss of regional sports network identity, complexity of navigating games, nostalgic for simpler “last channel” days.

8. Drop Madness: Final Four — Brief Lighthearted Interlude

• Tease for the show’s annual “Drop Madness” tournament—a bracket of audio drops—reflects the show’s irreverent charm.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Don Hahn [07:00, on Mets' frustration]:
  “I get tired of the whole ‘it’s early, it’s early, it’s early’. If I’m unhappy with the Mets being 3 and 4, I should be able to be unhappy with them being 3 and 4. Otherwise why bother talking about it? … Same result. Can’t hit with runners in scoring position. Peterson now, back to back, not very good starts.”

• Peter Rosenberg [14:39, on Mendoza]:
  “What has Mendoza done as manager that made you say ‘you know what? They got a good one. This guy’s sharp, he’s this, he’s that?’”

• Alan Hahn [21:06, on the ‘early’ excuse]:
  “They were supposed to be a different looking team. The joke is, of course, it wasn’t supposed to prevent your own runs—because the lineup is, that was the question...”

• Don La Greca [30:49, on streaming’s evolution]:
  “Let’s just have an honest conversation that the streaming system is... the perfect encapsulation of capitalism in America... So now instead of having cable, we just have more channels that all have commercials, that we pay for, and we get less television probably for it.”

• Peter Rosenberg [16:07]:
  “Why do the Yankees have expectations but the Mets don’t? They should both have equal expectations. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”

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Important Timestamps

• 07:00–08:21 – Don’s monologue: Why Mendoza should be on notice
• 13:00–14:46 – Discussion: When does “it’s early” stop making sense?
• 16:00–17:00 – Peter on Mets/Yankees expectations
• 18:30–19:30 – Don draws May 1 as the line for serious scrutiny
• 29:58–34:17 – The streaming rant: why the modern fan experience is worse
• 35:05–40:45 – Callers Paul & David weigh in: Should Mendoza be under pressure yet?
• 44:35–46:26 – More Mets fans call in, seeking rationale for (or against) firing Mendoza

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Episode Tone

Punchy, irreverent, and classic New York: playful rivalries and pop culture references mix with hardnosed sports analysis. The trio pushes each other—sometimes ribbing, sometimes genuinely disagreeing—but always in the service of framing fan expectations, accountability, and what it truly means to be a New York sports franchise.

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TL;DR

Main question: Is it too early to worry about the Mets and their manager Carlos Mendoza?
Hosts’ answer: Not yet time for drastic action, but serious conversations about Mendoza's future are fair by May 1 if the results mirror last year. Fans’ patience, expectations, and the unique pressures of managing in New York are all in play.

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For sports fans wanting to understand the early 2026 Mets narrative—or simply to enjoy the NY banter and the real fan’s experience—this episode is an essential listen.

Transcript

[Don La Greca]

Protein is now at Starbucks and it's

[Peter Rosenberg]

never tasted so good. You can add protein cold foam to your favorite drink or try one of our new protein lattes or matcha. Try it today at Starbucks.

[Don Hahn]

Todd, this isn't Vietnam. It's Radio Hanh.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I mean, he had a handful of

[Podcast Announcer]

twig and berries and Rosenberg.

[Don La Greca]

Everything about it was pure, unadulterated ass.

[Don Hahn]

This isn't North Dakota. This is New York.

[Podcast Announcer]

This is Don and Rosenberg.

[Caller Paul]

The best threesome I've ever heard on

[Podcast Announcer]

ESPN New York and streaming live on

[Don Hahn]

YouTube 301 of the big city. Don Hahn and Rosenberg on an opening day Yankee Stadium Friday. Weather's eh. But there's plenty to talk about. How are you guys? Good. Bad.

[Alan Hahn]

What's up, Donnie?

[Don Hahn]

You're let.

[Don La Greca]

Let an ad do a lot of work there, Don. Letting the ad do a lot because it is.

[Alan Hahn]

It's 60 something degrees.

[Don La Greca]

Doesn't feel.

[Alan Hahn]

No, it doesn't feel.

[Don La Greca]

It feels nasty.

[Don Hahn]

If this is a first date, is there a second date?

[Don La Greca]

No, it's. Good night, good luck. We saw what you were. You were. You were a cold.

[Don Hahn]

Right? You know what?

[Don La Greca]

It's.

[Don Hahn]

It's not, you know, having your buddy call and say your mom's sick and I gotta leave. You'll go through the date, but there's not gonna be another one.

[Don La Greca]

You're not thrilled though. That's what I'm saying. It's not. It's not a.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like listen is out.

[Don La Greca]

I'm on Long Island. I don't know what part of where you're at, how far away we are from each other. Alan, where I am, it's.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm at the Garden.

[Don La Greca]

Cold msg. That part of the island. Yes, that other island on this island where I'm at, near the beach. It is cold and rainy. Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Just a dad. I think I described it perfectly.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay.

[Don Hahn]

Been more colorful. Could I have maybe been more descriptive? Yeah, maybe. But I think everybody got the point with my, you know, I just.

[Alan Hahn]

It. Sun splashed field at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. So it looks. It looks wonderful to me.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, I don't, you know, for to lead, you know.

[Alan Hahn]

All good.

[Don Hahn]

You know, did they have, you know, Josh Beckett throughout the first pitch or anything? Are we celebrating the. The whole 03 vibe? Probably not.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, this is at Yankee Stadium. I don't think we'd be celebrating O3 at all.

[Don Hahn]

I needed a pull from that series.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't think we'd sell.

[Don Hahn]

I could have went j aside, figured, let me find the marlin. That was the guy from the 03 series. We all know, you know who threw

[Peter Rosenberg]

out the first pitch. Your guy. Yes. Captain America.

[Don Hahn]

His dad was probably so. Because that's who I was thinking about because they showed a picture. Luke and Jack and his dad and his dad's, you know, New York guy, big Yankee fan. It must have been just. First of all, it's amazing to have your sons all in the NHL, all excelling. One of them wins, you know, the gold medal, which scores the golden goal.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

And you're at Yankee Stadium opening day, throwing out the first pitch. I mean, that's pretty cool.

[Alan Hahn]

Life is good.

[Don La Greca]

Hey, guys, real quick, in all seriousness, how many athletes have we called Captain America? I've. Because I've heard it on this show in the last several months. I've heard at least two or three.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, Captain America.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I mean, we've.

