Hour 1: Mets Rock Bottom

Summary

---

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – "Mets Rock Bottom"

ESPN New York – Hour 1, June 25, 2026

EPISODE OVERVIEW

This hour centers on the New York Mets’ disastrous state, which the hosts argue may constitute a new historic low for the franchise. La Greca, Hahn, and Rosenberg dissect the organizational rot from ownership to front office, debate who’s at fault, and call for dramatic change. The conversation also ties in historical context, fan frustration, comparisons to other teams, and input from listeners, with their trademark mix of humor and blunt New York candor.

---

MAIN THEME

The episode focuses intensely on the Mets’ unprecedented collapse—exemplified by a six-error game—questioning the direction under owner Steve Cohen and GM David Stearns. The crew discusses whether the Mets have finally hit true “rock bottom,” and debate the urgency for organizational upheaval, all while channeling the exasperation of the fanbase.

---

KEY DISCUSSION POINTS & TIMESTAMPS

HOUR-LONG FRUSTRATION: WHOSE MESS IS IT?

• [04:21] “Line in the Sand Moment”
  • The hosts emphatically declare this juncture—a historically embarrassing stretch—a watershed for owner Steve Cohen to act.
    • Don La Greca: “It’s a line in the sand for Steve Cohen. … This season could maybe be one of the most disastrous in the history of this franchise. And I have—this is not hyperbole.”
    • Recaps chronic letdowns: “How many times have the hopes been so high and yet just see colossal disappointment?”
• [05:19] Ownership Motivation
  • Discussion about Cohen’s true intentions—Mets fan or just a billionaire using Citi Field as a casino opportunity?
  • Construction references (the Lighthouse project, reimagining the area around Citi Field).

ORGANIZATIONAL ROT, GENERAL MANAGER IN FOCUS

• [07:25] Even Team Announcers Are Fed Up

  • Alan Hahn: “Six infield errors. Unprecedent.”
  • Don La Greca: “Their own announcers during the broadcast … are ripping into the team … That’s franchise malpractice.”
  • Chris Carlin (via broadcast highlight): “This team is in the depths of despair ... and now the defense falls apart.”

• [09:14] The True Front Office Wakeup

  • Hahn: “Sometimes a front office decides we need to be patient… Then you get to a point when the players tell you, they scream it to you: this ain’t it. You’ve got to make changes.”
  • The group agrees: the roster itself is confirming it has to be blown up.

• [10:12] Who Goes—Manager or GM?

  • La Greca: “Firing the manager right now, that’s too little too late … You’ve got to do something that is rare … that’s letting Stearns go.”
  • The challenge of firing GMs in-season—but the need is dire.

FAN FRUSTRATION AND WHAT CAN BE DONE

• [12:01] What Can Mets Fans Do?
  • Hahn: “Your fan base now has got to start showing its frustration. And I don’t mean by going and booing. I mean by not going.”
  • Explains that nowadays tickets are prepaid, so the impact of fan discontent would happen next year, not instantly.
• [14:29] Fans Chanting for Pete Alonso
  • In-game chants audible on TV encapsulate the collective disgust: “That’s the embarrassment I want Steve to feel... he should be sickened by last night.”
  • Blames Stearns for defensive collapses due to “run prevention” moves gone bad.

THE COHEN PUZZLE: MONEY, MOTIVATION, AND LIMITS

• [17:19] “We Loved Your Money”
  • La Greca: “Not your tweets, not your little yo-yo hat, not the fact that supposedly you were a Met fan... We loved your money. So what are you going to do?”
• [18:04] Failed Free Agency and Run Prevention
  • Hahn: “He tried to use the money and nobody wanted to take it. Think about that.”
  • Discussion of failed attempts to sign high-profile players (e.g., Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, Juan Soto).
  • La Greca: “You didn’t build properly, that's for sure.”

IF I WERE THE OWNER… SWIFT AND AGGRESSIVE ACTION

• [31:01] Don's Owner Blueprint
  • La Greca: “You just cannot have David Stearns make decisions at the trade deadline. You just can’t. … The fan base deserves better.”
  • Advocates hiring a new GM and possibly bringing back Buck Showalter as manager: “I’m sitting on $23 billion. Why are we talking about run prevention?”
• [32:08] On Big Contracts: Live for Now
  • “Why are we so worried about five years from now and how a contract’s going to look? Why don’t we live in the now? The team hasn't won in 40 years.”
• [34:20] Pushing for Swift Change
  • Hahn: “If I'm the owner, I'm making swift, aggressive moves right now. … This is when he's got to jump. … You’ve got to swing the hammer and make it clear this is not who we are anymore.”

