Hour 1: Fried Injury Concern

Summary

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Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 1: Fried Injury Concern

Date: May 13, 2026
Hosts: Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg
Podcast: ESPN New York

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Episode Overview

This episode tackles the immediate concerns for New York baseball, most notably the injury scare to Yankees ace Max Fried and the ongoing problems (and brief spark) for the Mets. The hosts debate risk assessment in building rosters, the logic behind investments in pitchers versus everyday players, challenges of rebuilding the Mets, and whether optimism is warranted for fans. The episode is a blend of sharp sports analysis, classic ESPN New York banter, and signature humor.

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Main Topics & Key Segments

1. Yankees’ Max Fried Injury: Major Concern

[04:19–09:32]

• Breaking News: Max Fried, Yankees' starting pitcher, left the game with “left elbow, posterior soreness.” Exiting in the third inning, he'll undergo further imaging.

• Immediate Reactions:

  • Don and Peter raise the alarm, bringing up the specter of Tommy John surgery.
  • Skepticism toward teams not giving thorough MRIs to expensive pitchers.

  “You’re paying these guys, like, $40 million a year. Find things. Let’s not ignore.” – Don Hahn [05:04]

• Pitcher Risk & MLB Logic: Don and Peter criticize MLB's “backwards” approach—willingness to hand out enormous contracts to pitchers (who often get hurt quickly), while resisting big deals for everyday players.

  • “Why do we give all this money to pitchers just to watch them get hurt? They all get hurt. It's amazing.” – Don Hahn [07:29]

• Pitching Depth: The hosts note the Yankees' remarkable pitching depth (with Garrett Cole returning) but stress that this is essential, not a luxury—because injuries are inevitable.

  • “Not for the embarrassment of riches but because you’re gonna need that depth because somebody’s gonna get hurt.” – Don Hahn [07:14]

2. Mets: Alvarez Injury, AJ Ewing Debut & Spark of Hope

[10:14–18:00], [23:41–24:56]

• Catcher Francisco Alvarez Hits IL: Mets lose Alvarez to a meniscus tear.

  • Humor and sympathy for the everyday toll on catchers.
  • Alan calls catching an “underrated, difficult, scary, dangerous, annoying, detrimental to your body position.” [11:44]
  • Learning moment: “Tools of Ignorance” nickname for catcher’s gear is explained by Don. [14:19]

• AJ Ewing Call-Up:

  • The Mets call up their second-best prospect, AJ Ewing, an infielder.
  • Ewing has an electric debut (triple, multiple RBIs), sparking the Mets to a 10–2 win over the Tigers.
  • Emphasis on searching for “something tangible” for a struggling Mets offense.

  “You call up a kid, you score 10 runs, you win a game. Now you got my attention.” – Don Hahn [17:15]

• Ewing’s Postgame Comments:

  • “It definitely beat my expectations...it’s undescribable what it feels like to play out there in a big league stadium.” – AJ Ewing [23:49]

• Manager Carlos Mendoza on Ewing:

  • Impressed by Ewing’s calm, controlled at-bats: “Pretty much perfect at the plate today...” [24:16]

• Mets' Recent Struggles:

  • Still near the NL cellar.
  • Multiple injuries, underperforming signings, and the struggle to find a sustainable spark.
  • “You're the worst team in baseball. I need something tangible.” – Don Hahn [16:37]

• Comic Relief:

  • Running joke about “bark at the park” games and the Baja Men’s career. [17:44–20:24]

3. Pitcher Contracts, Injury Risk, and Team-Building Logic

[06:22–09:32], [25:36–32:21]

• Pitcher Injury ‘Risk Assessment’:

  • Heated debate: Are teams right to bet on pitchers with checkered injury histories?
  • The analytics approach argues for statistical probabilities, but Don and Peter remain skeptical.
  • “Why are we, like, rolling the dice on people hoping it maybe will hit?” – Peter Rosenberg [27:12]

• Comparing Hitters vs. Pitchers:

  • Consistent everyday players like Pete Alonso rarely get paid for longevity despite reliability; yet fragile pitchers demand massive contracts.
  • Discussion on the “pre-disastered” logic, referencing “The World According to Garp”—i.e., preferring pitchers who've already had their injury (Tommy John) out of the way. [09:14–09:39]

• Analytics vs. Real Life:

  • The hosts acknowledge the unpredictability of baseball health—analytics can say a pitcher is now ‘safe’, but reality often proves otherwise.
  • “Sometimes the 35% of it not happening actually happens instead of the 65%...” – Don Hahn [29:55]

4. Mets: Fixable Season or Lost Cause?

[32:21–40:08]

• State of the Standings:
  • Mets are just a half-game ahead of the Rockies, worst in the NL, and 7.5 games out of a wild card.
  • Alan: “Playoffs? Stop it. How about getting to .500? Like, if you want to have a conversation about the Mets...let's talk.”
• Path Forward:
  • Is an AJ Ewing call-up enough, or does there need to be a bigger shake-up?
  • “You’re asking a 21-year-old kid to be your savior. That’s a shot across the bow of all the players on the roster.” – Don Hahn [35:12]
  • Reinforcements needed at first base, possibly more starting pitchers.
  • The current roster pivots (letting Alonso & McNeil go) have not worked.
  • Caution against waiting for the season to simply “turn around.”
• Why Not Fire the GM?
  • Peter pushes: “Fire the manager, but not the general manager who built this crap?” [48:09]
  • Don resists, noting how difficult it is to judge after one winter and midseason firings rarely work.

5. Day-to-Day Baseball (and Sports Talk) Perspective

[37:25–40:08]

• Baseball is Fickle:

  • Alan: Reflects on how quickly fortunes (and narratives) flip in MLB across a single week.
  • Importance of taking action instead of waiting for trends to self-correct.

  “24 hour news cycle needing to talk sports every day as sports talk radio is…making these sound statements about baseball.” – Alan Hahn [37:25]

• Fans' Frustration:

  • If the Mets don’t act, July will mean a sell-off, not contention.
  • Callers join in to debate the philosophy of “natural” squatting (in relation to catchers!) and to encourage Don to return to Rangers hockey broadcasts.