[Alan Hahn]

We've done the Captain Clutch stuff.

[Don La Greca]

No, no, but there's someone else. You called Captain America recently?

[Don Hahn]

Well, I. I called David Wright Captain America. Yes, that literally was his name. When he played the World Baseball Classic, he was the captain of the team. They called him Captain America.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, there you go.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, Judge.

[Alan Hahn]

That's right. I called Judge Captain America.

[Don La Greca]

So, Alex, what I'm saying.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, it's. Every time there's international play, like you

[Alan Hahn]

sort of, that's what you.

[Don Hahn]

So you're critiquing. All right, we started with you didn't like my man.

[Don La Greca]

No, no, no.

[Don Hahn]

Captain America.

[Don La Greca]

No, no, no. Hold on. Neither are correct.

[Alan Hahn]

Peters. Peters is just.

[Don La Greca]

No, no, no. Even your a. You're being sensitive. I didn't mean it. That was doing a lot of describing because it's like, it's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

To me, it was.

[Don La Greca]

The day felt nastier than eh. But when I turned on the game just now, I now see where you guys are coming from. Alan, in particular, it does look like a nice sun splash day at Yankee Stadium, but out here on the island, it feels just like worse than eh. And the Captain America was a sincere question because obviously it makes sense for Hughes, but I know that I'd heard it multiple times recently on the show.

[Don Hahn]

It kind of doesn't make sense for Hughes because he wasn't the captain of the team.

[Don La Greca]

Well, you know what? One of the great points you've made,

[Don Hahn]

Don, Now, David Wright was Captain America a little strong for the wbc, but he was the captain. So you kind of understand it from that standpoint.

[Don La Greca]

How about Landon Donovan? Can we get a little Landon Donovan love for Captain America?

[Don Hahn]

Now, Peter may not. I might be wrong about this. I think Alan the only captain. Anything in a sports that made any sense to me was Captain Canada. And that was Ryan Smith back in the day when he. When Canada was. Was. Was winning and he was the captain of the team. So it's not. It's not really. Yeah, but.

[Don La Greca]

But there's no dope superhero named Captain

[Don Hahn]

Canada, so you'd be a very nice guy, right? Kind of. He would come in and just try to get the burglar to understand that. You know what? This is not. This is not the direction you should be in life.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah, I mean, listen, let's have a conversation. What is this all about? You know, what are you. What are you. Maybe, maybe you just want someone to say you're. They're sorry. Maybe if they say sorry, we can figure out this whole thing's a boot and move on.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. This organization doesn't need to lose all this money.

[Don La Greca]

Because the thing is, you're. You know, the fact that you're a part of this criminal organization is a. Is a problem.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, it's. You know, I love your Canadian accent. That's awesome.

[Don La Greca]

We need to bring back Captain Canada. This is something here. There's something here.

[Don Hahn]

You and Natalie playing, you know, the, the woman in distress and the Canadian Mountie comes and saves the day. That's role playing weekend.

[Don La Greca]

That's role playing for me and Natalie.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, excuse me.

[Don Hahn]

What was it that. It was Dudley Do. Right. And what was the girlfriend's name? Oh, it's gonna bother me now.

[Don La Greca]

I just like the idea of breaking up Penelope. Oh, I just like the idea of breaking up a crime organization.

[Don Hahn]

Crime organization, eh? Oh, I can't think of her name. It was.

[Don La Greca]

Well, I don't even know what you're referencing, if it helps.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So.

[Don Hahn]

Well, just the whole. The whole cartoon from Dudley Do. Right? He was a Canadian Mountie and he comes in and his girlfriend was Penelope. I can't think of the. Alan. Alan.

[Don La Greca]

Do you have any idea what he's talking about?

[Don Hahn]

He checked out. He checked out after Matt.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That was it.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm not checked out. I am trying to desperately follow along with the. I mean, this is a reference palooza going on right now.

[Don Hahn]

Well, it's a reference palooza.

[Alan Hahn]

I mean, you guys have been zigzagging and I'm like, wait, what? Okay, no, that's not it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So I'm.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm just. I'm hanging on right now, like in

[Don Hahn]

the back of the room, like Blair Witch Project.

[Don La Greca]

Now that's a reference.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, there you go.

[Don Hahn]

Now it's working. Yeah, man. Well, all this is to distract us from what I want to open with and I said it yesterday and I'm just, I get tired of the whole. It's early, it's early, it's early. If I'm going to talk about it, I should be able to talk about it in real time, right? If I'm unhappy with The Mets being 3 and 4, I should be able to be unhappy with them being 3 and 4. Otherwise why bother talking about it? Because if it's going to be well done, it's too early. Well, then we'll talk. Knicks, Bulls, we'll talk. We'll do another mock draft. You know, we've got Fraud Friday coming up at 4:30, right? Like there's other things to talk about. But baseball's big and the Mets are an important team in the city. And I'm seeing a lot of the same stuff I saw last year. Different players, same result. Can't hit with runners in scoring position. Peterson now back to back, not very good starts. I don't want to say awful, but not good. And I'm telling you, if I'm, if, if I'm Mendoza, I've got to. You got to be on. Your manager has to be on notice, right? Hold on. It's only seven games. You won 83 games last year. You were miserable in the second half of the season. Your general manager re imagines the roster and you're kind of the same team. So wouldn't the next move be to relieve the manager of his duties? Now I'm not saying to do it now because technically it is too early. But doesn't he have to be on notice? If this is what we're doing a month from now, I think he's out of a job fair.

[Alan Hahn]

It all depends on again, what are the expectations that come from the owner. Right? Because I don't think Stearns is the guy that's going to decide to fire the manager.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And so, because like, if they don't think he's doing the job, what is the job they want? Like all these years we've talked about

[Alan Hahn]

Boone and how Boone should be fired. How many fans have called after every season and said Boone should be fired?