GUEST PERSPECTIVE: KEN ROSENTHAL’S ADVICE

• [33:18; 36:26] Rosenthal on Firing a GM
  • Warns there’s not a deep bench of replacement GMs and stresses value in continuity, even as he admits Stearns had a bad offseason.
  • Ken Rosenthal: “Sometimes it’s too quick to make a decision on executives who have a couple of bad years.”
  • Hosts flat-out disagree: “That’s easy for him to say, sitting back…For the Met fans, it’s one of 40-plus years now of not winning a championship.” (La Greca, [38:32])

---

NOTABLE QUOTES & MEMORABLE MOMENTS

• Met Fanest Despair
  • Don La Greca [07:25]: “I’m tired of hearing, ‘Well, that’s baseball, Susan.’ That happens sometimes. Seasons get derailed… But I’m tired of seeing it with the Mets. What is Steve going to do about it?”
• Front Office Reality Check
  • Alan Hahn [09:14]: “There are times where the group tells you: We suck. … We, you need to blow this up. Because we even know you need to blow this up. And that’s what these players are telling you.”
• No Patience for Waiting
  • Peter Rosenberg [11:56]: “They didn’t [turn it around]. They sunk even further. Now the waiting is over. There’s no more waiting.”
• On Cohen’s Ownership
  • Don La Greca [17:29]: “The Wilpons, the whole Ponzi scheme with Madoff…We wanted them out. … And then Steve Cohen’s in. You know what we loved about Steve?…We loved your money. So what are you going to do?”
• Live in the Now
  • La Greca [32:08]: “You live with the bad deals at the end. Why are we so worried about five years from now and how a contract's going to look? Why don't we live in the now?”
• Aggressive Change Needed
  • Alan Hahn [35:29]: “If I’m the owner, I'm making swift, aggressive moves right now. … You can't just be careful here. You can’t be afraid to overreact. ... You gotta swing the hammer.”

---

LISTENER INPUT & RAW FAN REACTIONS

• Caller: Manny in Flushing [43:26]

  • “Thank the good Lord I’m a Yankee fan...the Mets unfortunately, Don, they have been the worst team in MLB since last June.”
  • La Greca rattles off shocking Mets stats: “Since they were 45 and 24...in the 173 games since then, they're 72 and 101. … The manager and general manager…are still employed.”

• Caller: Justin in Queens [46:33]

  • Complains about Stearns’s arrogance, failed roster decisions, and refusal to sign legitimate stars.
  • “I feel like Cohen has to say, listen, it’s just not working. … That stat you laid out, 72 and 101. What else do you need to see?”
  • La Greca and Hahn agree with caller’s points, invoke the Cece Sabathia contract as an example of embracing short-term risk for the upside of contention.

---

MEMORABLE SIDE NOTES & TONE

• The first half is intensely focused, urgent, interspersed with classic New York sarcasm (“Not your tweets, not your little yo-yo hat…”).
• Hosts’ chemistry ("one of us", "we riff on each other") keeps conversation flowing, relatable, never heavy-handed.
• Multiple pop culture asides, including Jimmy Eat World and Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt, add flavor but don’t derail the main theme.

---

SEGMENT TIMELINE

• [01:02] Show opens with catching up; Alan’s home for door repairs, draft recap
• [04:21] Mets conversation begins: “disaster unlike any other”
• [07:30] Team broadcaster rants and discussion of infield errors, rock bottom
• [09:14 – 15:51] Deep critique of Mets roster construction, ownership motives, fan options
• [17:19 – 20:56] Stearns’ roster blunders, failed free agency swings, what an owner must do
• [31:01 – 39:42] La Greca’s “owner’s action plan”, Rosenthal’s counterpoint, fierce fan/host rebuttals
• [43:26 – 50] Listener calls: pure, unfiltered Mets misery
• [50:13+] Show wraps this discussion, calls for more listener input

---

TAKEAWAYS

• The Mets’ dysfunction is so deep that it’s no longer about isolated bad luck or a "down year"—it’s a crisis of ownership, vision, and execution.
• Fans are exhausted and reaching a boiling point, with even Mets TV’s own announcers broadcasting their dismay.
• Hosts emphatically agree: waiting is over, token moves won’t do. Cohen must act—at the highest levels—if he truly wishes to change the Mets’ legacy.
• Massive frustration, gallows humor, and tough love intermingle; the show is a cathartic, urgent group therapy session for long-suffering Mets fans.

---

Transcript

[Alan Hahn]

So good, so good, so good.

[Commercial Announcer]

New summer arrivals are at Nordstrom Rack stores. Now get ready to save big with up to 60% off brands like Rag and Bone, Levi's, Adidas, and free people. Join the NordicLub to unlock exclusive discounts. Shop new arrivals first and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack.

[Chris Carlin]

This is the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don La Greca]

That sounds like heaven to me.

[Chris Carlin]

Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers.

[Don La Greca]

Don, where do we stand on Sus Han?

[Chris Carlin]

It's lame.

[Alan Hahn]

It needs Viagra.