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Notable Quotes by Timestamp

• On risk avoidance in pitcher injury diagnoses:
  “Let’s not be like, half the elderly men in New York who are like, no, if I go to the doctor, they’ll tell me something bad. I’m just not gonna go to the doctor. And all of a sudden, you drop dead at something that they could have cured if you just went to the doctor.”
  — Don Hahn [05:22]

• On why everyday hitters get less love than pitchers in contracts:
  “We don't want to pay Pete Alonso because the last two years of his contract are gonna age. But we'll give a pitcher a billion dollar contract for 100 years and the guy can't last two of the hundred years.”
  — Don Hahn [07:29]

• On analyzing why some players always seem to get hurt:
  “It sounds to me like injury prone is looked upon the same way as hot and due. Right?...Scientifically, why does he always get hurt? I don’t know. He just always gets hurt.”
  — Don Hahn [28:44]

• On Mets' need to act, not hope:
  “I’m frustrated with the people saying it’s early when you’re… not making any changes…You’re kind of telling everybody, I’m not gonna do anything because we will turn it around.”
  — Don Hahn [34:23]

• On Ewing's impact:
  “This is a nice move and maybe it will be something that we look at and go, kind of got things going. But if you think this is the only thing, I don't care how much he rakes...So a lot has to get done, Alan.”
  — Don Hahn [36:40]

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Memorable & Lighthearted Moments

• “Tools of Ignorance” for catchers’ gear: Don’s anecdote about trying every position in high school — “You got to be out of your mind to play that position.” [14:19]
• Baja Men legacy and “bark at the park” as a Mets spark — riffing hilariously on the band’s career and “Who Let The Dogs Out.” [18:00–20:26]
• Squatting and aging: A caller offers unsolicited advice that squatting is good for “us older guys in our 50s.” The hosts joke about the impossibility of catchers’ squats. [45:25–46:10]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:19] Max Fried injury news
• [10:14] Mets: Alvarez’s injury and “tools of ignorance” segment
• [16:32] Mets’ offensive breakout and AJ Ewing call-up discussed
• [23:41] Ewing and Mendoza postgame quotes
• [25:36] Deep dive into “risk assessment” and Mets roster philosophy
• [32:21] Should Mets fans still have hope? Are moves imminent?
• [37:25] Alan on the shifting narrative in NY baseball
• [44:46] Callers weigh in — on squatting and Rangers hockey nostalgia

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Tone & Style

• Classic sports talk: sharp, skeptical, peppered with humor and personal tales.
• Candid, colloquial, pulls no punches—especially regarding team decision-making.
• Balance of real sports analysis and irreverent banter.
• Relatable to passionate fans, layered with inside references and local sports wisdom.

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Summary for Listeners

This is a must-hear episode if you want the real pulse of New York baseball’s present anxiety, why big contracts for pitchers are “ass-backwards,” and what (if anything) might finally wake up the Mets. You’ll get rapid-fire analysis, big laughs, and a window into how passionate, informed, and wonderfully skeptical ESPN New York sports radio can be when it’s at its best.

Transcript

[ESPN Announcer]

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[Don Hahn]

Time I got a divorce my wife and have my kids bleed out because the Giant games on. Otherwise I'm not a real fan.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What kind of fan are you?

[Don Hahn]

Not a good one.

[Alan Hahn]

And Rosenberg, the Peter haters who call stupid. The Peter fans who call very bright.

[Don Hahn]

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

[Podcast Announcer]

This is Don Han and Rosenberg.

[Caller Warren]

The best threesome I've ever heard on

[Podcast Announcer]

ESPN New York and streaming live on

[Don Hahn]

YouTube 300 one of the big city. Don Hahn and Rosenberg with you till 6:30. And then it's the red hot Mets who won six of ten taking on the Tigers a game two of their three game set. What's up boys? Yo, what's up?

[Alan Hahn]

What's up man?

[Don Hahn]

Still waiting on the Knicks. It's gonna be a while. We are now inside a week it looks like because if they do start on Tuesday, today's Wednesday. Get it or closer. We're getting a day closer. They didn't take my idea by the way. They're still here. I've been telling people about my idea. Just get out of dot Such a good idea. Go to like the Stone Mountain, Georgia or something. Rent out a couple of basketball courts and get out of that. Everybody loves the idea, thinks it's fantastic.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I used it today on get up

[Don Hahn]

and what'd they say?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Everybody got a response, was a nod.

[Don Hahn]

You got a nod.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, I mean it was in the middle of a. Of a trouble. Like I kind of went on a tangent off their side and then came back.

[Don Hahn]

See, this is why. Now I've. Now I know why I'm not asked to do tv.

[Alan Hahn]

Go ahead.

[Don Hahn]

Because I might have turned a table over if I had that good of an idea and all I got was a head nod.

[Alan Hahn]

You would have been too much.

[Don Hahn]

I would have just went on a rant. Do you know that? Let's go to the next fight.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You clearly don't watch these shows because that's literally what like Mad Dog does and Kendrick does and Stephen A. Does.

[Don Hahn]

Just nod.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No flip over tables. Go off on tangents. Exactly.

[Don Hahn]

That would work for Did I get any credit for this or you stole it. I'm okay if you stole it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I did steal it. I said it fast, you know. You know what? How fast rap would have been in my ear if I'm like, you know my co host Don legreco on our show, Don Hunt Roseman rap like I'd never get it out.

[Don Hahn]

Rap.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. It is tough in that spot.

[Don Hahn]

And then I would have been like, I think the Knicks should go out of town. Out of town. Because they would say rap in my ear.

[Alan Hahn]

And you start get it, then you go 25amonth.

[Don Hahn]

Five whole years.

[Alan Hahn]

That's how you. Donna Rosemary.

[Don Hahn]

I would have interrupted myself thinking it was a rejoin.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It felt like he was doing Rapping Duke there for a minute.

[Alan Hahn]

It really did. Peter. Daha daha, da da da. You know, I was on. I was on the radio with your brother today, Don.

[Don Hahn]

You were. I was on the radio?

[Alan Hahn]

That's right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Which one?

[Alan Hahn]

On Pro Wrestling Nation 24 7.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Of course.

[Alan Hahn]

I did the big show. Busted open the big show with Dave and he told me that you guys spoke last night and he. He said that he. He told you that you do need to watch.

[Don Hahn]

Beyond that, he was also a tad bit surprised I hadn't seen it because you're like, does anybody know me? I'm not a wrestling.

[Alan Hahn]

It's not about that, though. It's about. You like good movies, though, and you like. Right. Documentaries.

[Don Hahn]

See, that's the direction he went in. It's like you. But you love documentaries.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, yeah, it's.

[Don Hahn]

I didn't know about it. Now I know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now you know.

[Alan Hahn]

I'll give you the weekend, okay? I'm going to give you the full weekend. That's till Monday, down to you and me.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But you got what? You got nothing else going on.

[Alan Hahn]

And there's got to be a time when the kids go to bed. You don't get 90 minutes a night ever.

[Peter Rosenberg]

90.

[Don Hahn]

Well, we're in the NHL playoffs. NBA playoffs. I got things I'm watching.

[Alan Hahn]

The Knicks aren't well. Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There is a key game.

[Don Hahn]

I got a little out of here.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I got the NBA. Do you though?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. Don't play till next week.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Cavs and Pistons though, tonight.

[Don Hahn]

See, that's something I'm going to watch. I'm going to say something right now.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Game five.

[Don Hahn]

I'm going to say something right now. This is no reflection on you. I think I've watched more Cavs and Pistons than you.

[Alan Hahn]

I know you have.

[Don Hahn]

I've watched an inordinate amount of that series.

[Alan Hahn]

I Watched.

[Don Hahn]

Not a big basketball guy. I've watched a lot of that. Well, you're doing the work.

[Alan Hahn]

You're preparing for the conference final.

[Don Hahn]

We do have some breaking news already.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Go next. No.

[Don Hahn]

Max Freed left the game today. Yankees are taking on the O's, and it's on prime, so it's a rumor here.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay.