[Peter Rosenberg]

And then you realize that, well, Boone's just doing exactly what they're telling them

[Alan Hahn]

to do, so he's not going to get fired. So what is Mendoza doing? Is he just following the script as

[Peter Rosenberg]

everybody else has to do these days or is he not managing the players? I still think he has to manage personalities and manage players. So I, I don't you know, I don't know. It's a great question, though, to ask Don, because at some point you do have to wonder, is this hitting or not? Other than the run that they had two years ago, which felt magical. I don't know what Mendoza has done to establish himself as a guy that

[Alan Hahn]

you're like, guy's a hell of a manager.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You'd have to tell me as a guy that watches every Mets game, what stands out to you? Were there moments that stood out to you last year? Wheels have fallen off this team. Nothing. You got two of your stars that don't get along. Nothing. All we get is a story of it being, you know, that's not a story. It's a non story. People don't understand it. They don't get it, and they shoot it down with the story in the paper rather than just, you know what, as the manager, just come out and say it. Hey, before we do anything here, let me just. I want to bring something up that

[Alan Hahn]

I know has become an issue.

[Caller David]

Okay?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Let's clear that. Let's clear the debt. Let's get it out here right now. That's what somebody who's in charge, in control, wants to say. Get it out there right now. I know it's circling. I know it's being talked about, but let's just put it out there so that everybody knows all the stuff you're seeing. It's a bunch of crap. Here's why. Break it down. I'll stand in front of my players. I don't see that from him. And so those are things you wonder about. And then of course, down the question I always ask that comes next. If you're firing somebody, especially during a

[Alan Hahn]

season, who you bringing in? Who's the guy?

[Don Hahn]

Well, the guy that makes the most sense and he's working for the organization now, and enough time has passed since the cheating scandal is Carlos Beltran. That would probably be the guy that

[Alan Hahn]

you'd look at who, who is now going to the hall of Fame.

[Don Hahn]

Now is that somebody that can walk in there and have a meeting with Soto and Lindor and have their attention because he's Carlos Beltrack.

[Alan Hahn]

Isn't he also the guy you originally wanted a couple, you know, five years

[Don Hahn]

ago, he could technically still be the manager now if not for the. The Astro incident where everybody got suspended and the Mets had to move into a different direction. But a lot of time has passed. All those guys eventually got their jobs back, right? And. And he could be a guy that could be the manager of this I'm again, I'm not advocating. I'm just saying at what point do we have to put the manager on notice? You asked who would be the guy that would probably be a guy that would get some consideration. We're not bereft of guys out there, either within the organization or outside the organization that I think would want to manage this talented team. But you said, who does it? Well, the general manager or the president of the team said our team isn't good enough. I'm going to go out and get different players because I don't think we can win with the players that we have now. It's only seven games, but it looks a lot like it did last year. So now the next move is, all right, do I fire the. Do I fire the guy that assemble the players? Do I fire the guy that's supposed to be managing them? And I think the easier thing to do would be Carlos. And yeah, that was a miracle run in 24. Tremendous second half of the season and a run all the way to game six. But that's kind of what the Mets mo's been. Great start, slow finish, slow start, great finish. Not putting 162 games together, little flash in the pants. It's an organization that only twice in their history has gone to the playoffs in back to back years. I've talked about this before. This entire organization is a bunch of flair moments. 69, 73, 86, 88. And then you had to, you know, fast forward all the way to 2000 before you were back in the World Series again. And then it's, oh, we went to World Series at 15. Wild card in 16. Little flares, no consistency. I don't want to compare them to the Yankees because it's apples and wrenches looking at the history. But every year putting together a team, they have the same wherewithal. They have their own television network. There's tons of money.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

And yet the Mets are trying to piece together miracle runs. And meanwhile the other team is putting together a team that consistently makes the playoffs. They haven't won, but they consistently make the playoffs, consistently finish above.500. And the Mets, it's little tiny flares. And I, and you asked me what does it look like when, when Buck was the manager, you saw great fundamentals. You saw the way they were going to play the game.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't.

[Don Hahn]

Baseball.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Here. It just doesn't seem to fit. And. Well, wait a minute, Don. It's only seven games, but it's also the second half of last year and now it's continuing this year. So I just asked the question at 1-800-919-3776. When is he on notice? Not when should he be fired, but when is. When does it become a topic of conversation? Is it today? Is it a month from now? When is it logical for us to open the show guys and say they need to make a managerial change? When?

[Don La Greca]

I don't see how you can have. Is there any set way of knowing that? I mean.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, of course there is.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If it looks the same as it did last year and you change the players, then what? You know what I mean? Like, you could change the players. So you're saying, we want to have it. We want to be a different team,

[Alan Hahn]

we want to look different.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But if it looks the same, then what? Then obviously, it's the approach. It's a style. It's the. Whatever it is, it's something else. And the next thing you usually point to is, who's in charge? Who's running this thing? And that's the manager. I think it's very fair. What is he again, I'll ask it again. What has he done as manager that

[Alan Hahn]

made you say, you know what? They got a good one. This guy's. He's really, like, he's sharp.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's this, he's that. They were circling the drain last year. Nothing couldn't fix it. Like, there's some things you have to watch. So, yes, I think it's fair. Nobody's calling for his job right now.

[Alan Hahn]

Let's make that clear.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But I think what Don saying is fair is that at some point like this feels as you got McClain on the mound, does this feel as much as you got to get. You got to get this game today. You got to get back on track. You look three in a row. You got to get back to feeling good. I need to see something better than 0 for 18 with runners in scoring

[Alan Hahn]

position over the last three games.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You got to be better.

[Don La Greca]

I hear you, but just explain. Someone explain to me how Mendoza can be responsible for a team having a great top of the first and then completely going away for the next eight innings and there just being no offense except a hit here, a hit there, like the guy can't get in there and bat for these guys. I understand baseball's such a tough sport in that way. And by the way, I can swing this exact same conversation at my guy, Aaron Boone, who I. Who I love. But, I mean, this is what Yankees fans say about the playoffs every year.

[Alan Hahn]

You're Right.

[Don La Greca]

Why can't we deliver the playoffs?

[Alan Hahn]

But see, but what you're saying there

[Peter Rosenberg]

is exactly why this is a conversation. Because the Mets should have expectations this season. There should be expectations. Remember, this is different. Now, the owner five years ago wanted

[Alan Hahn]

to win a World Series in five years.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay, that. That's it. Now, did he change that plan?

[Alan Hahn]

Of course he did because he realized it's a lot harder than it sounds.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But it doesn't mean that you now are just going to back off any expectations. Why do the Yankees have expectations but the Mets don't?