[Don Hahn]

And there was a lot of speculation why he left in the third inning. Well, Brian Hoax says he exited the game with left elbow, posterior soreness. He will be examined by the team physician, Dr. Chris Ahmad, and undergo imaging tomorrow in New York. General soreness. No, don't even joke, because this.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Here we go.

[Don Hahn]

This could be big.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Didn't he get the elbow looked at?

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, but this is what. This is the natural progression of things, right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wasn't that last year?

[Don Hahn]

Yes, but Kay always said something that would drive Peter and I crazy, and he would say it a lot. Well, they don't want to put him in mri. They'd be afraid of what they find. You're paying these guys, like, $40 million a year. Find things. Let's not ignore.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Why wouldn't you want to find.

[Don Hahn]

Let's not be like, half the elderly men in New York who are like, no, if I go to the doctor, they'll tell me something bad. I'm just not gonna go to the doctor. And all of a sudden, you drop dead at something that they could have cured if you just went to the doctor.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, it can't be that.

[Don Hahn]

I don't understand why you hear this. So did they not give a thorough examination just to find out later on it's something bad? I don't know what it is, but it doesn't sound good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, it's not.

[Don Hahn]

No elbow. Because the first thing you think is Tommy John.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, my line is always this. It is something I've said for years. You know, it's like, hey, remember that time you had your elbow checked? Whatever happened to that?

[Don Hahn]

Well, don't check the elbow. They might find something. No, no, Just wait for the arm.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The thing is, is that you had your elbow checked and everything, you know, rest, and you were fine. But it doesn't mean it went away.

[Don Hahn]

No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Doesn't mean it's not still lingering. And that's the part that makes you worry. And so, yes, yes, I was hoping it was a blister, not a bliss.

[Don Hahn]

Now, now, now. Not good news.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No.

[Don Hahn]

But let's just say, for sake of argument, it's really bad. They are built to withstand this, because who's coming? Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Garrett Cole is on his way.

[Don Hahn]

Now you wanted the embarrassment of riches. Yeah, but this is kind of how it works in baseball. When you have seven great pitchers by the end of the season you really only had three because two of them got hurt. One of them never lived up to expectations. You need depth in your rotation. Not for the embarrassment of look how many great pitchers we have. We're never going to lose a game. We might go to a six man rotation because we've got three guys. They're going to be Cy Young award winners. No, it's because somebody's going to get hurt. Somebody's going to go down. It's either going to be out for a couple of weeks or season ending surgery. This is why you get excited about Rodin and Cole. Because not the embarrassment of riches but because you're gonna need that depth because somebody's gonna get hurt. And it might be Max Freed because this is what happens to pitchers. Peter and I would talk about it all the time. Why do we give all this money to pitchers just to watch them get hurt? They all get hurt. It's amazing. Oh, we don't want to pay Pete Alonso because the last two years of his contract are gonna age. But we'll pay. We'll give a pitcher a billion dollar contract for 100 years and the guy can't last two of the hundred years cuz he get what? Why, why is it asked backwards with baseball they won't pay the everyday guy but the pitcher who's bound to get hurt or bound to be ineffective, we'll give him $36 million a year. Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because pitching is very hard to find. Good pitching is very hard.

[Alan Hahn]

And they've worked the whole system, the

[Don Hahn]

pitchers and on top of this is that when they don't get hurt, get, get him out after five and a third because he might get hurt. So I'm paying a guy $36 million to pitch half the game because I don't want him to get hurt because if he pitches more he'll get hurt and then guess what? He gets hurt anyway. We got Jobber rules because we don't want to get the kid hurt.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Guess what?

[Don Hahn]

Guess what got hurt.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, it's weird.

[Don Hahn]

That's why. As much as right now, David Stearns is a pariah in Mets fans eyes because he built a losing team even though the Mets did win yesterday, is because I like the fact he doesn't want to pay pitchers. That makes sense to me. I can wrap my mind around that because there's logic to it. But then he's Illogical. Like, I don't want to pay Alonzo because his contract's going to age poorly. Every pitcher's contract ages poorly because they all get hurt.

[Alan Hahn]

It really does. And if they haven't had it yet, well, that's.

[Don Hahn]

I want them pre disastered. I want to sign only pitchers who already had Tommy.

[Alan Hahn]

Right when you said it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Post disaster.

[Alan Hahn]

No. Yeah, right when you said it. I'll be honest, my brain just went, oh, he hasn't had it yet. Freed's pre Tommy John. That's a problem. Is that fact, like, I, I, that's like the first thing I want to know when you get a picture. Because if he doesn't have it, you're

[Peter Rosenberg]

missing a year on the back of the card.

[Alan Hahn]

It really should. He did have it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. See, it doesn't mean he holds.

[Don Hahn]

It doesn't mean he can't have it again. He did have it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And it's like, how many times?

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

012. Like, you know, but it's less.

[Don Hahn]

2014.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's due repeat offender. Oh, yeah, he's worn that up.

[Don Hahn]

Guys have had, you know. No, seriously, I'm not, I don't even want to joke about it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Don't joke.

[Don Hahn]

No, but it is pre disaster because in what Robin Williams movie was that way back in the late 70s.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, wow.

[Alan Hahn]

A lot of them.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The world according to the world.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. The world according to Garp. They're looking at a house and a plane lands on the roof of the house. He's like, I'll take it. It's pre disaster. Meaning. Right. So obviously that's an exaggeration, but it's, it's 14. I don't even want to speculate, but when an elbow is barky, there's a problem. So Yankees losing today. He left early. So that all of a sudden we're going to open with the Mets, but this all of a sudden becomes a thing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, there was something. Mets. Jake

[Don Hahn]

Francisco Alvarez is on the il meniscus tear. Oh, yeah. Now I have a Tornadiscus, but I'm a radio host, so it doesn't matter. But a catcher. Yeah. Not a good thing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's sitting still also.

[Don Hahn]

Right. He's sitting still in a squat position.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You're sitting in a chair.

[Don Hahn]

Listen, you're doing the work. When we do squats and kickboxing and you say, ow. Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Every time. Okay.

[Don Hahn]

How? How? Because you're taking my girth and asking my two knees to hold on. Right? When you're, when you're squatting, you're doing What?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Taking a what?

[Don Hahn]

My girth.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, yeah.

[Don Hahn]

It's a nice way of saying. Peter will say fat slob. Peter will say. I would say I'm battling obesity. And he would say, you're losing. You were. You were losing.

[Rich Eisen]

Now you're winning.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

So I was trying to be kind. Earth sounds like man. Maybe it's good.

[Alan Hahn]

I've only in the last few months got been able to crouch again. Remember, I tore.

[Don Hahn]

Well, that's basically. You're in the squat.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Come on, look at you.

[Caller Warren]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

What do they say?

[Alan Hahn]

I wouldn't want to stay like this.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No.

[Don Hahn]

When a catcher's standing behind home plate, the manager's gonna. All right, get. Get in the squat.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, they don't really sit like that anymore. It's always one knee down, one leg out. Because they want to frame. They want you. They want you stable.

[Don Hahn]

It's like the butterfly in hockey.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

With the goal. Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

I just want to say something. What an underrated, difficult, scary, dangerous, annoying, detrimental to your body position. Catcher is.

[Don Hahn]

Well, that's why, honestly, you destroy your

[Alan Hahn]

body when you start out doing it. No, it's bad on your knees. I mean, this, this. It's just like a really hard thing to do.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Isn't squatting a natural position for the human body?

[Alan Hahn]

For how long? Well, what do you do for that position?

[Don Hahn]

What, when you're in the womb?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. What are you talking about? That was a crazy take.

[Don Hahn]

No, he's nuts today.

[Alan Hahn]

No, no, I like. I know. I like this. Alan, he's out of his mind.

[Don Hahn]

He's just saying things. He.

[Alan Hahn]

I think he didn't get up today.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's up since 4.

[Alan Hahn]

Anything could be said. But isn't that a natural position for four hours at a time?

[Peter Rosenberg]

What do you mean, squatting?

[Alan Hahn]

Let's do it for the rest of the position.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's brutal.

[Alan Hahn]

Your knees are bent the whole time anyways.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Plus yoga position.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, I mean, temporarily.

[Don Hahn]

Downward dog is not a natural position.

[Alan Hahn]

You don't say that all day.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, but you.

[Don Hahn]

You downward dog doesn't bother me because my shoulders are okay. I'm stretching. Yeah, but the.

[Alan Hahn]

The squatting is tough.

[Caller Warren]

And then.

[Alan Hahn]

And then on top of that, when you. When you. Like when you get to the age where people start throwing hard, like all of a sudden guys are trying to throw at you. 85 miles an hour is squatting and

[Peter Rosenberg]

then standing up and then squatting again. That part.

[Don Hahn]

That's why you always lived. It was the first load management that made sense. No day games after night games. You didn't Want your best hitter to be a catcher because they. They're going to wear down first base.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't even mention how annoying it is getting dressed for the position. Everyone else just walks out there.

[Don Hahn]

You have to get dressed every time. You know what they call the equipment for. You don't know. Catcher.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What's the nickname for the equipment?

[Don Hahn]

Well, I'll tell you the first time I heard it. I played every position in baseball in high school except catcher. So in my last game, they had me catch so I could say that I played every position. I love that.

[Alan Hahn]

What do you mean they like the hall of Fame? Or you mean you said, guys, I want to play. I've never done it before. Like the league, like the powers that BK are like, we've seen that. Mr. LeGretto has never done it. We want to check his box for

[Don Hahn]

the hall of Fame. Coach o' Brien had to give the go ahead.

[Alan Hahn]

Got it. So you said coach had never done this. And he said no.

[Don Hahn]

In high school they keep track of things.

[Alan Hahn]

Not my high school.

[Don Hahn]

Well, they did.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay.

[Don Hahn]

And so I put all the gear on and my dad's watching the game in the. In the bleachers.

[Alan Hahn]

Is what your dad called it? Appropriate prayer.

[Don Hahn]

And I. And I know because I didn't know it at the time. And then I learned it. So I ran over, like dad, they're having me catch it because now I know why they call them the tools of ignorance.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right?

[Alan Hahn]

Wait, that's what they call the.

[Don Hahn]

That's what they call the tools.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You never heard that?

[Alan Hahn]

Never heard that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Tools of ignorance.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. Because you got to be out of your mind to play that position.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Why the hell would you agree to just have somebody throw.

[Alan Hahn]

I can't believe I'm embarrassed. I never heard this. That is because you literally put on this thing, the chest protector. I mean, don't get me wrong, it offers some protection. But if a 90 mile an hour pitch goes, it's killing you.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, the idea is killing you dead.

[Alan Hahn]

The idea is catching.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Supposed to catch it, but you have

[Alan Hahn]

a bad day, you know. Or the knee protection. What if it's slightly off the knee and the pitch comes and hits? It's just.

[Don Hahn]

It's for morons. No, it's rough. It's so rough.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If that's the case, what would they call the goaltending equipment in hockey?

[Don Hahn]

You know, it's funny because at least

[Alan Hahn]

that equipment looks better.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Lacrosse. You got to be out of your mind to be a goalie on court.

[Caller Warren]

The.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, I can't imagine that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Can't be. You can't. But the hockey.

[Alan Hahn]

But let me just say this about hockey pads. Goalie pads look so much more effective. Like legitimately, someone could, you know, Al McInnes could shoot a puck at you in the. If it hits you square in the pad, you're fine. That's not baseball. I don't think that has a square and you're fine. Do you agree?

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, but there's no, there's no hole. There's not supposed to be any holes in the goaltending equipment, Right? There's plenty of holes in the cat exposed area. Yeah, right. That, that you. A foul tip. Well, that's parting guards if it doesn't hit your chest protector.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, the foul is really the part. You have no idea, Matt. It's going to go where it's going to go.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, no, it just, it's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Anyway, so Alvarez.

[Don Hahn]

So Alvarez is out. But we wanted to begin. We told the jimmy switches, I like to call it, if you're trying to get something going. Mets wanted to try to get something going. Their offense has been awful. So AJ Ewing gets called up and you know what? He has a couple of RBIs, has a really good day. And the Met score 10 runs and they win 10 to 2. And is it something? It's one game. Let's see. The Mets actually been playing. Okay, they won a couple of series on the road. But listen, the Tigers aren't bad. Score 10 runs. I mean, you're grasping at straws here. But like finally it's something tangible, right? Like all these Met fans who are like, oh, it's early. Stop. That's nothing. That's air. What does it mean? It's early. So what? It's early. You're bad. So you've got more games to be back.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Stearns even said it's not. You can't say it's early anymore, right?

[Don Hahn]

You can't say.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But there is enough time.

[Don Hahn]

You're at the quarter pole of a race and you're the worst team in baseball. Okay? So I need something tangible. Guys are getting hurt, they can't hit, so they call up a kid who is he? Second best prospect in the organization. I think he was 78th in major league Baseball. So it's a thing. And he ends up having a couple of hits. Big triple. His first hits triple. I mean, how often does that happen? We've seen first hit, home run, my first hit triple, couple of rbi, sparks the Mets and we'll see if it's anything but. Now, now you got something Right. You fire a manager and you win a game. Hey, you got something. You make a big trade, you win a game. Hey, maybe you got something. This is something I want to pay attention to. Let's see if this can be a legitimate spark. You call up a kid, you score 10 runs, you win a game. Now you got my attention. Now, it's not me grasping at straws now. It's maybe this is something we'll see.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So it's a. So it's one player that can change the fortunes a little bit.

[Don Hahn]

And, you know, I saw it while.

[Peter Rosenberg]

While Lou, Bob and Polanco and all them are. Seem like it's still a man, but everybody.

[Don Hahn]

Everybody getting hurt. And the one thing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know what, though? The park at the park thing seems to be working. It's four. No. Now bring your dog to Citi Field and the Mets win. Maybe that's what's got to be.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, finally.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Told you. It always is something, and there it is.

[Don Hahn]

But this. I'd rather this is something. Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, but park at the park.

[Don Hahn]

It's a big thing because you're a Yankee fan.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Bring every. If you don't. If you have a Met game and the dogs aren't there and they lose four. No. And then you have Baha Men come back and seeing who let the dogs see.

[Alan Hahn]

Now he's doing too much.