[Alan Hahn]

They.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They should both have equal expectations. That's how it's supposed to be, for sure. Well, then we can't. Then why is it that it's okay with. If they lose, if they find a way to lose today, you don't think they're already going to start getting crazy about Boone? Of course they are. It's just the way it is because heavy is the head that wears that crown. The Mets never get that kind of treatment. It would take an epic losing streak to finally, maybe you start paying attention to it. But three in a row, early in the season when your offense isn't clicking and you have a starter now that the second time around he hasn't been any good, who's going to ramp it up in that organization? Because clearly the two. The two stars are too busy worrying about each other than worrying about the rest of the team dragging their ass to start the season.

[Don Hahn]

But Peter, I always hate the philosophy of, well, he can't hit for him, he can't run for him, he can't pitch for him. Yeah, that's true. But we still. There are things to do that you look get looked upon to try to make things better. You've got two of the best players on the team not getting along with each other. Nothing seems to be done about it. The team was miserable last year. You get a bunch of players and it seems to be the same thing happening. What do you have a manager for then? What do you have a hitting coach? I always, Michael used to always say, well, why are you firing the pitching coach? He can't go out there and pitch for him. Then why is there a pitching coach? That's fair too, you know, and again, I'm not advocating for it. Alan said that. I've said it. You said it, Peter. But I just want to know when do we start to talk about the possibility if this gets away from them, you know, if they lose this series in San Francisco and now all of a sudden you're off to a really slow start again. Do you just wait like you did? Hey, well, you waited back in 24, look what happened. It all turned around. Mendoza kept them together because that's the biggest thing he's done right. They didn't fall apart and he kept them together. They got hot in 24 and they went all the way to game six of the league championship series. So he does have a history of kind of keeping it together. But last year it never materialized to the point where they had to perform a facelift on this team. And now if you end up going 20, 30 games into that season and it doesn't look like it's changed, then of course the target's going to be on the manager. I think May 1, to me feels like a good line of demarcation. Like, all right, where are we? May 1, we played over a month of baseball. Probably have a 30 game sample to see where you are, where it's still very early and you could still save the season. But at the same time, say there's enough here to say this isn't going to get better unless we do something. So I think that, to me, feels like the date. Maybe Anthony can kind of look up exactly how many games will have been played by May 1st. I would think we'd be over 30 at that point. And if you're five, six games under 500, damn right. You're going to have to address it. I mean, if you can let go Buck Showalter, then why would Mendoza get more than two years to kind of figure this out? That's like 31 games. So that's good. That's an odd number, which means you're not going to beat 500. You're going to be either over or under. Mm, the 500 mark, you, you're already under now through seven. So I, I think that, I think that's when we get to the time.

[Alan Hahn]

What were you expecting this season, Don, after the changes that were made? You, you, you expect playoffs?

[Don Hahn]

Playoffs.

[Don La Greca]

You didn't, you didn't have a, you didn't have a win number. It's about making the playoffs.

[Don Hahn]

I mean, when I think about wins, when I think about, you know, saying you got to make the playoffs, I know you got extra wild card teams, but, you know, a 90 plus win team.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay, playoffs.

[Don Hahn]

I wasn't going to. This is a good division. Braves are going to bounce back. Phillies are very good. So I wasn't saying, oh, you got to win the division, you got to be a playoff team.

[Alan Hahn]

They should be good they should be a playoff team and they should be a talent to be a playoff team.

[Don Hahn]

They have enough talent to be a playoff team. And certainly that's on the table. We've seen baseball where teams, you know, Washington was grossly under 500 of the all Star break, came back and won a World Series. But I, I'm just analyzing the whole package we're talking about now with Mendoza. A half a season of great baseball. That's all it's been. The second half of the 24 season. Great baseball. The whole package last year was, meh, 83 wins.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Started off good. Miserable in the second half. So maybe if you want to piece together the end of 24 and the beginning of 25, it's been one really good season. But if I, if I give you the, the first half of 24 and the second half of 25, I'm describing to you inconsistency. A team that hasn't been able to gain traction to be exactly what it's supposed to be for any real length of time.

[Alan Hahn]

They were supposed to be a different looking team. They were supposed to be a team that obviously there's a whole run prevention thing. The joke is, of course, it wasn't supposed to prevent your own runs because the lineup is. That was the question.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And you know, right away it. Stern Stearns is gonna feel this too, by the way. Like, again, they'll do the.

[Alan Hahn]

It's early thing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's the easiest thing to do in baseball. It's early. It's early because history has shown that even, you know, a slow start doesn't matter. I believe I saw somebody say something like the. Was it the 86 Mets? I got off to a similar slow start.

[Don Hahn]

There were three and five, something like

[Peter Rosenberg]

that, similarly slow start. And they got it right. But looking at that roster, don't tell me that anybody. And the year before, nobody, nobody thought, well, this Mets team, we don't know

[Alan Hahn]

what they're going to be. You knew exactly what they were supposed to be.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That was a really good team. That it was. You knew it would take. You don't know what this team is.

[Don Hahn]

I lived through 86. And there was panic when they got up to the slow start. There was panic in 98 with the Yankees, remember? I remember when they got up to a slow start in the West Coast. It happens. Not saying panic. Keep an eye. Tons of calls to get to. And we will. But Peter, we've got a final four.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah, listen, again, I haven't been thrilled and super impressed by the way people have shown their respect or lack thereof for drop madness this year. This is frankly and honestly one of the greatest final fours of all time. And I hope you guys will go to DHR on ESPN on Twitter. And I think a big problem is guys, I think a lot of people are not as active in Twitter as they once were, given that it's a cesspool with horrible losers. So I understand it. But we are here, the final four. We have the one seed from the flubs. Don's commercial interrupting Don on a Rosenberg

[Don Hahn]

with you until seven

[Don La Greca]

up against the two seed from the fly funny region. You ass.

[Don Hahn]

You got the job y ass.

[Don La Greca]

Oh man. Don vers Don on the left side of the bracket. On the right side we have the spunky two seed out of the troubling region. You suck pic up against what's been a dominant one seed from the nether region. This is college football. Excuse me.

[Rich Eisen]

This is college football.

[Don La Greca]

I still, I still laugh. I still laugh to this day. Just four great drops all vying to cut down the nets. Go to DHR on ESPN on Twitter and vote right now in our final four.