[Don Hahn]

Are they. Are they still with us? When I say with us, I mean, like, I don't think they've passed.

[Alan Hahn]

We wouldn't know.

[Don Hahn]

Did they music pass? Yeah, that probably midway through the first time the song was played, they music passed.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, I don't think.

[Don Hahn]

And they were dead. They were dead as a doornail when Steve Phillips invited them to the World Series. They were even surprised. Like, they just thought they were being, you know, punked. They thought maybe they were just going to be parking cars. You want us to perform on the field? On the. On the duck for the game. Have you. Sure.

[Alan Hahn]

Have you heard the song?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Listen, whatever you're looking for.

[Don Hahn]

Baja Fresh. Like, did you want the. I don't think it was Baja.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't know if that.

[Don Hahn]

I don't know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Fresh. Is that dead? Yeah. I haven't seen Baja Fresh in a while.

[Don Hahn]

I remember that in the songs with Baldy Walnuts.

[Alan Hahn]

That's how old it is. Baja Fresh.

[Don Hahn]

No, but is it still around?

[Alan Hahn]

No, I don't really think so.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Baja Men.

[Alan Hahn]

Wow.

[Peter Rosenberg]

According to Anthony, they released a song last year, 2025. Really?

[Don Hahn]

Did they. Are music dead? Because we didn't know coming to a voicemail near you.

[Alan Hahn]

Good for them.

[Don Hahn]

I should make fun. You know I can't make music.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They made a song called Smile. Yeah, that's the song.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, we hear some of that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, there's a video and everything.

[Don Hahn]

Let's throw more money away on YouTube.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, YouTube won't hear it. You're good.

[Alan Hahn]

We don't need to hear it, Peter. You don't. Why are we doing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You don't want to hear the music.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't think we want to do the Baja. The Baja man who let the smile out.

[Don Hahn]

Smile, smile, smile, smile, smile.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't know if that's the song.

[Don Hahn]

Well, it could be.

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[Don Hahn]

That's a formula that worked for a little while. By the way.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They're not young. Well, the band was formed in 1977,

[Don Hahn]

but the song came out in 2000.

[Peter Rosenberg]

God bless, right?

[Alan Hahn]

So they'd been put. They'd been grinding for 23 years when they came. When they found who let the dogs out. It took that long to come up with that brilliance.

[Don Hahn]

There's great stories about, like, bands that have, like, amazing albums. And you find out it's like their ninth. That's crazy, though. Who, really?

[Alan Hahn]

I did not know that, Bob.

[Don Hahn]

I think that's what it is.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Hey, it won a Grammy.

[Don Hahn]

That and the electric slide.

[Alan Hahn]

Good for the Baja. Good for the Baja men.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Good for them.

[Don Hahn]

The Baja men. They should.

[Alan Hahn]

Hey, Tone, you want some Baja Fresh? Do you remember that? I was thinking it the whole time, but I truthfully couldn't remember where I knew it from. But in my brain, I just keep going, Baja Fresh, right?

[Don Hahn]

And then it all came together.

[Alan Hahn]

That's poly.

[Don Hahn]

Of course, the things that you discover on Don Han and Rosenberg. Pretty good stuff.

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by thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

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[Don Hahn]

The ultimate Race on Water is coming to New York Sail GP, where international teams go head to head in F50 catamarans flying at over 60 miles per hour, high stakes racing, iconic skyline views and unmistakable buzz of summer in New York City. Kick off your summer with the Mumbadla New York Sales Grand Prix. That's May 30th and the 31st experience the speed, strategy and spectacle of Sail GP. Sail GP like you've never seen it. 1-800-919-3776. Monica McNutt will join us a little bit later on in the show, her weekly spot on the Wednesday. We also have my list coming up at 4:30. We wanted to play a little bit of AJ Ewing. A good debut and we'll see if this can kind of spark the Mets into something deeper here. They certainly needed it had a triple and it was pretty cool too. You saw some Met fans wearing Patrick Ewing jerseys and so people are kind of getting the connection. And he said he could feel the atmosphere.

[Alan Hahn]

I could feel it for sure.

[Carlos Mendoza]

It's great.

[Don Hahn]

The atmosphere is awesome here and did your first big league game exceed expectations?

[Alan Hahn]

It definitely beat my expectations. It's undescribable what it feels like to play out there in a big league stadium. It's great man.

[Don Hahn]

And what stands out about your debut?

[Alan Hahn]

Probably the win at the end. Looking around, when I got in first base for the first time, that was when it kind of hit.

[Don Hahn]

See that I like.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

You know, you can get all caught up in yourself, in your moment, but you know what? The end of the day, it's a win. So he gets it. It sounds like he certainly gets it. Yeah. Carlos Mendoza, his thoughts on Ewing's debut.

[Carlos Mendoza]

Pretty impressive. It's just from the very beginning, the first at bat, the quality of the at bat, that takes. Not panicking, just under control. He got ahead and still is able to take pitches close to the strike zone. And just the way he was taking them, there was rhythm. He's on time, like, pretty good idea. Obviously something that we've seen in the past, the way he controls the strike zone. But, man, pretty much perfect at the play today, and it was just good to see that.

[Don Hahn]

And finally, Alvarez on the il and Carlos talked about his injury.

[Carlos Mendoza]

He's going to get an MRI tomorrow and see what we got. Yeah, we just got to wait. He didn't look good on that swing. Obviously, we saw it right away. You know, he came out and. But we gotta wait.

[Don Hahn]

So that's what's happening with the Mets keeping an eye on the Yankees as well as they're in Baltimore and the Freed stuff. So a lot on the table, baseball wise. Let me.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Let me on the Mets, though, Don, I think coming. When we come back, there should be something. Well, no, actually, we're not. We already came back.

[Don Hahn]

We're back.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't know if he's okay. I'm not okay. No. I looked up at the clock and I saw the time and I'm like, wait, are we late or are we early? We were early.

[Don Hahn]

We were early. There you go.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There's something.

[Don Hahn]

Think all this was performative?

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, not at all. Not at all. No. Because I was. I was thinking.

[Don Hahn]

Worried you guys are into.

[Alan Hahn]

It's starting to get a problem.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I know. I was. I was. I was thinking of something I want to discuss with you. Related.

[Don Hahn]

Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That, you know, there is a lot of time left, but it's not early in the season. Right.

[Don Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And so things have to turn. There is no move to make if you're stern. This was the only move you could have made to do something right, to give the team. I don't know if this is even like, the guys in the room don't see a guy like Ewing, a kid walk in the room and go, oh, let's go. I'm ready to play. Right. Like, it doesn't really happen that way, but you do need something to just send you in the right direction because you have so many guys hurt and Stern said something that I'm curious how you feel about. It's the way he worded it too. That really bothered me. When he talks about risk assessment, that's the phrase he used. And it's about signing players who have an injury history and hoping that it's behind them or you'll catch lightning in the bottle. Because, yeah, they've had some injuries, but, you know, like, it's. He's well when he's hell, but he's sick all the time. Well, let's hope that this is when he's well and we'll. We'll get. Get the benefit of it. Problem is, is that both guys injured right away. And so risk assessment is that like, how does that make you feel? When that's what the GM is basically suggesting is, hey, you know what, maybe we need to rethink our risk assessment on some of these players because they have a history of being hurt. We brought them in and they got hurt.

[Don Hahn]

But that. That's also analytical. They look at it and go, all right, that's what I mean. Odds.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Doesn't that bother you?

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, it bothers me because why are we.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Why are we like, rolling the dice on people hoping it maybe will hit?

[Don Hahn]

You are a $300 million payroll.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Why would you do that?

[Don Hahn]

They don't look at it. You see, you look at it at rolling the dice. They look at it as very strategic. We're going to do the work. When guys suffer this injury, what percentage of those guys get hurt again? All right, 65% of the time they never get hurt again. Let's bring it in. It's like the old argument that Peter would have and I would have with Andrew Gundling about Wentz being injury prone. Right. Maybe the analytics tell you that he's had these injuries. He's not going to get injured again. 82% of the players that have had this injury don't get injured again. Except he keeps getting hurt. Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because there's other injuries, not this injury. It's. Maybe there is a player who just gets like Lindor. You can't really. Lindor having a calf. All right, like, that guy doesn't get hurt all the time.

[Don Hahn]

I know, but. But in.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But you know, that'll happen, but you can't.

[Don Hahn]

I am not.

[Peter Rosenberg]

See, to me, when you have a player who doesn't always get hurt, but he happens to get hurt, what you're creating is now a situation like you just did, where you have the random injury, but you also have injury riddled players on the team that Creates now three players hurt rather than just one.

[Don Hahn]

But, you know, I don't know this for a fact because, again, I'm not an analytic guy, but it sounds to me like injury prone is looked upon the same way as hot and dew. Right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Don Hahn]

That just seems like, well, he's injury prone. Well, explain to me why. Because he always gets hurt. But scientifically, why does he always get hurt? I don't know. He just always gets hurt. Well, no, that's not a thing. We need to know why. And the odds are telling us that, no, he's not going to get hurt. Guess what? He gets hurt again.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So he said, certainly, we know we're taking a level of risk when we bring players in with injury histories. We're feeling that risk right now. And it hasn't helped that a number of our players have gotten hurt at the exact same time. It's nothing. Oh, it's not something we necessarily anticipated. Whoever anticipates that.

[Don Hahn]

No, you don't anticipate it, but you got to be prepared for it by saying, hey, this guy is injury prone.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So you have the injury.

[Don Hahn]

I'm not going to get him.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So two guys who have injury history come in and they get hurt. Then the other guy you bring in, Bob Shette, who you brought in late, who signed a contract that screams, I really only want to be here one year because I want to test the market again. Can't hit normally. A good hitter can't hit. Like, honestly did every single move like, that didn't work. That didn't work. That didn't work. What kind of batting average, never mind to the players, what kind of batting average does Stearns have off this offseason when he vows this will be a better team?

[Don Hahn]

I know he vowed it because that's what the numbers say. But you know What? Sometimes the 35% of it not happening actually happens instead of the 65% that says it's not gonna happen. There was. There was something that was going around social media. I forget what. The exact number. Like, Polanco's missed 26 games. No, that's how many games Alonzo missed his entire MET career. But apparently, when analyzing Alonzo, I don't. The risk assessment of his contract was, it's not gonna age well. Even though the guy never gets hurt.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

The fact that you never get hurt and the fact that you always get hurt, apparently, that's not part of their calculation.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Bart and I had him on a couple of years ago, I think. I think the year it probably wasn't I don't think it was rookie year. I think it was the. Yeah, yeah, we had him on. I don't, I can't remember the exact time, but it was after.

[Don Hahn]

I remember when Biggie came on. Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And he had a line that really we were both like, whoa. When we were talking about him and Judge.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, I remember that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And him saying, I pride myself on being built to last. I pride myself on being built to last.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That was his whole thing like I'm available for my team. And that's when Judge, member of Judge was always

[Alan Hahn]

consider.

[Don Hahn]

Here's the thing to kind of defend Stearns is that, you know, if you were doing a risk assessment on Judge three years ago, you'd be like, that's true. I don't know if we're going to be able to. That is true that he seems to

[Alan Hahn]

get hurt by the way.

[Don Hahn]

And now it worked out like he's, he's never gets hurt again. And now he's had a couple of MVPs and breaking records. Like it just shows you that there is sometimes a flukiness to it where you're trying to catch like the guy's been hurt. But we're gonna go under the assumption he's not going to get hurt. And then they looked at Alonzo and we're gonna go into the assumption that he's going to get hurt. Like I don't know what they use to figure that out. But yeah, it worked with Judge. It hasn't worked with Polanco. Right. I don't know. But there would have been a time where you would have said risk assessment says don't give Judge a long term contract. The guy's always hurt.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

But those are what a mistake that would have been.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Of course it would. Yes.

[Alan Hahn]

Baseball's so weird, by the way.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But here's the, here's the question that I really want get to now is like, okay, so you bring up a, your, your, your top prospect who happens to have pushed through quickly through single, double, triple. Right. Right into the majors. He had a good debut. It's one little piece where it's like, okay, a little bit of something, but this is not trade season yet. Everybody look at the standings. Everybody sucks. Everybody's trying to figure it out.

[Don Hahn]

I know, it's amazing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Could you say that while it is getting late because the standings look the way they look and it's so top heavy that being four games out of the last wild card spot really isn't that bad and that they could if now you have to do some things with the roster that make you better because you made mistakes. Couldn't you just say that there is reason to believe, like, you know what? It really isn't over. Like, I spent time when we were, when I was coming in, I spent some time on the Mets and I looked at everything and I said, you know what? As much as it's easy to just say, oh, they suck it. So, you know, the usual typical sports talk radio stuff, blow it up, fire everybody. In all honesty, and I'm not messing with you, Don, there is still a chance that if Stearns does a couple of things right, that this thing could end up turning to a point where they can be competitive in time to try to make a wild.

[Don Hahn]

But you just said something, doing a couple of things. All right, now you've done something.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, he did one thing, but that's not it. He's got to do more trade. Season's not here.

[Don Hahn]

Well, it's too early. As if to say, well, let's not do anything. Don't not fire the manager. Let's not give up on these players just yet. They'll turn it around.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's.

[Don Hahn]

That to me, is folly. If. Yes, there is time. If you do something about it now, they chose not to fire the manager. We'll see if that works out. But bringing up Ewing, maybe making a deal as we get deeper into the season, moving some things around, doing something instead of just sitting there and waiting for the fire to start.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, why would firing the manager. Why would firing the manager be the answer when the roster is screaming we are not good enough? What manager is going to make something work?

[Don Hahn]

Because I'm based off of what. What Stearns is saying is he thinks the team's good enough. Right?

[Alan Hahn]

He said, we did play the audio yesterday. He's saying, I'm looking at the roster. This roster is good enough to win.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But he's also not. Matt, he's not blaming the manager.

[Don Hahn]

He's not right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because he did say, I'm not gonna frustrate.