[Don Hahn]

Garland was a little Canadian there for a second because there he is dying and still managed to say excuse me,

[Don La Greca]

that you know what, super polite, very

[Don Hahn]

underrated about that drop. So, so vote heavy. And then we'll of course have the championship coming up on Monday.

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[Podcast Announcer]

thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.

[Don La Greca]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Podcast Announcer]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want to. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Don Hahn]

Just like the New Jersey Devils protect their home ice, Viking Pest Control protects your home. And I know because I use Viking in my own place. As the pest control provider and proud partner in the New Jersey devils. Viking brings 45 years of trusted experience and expert service to keep ants, cockroaches, stinging insects, rodents and even mosquitoes out of your zone. Their local team builds a personalized game plan that actually works. And when you bundle pest control with mosquito services, you score big. Savings one call, one company. Total peace of mind. Visit vikingpest.com protecting your home inside and out. Yankees threatening to add to their four two lead as they've got the bases loaded and one out. So we're keeping an eye on that. Mets lose last night 72 to the Giants, 3 and 7 to start the year. Knicks play the Bulls tonight. Devils did the Islanders a favor last night, beating up on the Washington Capitals.

[Alan Hahn]

That was quite a game. Jack had a couple of goals and he throws out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium. Living the dream.

[Don Hahn]

First five point night of his career. So I'd say, you know, it's all the people, it's if they end up and again, you can't forget about what happened on on losing to the rangers.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes. On Tuesday, 4:1.

[Don Hahn]

But if Jack continues to play the way he's playing, that's gonna, that's gonna put the organization on notice. Like, well what if he had been healthy all year? And I wonder if that stops them from doing anything catastrophic because missing roster wise or any anything wise like do You. I don't know what they were planning on doing. I don't have any inside information. But let's say they were going to let Keef go or think about the possibility of Fitzgerald not coming back. Oh, you mean making a big time trade. Like, do you look at and go, walt, you know what? If Luke and Jack had stayed healthy, we'd be a playoff team. Look at this. We'd be going to the playoffs with one of the hottest players in the league. I think you got to see the forest through the trees that you get paid for. And you shouldn't get sucked in by a run when you're already kind of almost mathematically eliminated. But he certainly has played well. Islander's got a game tonight. It's almost like a must win every night for them. So their playoffs have already started. So it's a big weekend of sports Final Four. Not just ours, but the actual Final Four. Judges up right now. I said bases load. I'm sorry. Second and third, two outs.

[Alan Hahn]

Two on. Two outs.

[Don Hahn]

Three.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Two.

[Alan Hahn]

So he's already got a home run. He also has a strikeout today. It's just one of those like, can Judge get on a roll type of questions.

[Anthony]

I'm watching last year's opening day.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. Anthony's so far behind that I'm just going to keep my mouth shut about what just happened. And let me just.

[Don Hahn]

You got a layout today?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, I'm sorry.

[Anthony]

You're ahead. Listen, everybody. Everybody's ahead of the studio, and I

[Don Hahn]

think I can safely say now I'm not. Judge has walked.

[Don La Greca]

I'm.

[Don Hahn]

You're.

[Don La Greca]

You'll be happy to know Anthony.

[Anthony]

And here comes the pitch. That would be the ball.

[Don La Greca]

Let me see if. About me. Hold on.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, you still don't have it at Peter.

[Don La Greca]

I. I just saw. Judge just took a strike.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, my goodness.

[Don Hahn]

I take it back. All right. Yeah.

[Anthony]

Peter reacts to everything that happens in the baseball game.

[Don La Greca]

Hold on, hold on. I got you. Let me see. Hold on. Here's.

[Rich Eisen]

All right.

[Don La Greca]

Judge walked.

[Don Hahn]

All right, you know what?

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, my God.

[Don Hahn]

Let's leave it to the professionals. Okay? We'll let you know.

[Anthony]

What inning is it for you, Alan? You're still in the bottom of the sixth, right?

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Anthony]

Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right.

[Don La Greca]

Almost done. But here's the. I don't understand. Don. You have DirecTV, right?

[Don Hahn]

Yes.

[Don La Greca]

So why, if Don has DirecTV, would my DirecTV stream be that much further behind?

[Anthony]

Streaming's even worse.

[Don La Greca]

But it doesn't make sense. It just doesn't make sense.

[Don Hahn]

Well, I gotta tell you, you know, we complain about the streaming, and a lot of it's just, you know, get off my lawn. I'm an old man. I don't want to have to learn new technology. And the other one that I think makes sense is that you can't just hit last channel. And, you know, it's not as easy to go from app to your cable or satellite. But the biggest thing is when you're so far behind and you have an app that gives you alerts. Oh, no, terrible judge. Home run. And you're. You're 30 seconds, 40 seconds behind. It's like, no, the problem.

[Don La Greca]

The worst example of that, Don, is for those of us who, like, you know, watch the Ticket on YouTube TV, which is also essentially, you know, it's a stream of the ticket or whatever. That's all the time. Whenever you get a score update on a Sunday, I'm watching the game and it's been. It's been ruined for me.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Let's just.

[Don La Greca]

Let's just have an honest conversation that the streaming system is, you know, the perfect encapsulation of capitalism in America. It is. It. People like Michael Cash love this. It is. Remember, Don, it started under the guise of, here's what we're going to do. We got this system now, instead of having this whole, oh, you don't want this big, bulky, expensive cable system with all your channels. No, no, no. You pay for the things you want a la carte. But here's the beauty, Don. You pay a small monthly fee and no commercials. You just get the stuff you want. As it has evolved, they said, you know what we're going to do? We're going to have to charge you a little bit more. Here's the unfortunate thing.

[Amazon Hub Delivery Announcer]

We're.

[Don La Greca]

We know you love our service, but, Don, we can't do 999. We're not making any money. We're going to up it to about 1499. You know what? On second thought, we're also going to go ahead and add back in the commercials that were the reason you left in the first place. So now instead of having cable, we just have more channels that all have commercials that we pay for, and we get less television, probably for it.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. So it almost feels like it's just a different way of giving away your

[Don La Greca]

money, but worse, I think worse, more complicated, more different bills. Easier to lose track of which things you have. You're like, Alan, you have that experience. We go, oh, my God, I just realized I'm still paying for blank. I haven't watched Paramount plus in four years.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. Right. It's like a gym membership.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, no, trust me, that does come up. But it's the experience part of it that you always wondered, would it be better? Because if I'm already like, remember back

[Peter Rosenberg]

in the day when you got hbo, that meant you just watched a movie with no interruptions. Yep. Now that doesn't exist. Right.