[Don Hahn]

That's why I'm frustrated with the people saying it's early when you're. You're not making any changes. You're not changing the manager. You're saying that the roster's fine. So you're kind of telling everybody, I'm not gonna do anything because we will turn it around. But that's not what happened. He brought up. I think he's pointing the thumb.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's not pointing the finger. I think Stearns was pointing the thumb. It looked to me like this would work, this should work, but it's not. I got to do something about it. I can't blame the manager. I got to make some moves. And we have to reassess our risk assessment with some of these moves.

[Don Hahn]

But he's claiming himself. But we're going to have to see more because I don't think a 21 year old's maybe he could say, I saw Jeffries get hot in 88 and help them get 100 days.

[Peter Rosenberg]

My question to you, Don, is what? What else needs to be done? You're the Met fan, you know this team. What else has to happen?

[Don Hahn]

We'll go out and find a first baseman.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like is Vientos a real salad? Like, do you start buying into Vientos?

[Don Hahn]

I don't know how long I've got to wait for Vientos to turn it around. Wait for Alves to turn around. Now he's hurt, now he's on the il. You got to start addressing some of these things. Admit that, hey, maybe I got it wrong, that Polanco is going to be the guy to replaces Alvarez. I'll go replaces Alonso. Let's go on and get another first baseman, right? You know, mania is not going to turn it around. Let's get another pitcher. Let's start doing some things here. Now the one thing I disagree with you about Ewing is where you said, you know what, the veterans or players on the team aren't paying attention when you're not hitting. And you're asking a 21 year old kid to be your savior. That's a shot across the bow of all the players on the roster saying I gotta go get a kid to try to wake your ass up. Wouldn't you be insulted if you're a veteran, like you're not hitting and now some 21 year old is supposed to try to save the day. Wake up guys, because you know what? I don't want to put this kind of pressure on this kid. Yeah, he had a great opener. Fantastic. He's probably got an 0 for 20 in his future because that's what kid happens to kids. So that this is a nice move and maybe it will be something that we look at and go kind of got things going. But if you think this is the only thing, I don't care how much he rakes. Yeah, he scored 10 runs last night. Yeah, that's great because now you're still nine games under.500. Only the Colorado Rockies are worse than you and that's because they played one more game. So you're a half game better than the Rockies. So a lot has to get done, Alan.

[Peter Rosenberg]

A lot.

[Don Hahn]

All right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm looking for like, ideas. What else does this teach? Like, the starting pitching hasn't been great, but you can, you can live. Yeah, you can live with it if your bullpen is better. And obviously offense is the biggest complaint about this team. They got rid of no offense.

[Don Hahn]

Your pivot didn't work.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Don Hahn]

You got rid of Alonzo. Your pivot didn't work. Right. You got rid of McNeil. Your pivot didn't work. So what are you planning on doing about it? Just wait for these guys to get healthy. Wait for these guys to start to hit. Are we going to start to do something?

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's what I'm asking you. What would you want to see?

[Don Hahn]

I would ship in some of these guys out, but it's hard to do because if you don't want them, nobody else probably wants them either. So this is a nice first step. Let's see if it can gain some traction here.

[Alan Hahn]

The whole. Can we just last thing on this. It's the reason I always shake my head at this whole conversation is how folly baseball just is. The 24 hour news cycle needing to talk sports every day as sports talk radio is, and making these sound statements about baseball. I mean, one week ago, and I don't want to overstate it, but we were a week and change ago. We were basically like if you were forced to ask, if forced to answer, the Yankees going to the World Series and it is all good. And the Mets are literally not even worth thinking about. We are sitting here one week later and now, and this is even before the Freed news, questions about what the. How, how much this roster actually improved and whether this team is actually good enough in the Yankees and the Mets are certainly not making you go, oh my God, we might have something here, but it's not as dire as it was one week.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I get it.

[Alan Hahn]

But you're seeing some light.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But you understand that that's the whole idea of day to day. Day to day things do change because trends happen, injuries happen. So perspective changes based off of the news of the day. That's why this works this way. Otherwise, like you don't. You don't. A manager or a coach will take it in 10 game blocks. Let me assess my team. What does it look like? Which way are we going? What changes should I make? But what we do on a daily basis is base it off of trends that we see things that are happening. And when you get off to a Good start. There's okay, this looks, this looks good. And it is like the Yankees. The Yankee thing doesn't change. They're very good with a really good pitching rotation. Even if they lose one, which you always know. Don said it. You're always going to lose. Something's going to happen. I have seven starting pitchers. Well, by the end of the season, you'll have four. Right? But at least you have that. The other issues with the Yankees, that, whether it's injuries or whether it's slumps, they miss Stanton when he goes out. That's a given during the regular season, but you'll live with that. So to me, it's about trends. And right now the Mets trend has not changed at all. And this could be a blip. If they get smoked tonight and score 0 runs or 1 run, we have no idea. But it starts with the GM made a move, he did something. It felt panic. 21 year old call him up because we need a bat. And for one day it felt like something turned. But that's. That could be as simple. That could be as simple as the other pitcher wasn't very good and you took advantage of it. But I'm wondering if we believe the trend, how do you fix it? Because Don has pointed out to the standings three or four days in a row, there's a handful of teams one hand that are over.500. That tells me that the season is still up for grabs.

[Don Hahn]

As they said, it's still up for grabs, but you've got to go out and grab it. And are they equipped to do that?

[Peter Rosenberg]

It better be $300 million payroll. You better be.

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[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

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[Don Hahn]

Yankee fans, the game is over. As you know, seven nothing. They lose to the O's. So they drop the to a three. So now the Yankees, Max freed out, left the game in the third inning, issues with his elbow. He's going to get imaging done back in New York. So that's a topic of conversation is the Yankees, they got off the mat last night but have dropped, what, five or six now? Not what you want. So I get what Peter's saying and what Alan's saying, like what are we going to do? It's early. I'm just saying that we, we're on every day and baseball is a major sport that people want to talk about and get into and you know, the Yankees decided to keep it as is. But, you know, they're battling for first place. There are things, there are issues, but in the grand scheme of things, we are weighing them on a curve of can they win a title? Is what they're doing sustainable enough to win the division? But you know, they're going to the playoffs and because the American League is so weak, if they can avoid the Rays early, you know, they could still make a run. And I still not convinced the Rays are going to be able to keep this up because the Yankees are way more equipped to add at the deadline than Tampa is. But we're talking about a Mets team that was projected to be better than they were last year. Last year they won 83 games. This year they're projected to lose 100. So it's a completely different world. We're in playoffs. Stop it. How about getting the.500? Like, if you want to have a conversation about the Mets, 1-800-9193776. Don't. I think they can get out of the basement. Okay, let's, let's talk. I think they can get the 500. Okay, that's a conversation. But getting into the playoffs, why not?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, 500.

[Don Hahn]

Well, you got to give me some.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Listen, that's why I'm asking. Don't just say I think they can. If you are a true believer that this is not over and this can go in the right direction and that in July this is not about a sell off but about, you know what, there's still pieces to get set off. What is it going to take to get this thing right? And that's what I want specific.

[Don Hahn]

When I, when I hear it's early, what you're saying.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't say it's early. No, but there's a lot of time because the standings tell me there's a

[Don Hahn]

lot of time, Don, where we're saying that don't worry, they'll turn it around. Assuming that. Don't do anything. No, you got to do something. And I, and I. And the reason I thought the manager was on the table was because your general manager is saying, we think we're good enough. All right, well, then that means the manager's not doing his job. Because if the roster's fine, then you got to address the manager. I think he's saying, address the man.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I thought this was good enough.

[Don Hahn]

Well, he didn't say that, though. He keeps saying about how I think we've got a good team. Guys have underachieved guys, now are seven

[Peter Rosenberg]

and a half games out of a wild card.

[Don Hahn]

Out of a wild card.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Don Hahn]

Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They are in the lost column there. Yeah, they're straight seven in the lost column.

[Alan Hahn]

Easy run. Run those off quick.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay.

[Alan Hahn]

Get right back in it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So there's a lot of teams to climb over, and there's a lot of teams that had bad starts. I mean, the Pirates had a good start, and they're kind of regressing. Phillies had a bad start. They're on a heater. 11 and 3.

[Don Hahn]

You don't get to talk about how many games you're out of a playoff spot when you're in a half game ahead of the worst team in your league.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Why I'm saying it, though, is because the idea of where you are in the season and how far out. I said, if you get to 10 back, you're done. Ten's a lot. So you're at seven and a half, which is still a lot. But there's time if you kind of. You gotta make. You made one move. There's no other moves right now for him to make, but at some point, there's going to have to be a couple of moves made, because this team, the roster, on paper, you thought looked like it might be good enough or might be better. Those were his words. It's not now. You've got to make up for the mistakes that you made. Can you do it in time? Because if you don't, when we get to July. You're selling off guys, Peralta. You're selling them off. They're selling off people now because it doesn't make sense not to.

[Don Hahn]

Mm. And we'll get there sooner than later, the way things are. But let's see if this is the first step in the right direction. 1-800-919-3776. Warren is out on Long Island. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, man?

[Caller Warren]

Hey. How's it going?

[Don Hahn]

Good.

[Caller Warren]

I just wanted to say my. My daughter's heavily into Asian culture, and I just wanted to tell you guys that squatting is a natural stance. It strengthens the muscles around the hips, and it's very great for the ankles. Everybody should squat. At least stay in that squatting position for at least 15 minutes a day, especially us older guys in our 50s. This is Warren from Pitch Ball. Warren and I also wanted to say to you, Don, that the Rangers have been crap since you stopped calling the game. We went from being a garbage team to a crappy team. We need your back, Don.

[Don Hahn]

We need your back. Thanks for. Thanks for thinking of me.

[Alan Hahn]

Any and 15 minutes a day of squatting sounds great.

[Don Hahn]

Three and a half hours. That's one inning.

[Alan Hahn]

That's one inning. For a cat, that's a long inning.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right. Well, you should try it, though. It is very good for the hips.

[Don Hahn]

So you want mobility twice a week for 15 minutes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Flexibility, very important as you get older.

[Don Hahn]

And you got to stretch. But you're catching nine, eight.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Campfire squat. You just caveman squat. Yeah, it's great. Push the knees out a little bit.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, that's a.

[Alan Hahn]

Sounds like a nice exercise.

[Don Hahn]

Kimball calls him a catcher's pose.

[Alan Hahn]

That's right. Except they do it for 90.

[Don Hahn]

90 minutes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Show me a catcher that still sits in a full squat. They don't do that anymore.

[Alan Hahn]

No one does.

[Peter Rosenberg]

One knee, leg out, stability, tripod. Well, Stephanie hates it.

[Don Hahn]

None of us can do that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

She hates it.

[Don Hahn]

She hates the tripod.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, she hates the catchers going. Because you can't get out of it fast enough if you want to throw somebody out.

[Don Hahn]

Unless you could throw from that position.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That was always good. That's elite.

[Don Hahn]

Marty in Manhattan. You're on espn New York.

[Alan Hahn]

Marty.

[Caller Warren]

Hi. Hi, guys.

[ESPN Announcer]

Hi.

[Caller Warren]

How are you?

[Don Hahn]

Hey.

[Caller Warren]

A long time listener, but I just wanted to go. I know you guys are focusing on what Sterns has done over this, this last off season, but if you go back to the moves that he made last. During the last trade session, during the trading.

[Don Hahn]

Yep.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Last year, last July.

[Caller Warren]

Okay. None of them. None of them. You talk about Mullins, Helmsley, Rogers. None of them were nothing. I mean, the guy just hasn't, you know, and then, you know, the. The guy, you know, the guy ends up leaving Milwaukee. I see how badly Milwaukee did after he left.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, it is true. Here, here's. I think. What's his name?

[Don Hahn]

Marty.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Marty's picking up what I'm putting down. The more I'm talking about it, the more I'm waiting for you to turn to me and say he needs to go.

[Don Hahn]

But that's not realistic.

[Peter Rosenberg]

40 something games because they moves can he make. He's admitting to you that he.

[Don Hahn]

His assessment was off firing a General Manager early.

[Peter Rosenberg]

$300 million payroll. I am not be that off.

[Don Hahn]

I know, but there can be a moment during the off season if the season's a failure, where you change the general manager. You know, pivoting now with no alternative. Remember? Well, he waited forever for this guy. This is the guy.

[Carlos Mendoza]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Since he bought the team, this was the guy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Doesn't make it the guy. You wanted him. You try, but then you have to watch him work and realize last off season, not great. Other than Soto, which was the owner.

[Don Hahn]

But you're not 43. the trade deadline,

[Peter Rosenberg]

you made your team worse. You made terrible moves. And then in the offseason when you said, we're going to. We're tearing this thing up and we're going to build, we're going to have a better roster and you're worse, and you're going to tell me that he's got to stick with him. Fire the manager, but not the general manager who built this crap.

[Don Hahn]

I will address this, but right now you're saying the end of Stearns. But what about rings then?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Ah, well, it's only the beginning when it comes to rings then, because. So you guys know about the project we're doing. We got this beautiful French door back and forth this morning about hardware on the door. It's exciting. By the way, you guys in or out on the exterior of the door being black, it's like a new thing now. You get like a nice, like, contrast.

[Don Hahn]

It depends on what color the house is.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The white.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, right. My house is green. I'd say. No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, no. But I think that the black door, it's a good look these days. That's what I'm going with anyway. So Andrew is my ring's end project manager. He's like, okay, it's in. So order is in. I'm fired up now. Why rings end? Because they work with pro contractors like my guy Michael, who build and remodel for a living. The pros trust them. I trust them. And I'm letting you know that you can too. They have premium brands and not just doors, windows, decking, paint, lumber, kitchens. All the things you want to do to update and upgrade your home. And they are not a national chain, by the way. They're local, regional expertise. They have eight full service lumber yards in Connecticut and Westchester county and 12, count them, 12 freestanding paint centers as well. Family owned and operated since 1902. So they've been around. They know the area. Now, listen, if you can't make it to a store, you can always just shop online. So go to ringsend.com for your next project. That's ringsend.com thanks for listening to the

[Podcast Announcer]

Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't want to know how the sausage is made, man. 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 New York app and your smart speakers.