[Alan Hahn]

Like, it's, It's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's just how it snuck back in. So now I'm get. I'm getting hit double. So not only am I paying a

[Alan Hahn]

subscription, but now you're also putting a commercial.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But their claim is, well, cable's the

[Alan Hahn]

same way you pay for a cable service, but they still show commercials.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I just think the thing with sports

[Alan Hahn]

that is frustrating about what we're seeing with the different. With the various streaming services all wanting a piece of it, is that it

[Peter Rosenberg]

a is killing regional sports networks. It's murdering something that was such a

[Alan Hahn]

part of the sports experience. My team, my broadcast team, like all

[Peter Rosenberg]

that stuff right now in major markets. It's finally here in New York. It's not gonna be an issue.

[Alan Hahn]

But in a lot of other places, regional sports networks are going the wayside.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You are going to be in a world soon where your. Your teams broadcast every game are done by the league. And it's. It's not going to have that same kind of feel. So that's out. But like, it's also frustrating that it's not an easy thing. Like cable is to just bounce from

[Alan Hahn]

one thing to another.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Not that they would want you to leave. They don't. It's like bar hopping. That's why a bar says no. We have a. We have a door, a cover charge. Because we don't want you to leave. We don't want you to bounce around. We want you to stay in our place and drink all night here. So it's the same idea, but it does take away from the experience of enjoying. I can watch several games and it's easy to maneuver. Somebody's got to figure that out. And I think we'll complain less. I really do. I think we'll complain less if someone figures out how to make the cable product with streaming. I said it again. The last channel button is the greatest invention in the history of television.

[Alan Hahn]

My TED Talk is over.

[Don La Greca]

And by the way, and it's been killed.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, killed dead.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But don't you agree, like, all it is is about the experience? It's the experience of watching that we. So you made it not just a little bit harder, you Made it exponentially harder. Not only is it I can't find the game, which. Come on, what we all know, we all have the remotes now where you hold it up, you hold down the button and you say, you know, play this game or put on this game. It's not that hard. The hard part is then having to in and out of different apps. That's what's annoying. Yeah, that's all it is. It's just because again, like, where's the game was always something you talked about on cable. That's nothing new to the world. It's more or less just the experience

[Alan Hahn]

and the maneuverability that has been taken away. They've got to fix that.

[Don Hahn]

Well, we open with the Mets and the frustration of being under.500. And when is Mendoza part of the conversation? At 1-800-919-3776. Let's go to Paul in Philly. You get us started off here on Don Hanna. Rosenberg. What's up, man?

[Caller Paul]

Don Hannon. Rosenberg.

[Caller David]

We love the show, as always.

[Caller Paul]

I have a question for Peter and Don specifically. So for Peter, is Don trying to fire Mendoza after seven games? Is that an example of mitigated gall or unmitigated gall? Number one, that's for Peter. And number two, for Don. Why would you even bring him back if you're ready to let him go after seven games?

[Don Hahn]

Well, Paul, I never said let him go. I said when is he now on notice? Because you know that if they don't turn it around, they're going to fire, right? There's no trade to make. They're not gonna let Stearns go. Cohen's not gonna sell the team.

[Don La Greca]

So.

[Caller Paul]

I know, but it's been a week.

[Don Hahn]

But Paul, why don't you listen to what I'm saying? After one week, Paul, why don't you listen to what I said? I'm not saying you fire him now. I'm saying when do we have the

[Peter Rosenberg]

conversation that he's on notice?

[Caller Paul]

You're having the conversation.

[Don Hahn]

No, we're not. We're having the conversation on notice.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I want to ask. Can I ask more questions?

[Don Hahn]

Maybe it may. No. Maybe it's me.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, no, no. I want to ask a question here. It's not you, Don, because I think it's lost in the translation. But I just want to ask, Paul, what about Mendoza tells you after now

[Alan Hahn]

it's three years, Like.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like we've got the guy. What. What about him tells you that, like,

[Caller Paul]

you're not going to change in the past week, if that's your attitude. Why don't you fire him in the office again?

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's not the attitude.

[Alan Hahn]

It's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

This is what happens with teams when there's expectations. And you saw how last year ended. It circled the drain.

[Alan Hahn]

Last year, it was not good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay? It was bad. And things fell apart. You already start the year with your two stars not getting along. He has done nothing to fix that. He has done nothing to even, like, rectify what's going on or figure it out or any of that stuff that. That's noticeable, man. And then on top of it, your team kind of a little bit, like, it's a little slow out of the gate, doesn't look great. And so all Don saying is, you know, he's been around for a couple of years. At some point, there's expectations to the Mets. There's got to be some urgency at the start of the season. And if you're not seeing it, we got to start wondering. You just changed the players. All you. You can't change the players again, can you? No. Now you wonder, do we have the right guy at the helm? It's fair.

[Don La Greca]

I'm going to answer something.

[Don Hahn]

Thank you for the call.

[Don La Greca]

I'm going to call him unmitigated players.

[Alan Hahn]

That's pretty good.

[Don La Greca]

I believe Don's call here is mitigated. I don't think that's not unmitigated. God's very mitigated goal. I understand. I understand what he's saying. I do get what he was trying to say, but I think the piece that he was missing was something Allen just pointed to, but needs to be, like, circled. It's that it's not about, hey, if you're going to have a bad first week, we should fire you.

[Caller David]

I.

[Don La Greca]

If that's what it was, I'd understand what Paul was saying. I think what Alan's trying to emphasize, and Don also, is, remember, last year was a huge disappointment. So they're already going into this year going, hey, year one was year one, saw some good things, brought you back. Year two, we had expectations. We fell completely short of those expectations. We then made a bunch of offseason

[Don Hahn]

moves that we believed could make the

[Don La Greca]

team better and make things more copacetic. We're a week in. Things are not copacetic. We are not getting the camaraderie that we bargained for. You're not doing that part. And this team looks bad offensively. Peterson was bad last night, was getting bashed from the second the game start. It's not going great. We are going to have a Conversation. To Don's point, if we get to guys. And so you asked the question. I'll answer for you, Don. I think we get out of the first month and this team is 6, 7 games below.500, it's already a conversation.

[Caller David]

That is it.

[Don Hahn]

The conversation we could have very easily if I. If we wanted to had this conversation the day before opening day. Yeah. Hey, you know, if this team gets off to a slow start, when do we start talking about Mendoza? Because they made the player changes. All right? The general manager hasn't been here that long, so the obvious spotlight is going to be okay. Carlos, we gave you a team.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

What are you going to do? But you didn't say that because you don't want to be negative before the season even starts. So now you start three and four, and now I just want to have a conversation. Okay. When do you want to start to take a look at maybe a managerial change? And I said, well, maybe it's May 1st. Nobody's saying to do it now. That'd be silly. We're only seven games in.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

But because they didn't get off to a great start, it now becomes a conversation about when are they going to turn it around and when will they pull the trigger? Because the only thing for them to do if they're going to try to make change is to let the manager go. There's no more big deals to make. They made all the big deals. They made all the roster decisions. So now it's up to the manager to work with what he's got. So, clearly, seven games is a ridiculous time. But at three and four, it's time to start saying, all right, when is the time? And I think at May 1, where you've played 31 games and this team is, you know, I don't know, whatever the record's going to be, you know, It's. If it's 15 and 16, that might be okay.

[Alan Hahn]

Really? Maybe 15 and 16 you feel all right.

[Don Hahn]

But if it looks exactly the same over the first 30. Yeah. Then maybe. Maybe that's time. Maybe you wait to June 1st. I don't know.

[Rich Eisen]

Rich Eisen here. The April 15th tax deadline is coming fast, but don't worry. Hand off your taxes to a TurboTax expert today. You know how April feels. Everything speeds up. Games matter more. Hoops and hockey schedules tighten. Your phone won't stop buzzing. And somewhere in the middle of it all, there's that quiet little reminder.

[Don Hahn]

Taxes.

[Rich Eisen]

You'll get to it tonight or tomorrow or after the weekend. And if you handle it the old way. You're refreshing your inbound inbox like it's breaking news. Waiting, wondering, hoping. Everything squared away. That's a lot of mental bandwidth. With Intuit TurboTax Expert full service, you can match with a dedicated expert who understands your specific tax situation and handles your taxes for you start to finish. You can do it all online or meet in person at one of their new tech enabled store locations, have your tax forms imported directly into the app and hand anywhere everything off to your TurboTax expert while they work to get you every dollar you deserve. You can go about your normal routine, giving you time back to focus on what actually deserves your attention. Like rooting for your team to make the playoffs. April 15th is not waiting people. Visit turbotax.com and hand off your taxes to a TurboTax expert today.

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[Peter Rosenberg]

So good, so good, so good.

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[Peter Rosenberg]

How did I not know Rack has Adidas?

[Alan Hahn]

Cause there's always something new.

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[Podcast Announcer]

thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don La Greca]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Podcast Announcer]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Don Hahn]

I don't want to ruin it for anybody on an app, but Ben Rice is home now. 62 Yankees Peter, look up.

[Anthony]

Ben Rice just told me.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah,

[Peter Rosenberg]

there's a rope too.

[Alan Hahn]

He just ripped it. Great. The ball definitely not carrying if it's gets up in the air.

[Don Hahn]

But yeah, you get a line drive,

[Alan Hahn]

you Get a line drive. It's going. He's had a good start to the season, man.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't. I know he's got a couple of

[Alan Hahn]

strikeouts today, but he's had a good start. Good to see.

[Don La Greca]

Got himself a nice sponsor, nice endorsement, you know, offseason, turn around hitting.

[Alan Hahn]

How great is that, too? It's just the synergy of it is just too good.

[Don La Greca]

I mean, it's. It's almost like if you don't do it, you're an idiot. Right?

[Alan Hahn]

That's fair point.

[Don La Greca]

How do you not do it?

[Don Hahn]

No, it's so perfect. 1-809-19-3776. Talking about the 3 and 4 Mets, as opposed to soon to be 6 and 1 Yankees. Nick, on Staten island, you're on ESPN New York. Nick. Nick. Nick. All right, listen. Weed kicks in early. David is in. Elizabeth, you're on ESPN New York. Hi, David.

[Caller David]

What's going on, fellas? What up? Rosenberg, Radio Hollywood Hun and Don.

[Don La Greca]

What up, my guy?

[Peter Rosenberg]

What's up?

[Don Hahn]

What up, fellas?

[Caller David]

Don, let's talk about our club, our ball club. All right, what I want to say is this. I see Simeon is struggling. We can all see that. And the bats are cold right now.

[Don Hahn]

Yes.

[Caller David]

But I want to know, in your eyes and your point of view, why should they move on from Mendoza not putting words in your mouth?

[Don Hahn]

Well, if let's say we get to May 1st and this team is still under.500, still underperformed, what else are you going to do? Because you've just reimagined this roster. So are you going to just let it sit there and just hope that it turns around? Or do you say that maybe, hey, we're talking about a miserable start to the season, a miserable end to last season. Maybe it's time to do what's left to do and that. See if we can't bring somebody else in here to kind of stir it up. I mean, David, it really comes down to what else am I supposed to do? Do I sit on my hands and then wait till June 1st to see if it turns around or how much? That's why I asked the question, David. How much time do you say, all right, it's just not working. And what can I change to make it work? And there's only one other change to make, and that would be the manager.

[Caller David]

I agree in that standpoint. And I would say, like a timeline would be decent sometime. I would say by May, like mid May, I would be. Like, by then I would know that what we're working with Also, I would say, like, like you were saying with what should they do next is it's going to be the cliches, you know, private meeting, shake up the batting order, things of that nature, and it's probably not going to work. So. You're right about that, Don. See, I see your point of view now.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, I mean, you know, we always look at head coaches and managers getting fired and immediately think that that individual did something wrong. And a lot of times they did. They just weren't good at what they did. But sometimes it's just, hey, I just need a new voice. Need to shake it up a little bit here. Got to figure something out.

[Alan Hahn]

And by the way, you know, you

[Peter Rosenberg]

got a team option for next year

[Alan Hahn]

and then that's it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, that's all that's left. So that is also the thing. I think without giving him an extension, the franchise is making it clear, like, you know, we're still seeing how this works out.

[Don Hahn]

You know, I don't.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's just, it's not a crazy thing to say. When you upended the roster, which clearly you were blaming last season's tailspin on the fact that there are some players that you had to get out of that locker room or you wanted to have a different look to your team. That's what, that's what Stearns kept talking about. The run prevention, more athletic, defensive minded, tough minded kind of team. Okay, great. But it doesn't mean that you're complete and you have everything that you need, including a manager that you think could get you to a World Series, which, by the way, is the end goal. Like, I don't understand why a Mets fan wouldn't, wouldn't demand higher standards and instead just be like, yeah, it's fine, it's fine. No, this season should be about whether or not we have a manager. That's what it should be about.

[Don Hahn]

It is too early to fire Carlos.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Of course it's too.

[Don Hahn]

But I don't think it's too early to have a conversation about when it's not too early anymore.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's what you're saying. You are reminding people right now with a slow start that, number one, he doesn't have a deal after this season. They have a team option. Number two, they. That means they don't know if they have the right guy. They want to find out. So they've already changed up the roster. Number three, they're not going to make any more massive changes. So the next thing you're looking at is, do we have the right guy at the helm. And you are reasonably stating that at some point the spotlight is going to get a lot hotter on the manager.

[Don Hahn]

And then you had mentioned the club option at the end of the year, which means if they miss the playoffs, he's going to get fired.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No question.

[Don Hahn]

So at some point you're going to decide, let's see if we can salvage this season. Apparently Nick was in a tunnel, but he's out.

[Alan Hahn]

Good.

[Don Hahn]

And he's back on Don on a Rosenberg.

[Caller Paul]

What's up guys? I'm sorry I wound up calling before going through the Lincoln Tunnel instead of

[Don Hahn]

after, but that's our fault.

[Caller Paul]

I. I don't see how if we get rid of Mendoza, that's really going to like change how, how the players produce. The manager's not out there swinging the bat. He's not out there forgetting that we have one out or getting picked off at first. Like even just having beef in the clubhouse.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's amazing that this is the perspective when Yankee fans are blaming Boone for

[Alan Hahn]

everything that happens with this team.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, one thing I want to ask though, Nick, is you don't.

[Caller Paul]

I don't get it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I get it. All right, but. But what I want to ask though, Nick, is do you wonder though about the Lindor Soto thing and who else is going to step in and fix that or if that is a problem? Don't you think that's on the manager to say, hey guys, like we can't keep doing this, like it's a bad look.

[Caller Paul]

I wonder why he's even still in leadoff. It's every single year he goes 1 in 30. Oh and 36 for 45. Like every single year he gets off to a slow start. But why is he still lead off? I get that he had three walks and three run scored the other day. Whatever the case may be, when you look over the years, it's proven that Lindor has sort of been a clubhouse cancer for a lack of a better term. That problems with McNeil. He's had problems with Nimmo and Alonzo on their politics.

[Don Hahn]

Well, Nimmos denied that, but. But no, there's been enough stuff here. But he also has performed. But I love the touchy feely Met fan when it comes to the manager. Yeah, I just find it interesting then when they were so fundamentally sound over Buck on when Buck started it was like, oh, Buck got credit for it. But now the Mets are, you know, not fundamentally sound and making a lot of mistakes or forgetting things and it's like, oh, well, it's on the player. It's not on the manager. I understand. And Peter said it earlier, he can't hit for me, can't pitch for him, but he does serve some purpose. And I think the notice is too early, but at some point the conversation has to be had. Well, Yankees will be on the table shortly. They're in the eighth inning up six to two. And we talked about the Mets. We're going to get into some Knicks and we got fraud alert Friday coming up at 4:30. But Jordan Ronan had some very interesting things to say earlier today on dpa Tron Rothenberg. So we're going to dive into that. You know the draft is right around the corner today, April 3rd. So we're only 20 days away from the draft. So interesting things about neighbors about who they may pick with the fifth overall pick. So we'll hear that coming up next. Don on a Rosenberg at 7. Then it's Ty Butler on ESPN New York.

[Alan Hahn]

And you know, before we go, I do want to tell everybody about my good friends at rings end because I

[Peter Rosenberg]

had Andrew come by the house yesterday and do some measuring which is again the exciting part of a house project is when they show up, they start measuring. You start getting the idea of what's going to happen, how it's going to happen.

[Alan Hahn]

And, and we're looking forward to it. Now listen, I want to tell you

[Peter Rosenberg]

about Ring's End because when you are looking for upgrades, updates to your house, you need some work done at your house. You want the best products possible. That's what Ring's End does. So we're replacing some old windows and we're putting in a new big picture window as well. And Ring's End is who I chose. Why? Because they work with pro contractors who build and remodel for a living.

[Alan Hahn]

That's why the pros trust them.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So I can trust them too.

[Alan Hahn]

And so can you.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And they have premium brands, not just in windows, everybody. It's doors, decking, paint, lumber, kitchen, all the things that you need for your house. You want to get a project done at your house. You want to get the best products possible. You want to use the highest end type products in this project. This is why you want to go to Rings end. They'll do it right because they don't

[Alan Hahn]

need to do it over.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And they're not a national change. They have regional expertise. They have eight full service lumber yards in Connecticut and Westchester county and 12 freestanding paint centers as well. They're family owned and operates since 1902. They've been around. They have deep Northeast roots. You want to work with them just

[Alan Hahn]

like the local builders.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Work with them as well. And if you can't make it to a store, just shop [e-mail] that's ringsend.com.

[Podcast Announcer]

thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't want to know how the

[Podcast Announcer]

sausage is made, man.

[Alan Hahn]

I just want to know. It's good.

[Podcast Announcer]

Hear more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN News York app, and your smart speakers from 30 for 30 podcasts.

[Don Hahn]

Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami, gunned down the key to this case.

[Alan Hahn]

It's Brian.

[Don Hahn]

An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody. This might be a hit.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You want the truth? They just want a conviction. Being placed under arrest.

[Don Hahn]

We had a killer amongst us.

[Rich Eisen]

Murder at the U. Listen now.