[Chris Carlin]

And Rosenberg.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm gonna lift my shirt up, take my pants down, and shake it all around.

[Don La Greca]

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

[Chris Carlin]

This is Don, Han, and Rosenberg, threesome I've ever heard on ESPN New York and streaming live on YouTube.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, ladies and gentlemen. Like you dream about. Hold on. Don't get worried because you hear my voice first and think, oh, where's Alan? Where's Doc? Everybody's here, baby. We're all here. But we got a lot to get to, so we're resting.

[Don La Greca]

Why did you feel that you had to, you know, talk people off the ledge? Because.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because. Because you hear my voice.

[Chris Carlin]

Don't worry, it's not just me, you

[Peter Rosenberg]

know, and Don knows why.

[Don La Greca]

Do not adjust your set.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Don knows why I feel that way based on. Boss just treated me in the moments leading up to it. Oh, well, listen, Alan can't do it, you know, he's not here.

[Producer/Assistant]

Hello?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Someone's here. Hello?

[Don La Greca]

Yeah, but there were. There was an allegation thrown up. I saw it right in the kitchen.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, we're in the kitchen.

[Don La Greca]

He goes, well, don't.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Don't lead us to the middle of nowhere. So I went, what? Where do you think I'm going to take us today? Obviously, our focus will be Night of Champions this weekend in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh.

[Alan Hahn]

All day long.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Welcome to Don, Han, and Rosenberg, everybody. And we spent a lot of. We missed you dearly the last couple of days, Alan.

[Alan Hahn]

I missed you guys. I like. First of all, thank you both for being okay with me staying home. I got home really late last night after the draft and finally got a full night's sleep without having a cram and all the other stuff. The draft's a lot of fun to do, but it's. Ask Carlin. I. And I only do two rounds. I don't know how he does three days of it, but it's. It's a lot of work in a small period of time. It's a lot of intensity. A million trades are happening while you're live on the air. And, oh, by the way, fellas, you might hear some noise in the background. That's Michael Weldon and his son Zach. They are working on the door. The door was delivered today.

[Peter Rosenberg]

This is the door.

[Alan Hahn]

It's here. It's happening, boys. And I just, you know, I needed to kind of just be around to, you know, in case they needed me for something. But it's right outside the. The studio here. My. My little office here. And so you might hear a couple of. A couple of hammers, a couple of saws, you know, stuff like that, some machinery.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I feel like Alan's the kind of client when a company comes to do work like this for where Don, he's, like, getting in the way, hoping he can help. Guys, you know, let me do this part. Pass me the hammer. I can do this. And they're like, all right, buddy, settle down. We know you like a home improvement process.

[Don La Greca]

Is that really the hammer you want to use for a job like this?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, I would go with the six bit right there. I don't. I don't know if I like the eight bit you're using right there.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't know what you got. Three quarter. You go using three quarter. You say you don't need the 9 16?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, I can get you nine.

[Alan Hahn]

I got it in the grill.

[Producer/Assistant]

I got it right here.

[Alan Hahn]

Go get it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I got it right here.

[Don La Greca]

I get the 9 16.

[Alan Hahn]

I got it. No problem.

[Don La Greca]

It's not a well known movie, but it's one of my favorites, Mr.

[Producer/Assistant]

Mom.

[Don La Greca]

It's a Michael Keaton vehicle and Martin Mull, and he's pretending that he's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's.

[Don La Greca]

He's rewiring the living room with. It's that. That's how Martin Mull goes, oh, you're going to do it all.

[Peter Rosenberg]

220.

[Don La Greca]

He's like, ah, 220, 221. Whatever it takes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So here's the deal. We spent a lot of time on the disaster that is New York Mets baseball yesterday. And we, we thought things had gotten pretty bad. They doubled down, and then they said, you know what? I have a beer in my hand. I'd like you to hold it because I'm going to show you what we can do. Six errors later. A nightmare unlike any other.

[Don La Greca]

What do you call it when you ask yourself to hold my beer?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, that's what they did.

[Don La Greca]

You just pass it to the Next hand, you juggle a bunch of beers.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Don, is this a, like, line in the sand moment for this team? That's the question.

[Don La Greca]

It is. You know, it's a line in the sand for Steve Cohen. Now, I don't know if he's aware of this because I'm still a little dubious on exactly how to feel about Steve. I love his money. He's got $23 billion. I love his money. But as far as Cohen is concerned, you know, what is he. Is he a Met fan? That's now come into debate. We heard he's actually a Yankee fan. His wife was the Met fan and that's why he's doing all this. He's not really a die Hard fan. Whatever. I don't think that's necessary. I think he wants to be competitive. You don't make $23 billion in your life without being competitive. Trying to stomp out the competition. Right, but do we know that he's all in, or is it about using that land for the casino that's being built? Have you gone to Citi Field at all? You notice the construction's already underway and trying to make that into, if you remember, Allen, what Charles Wong was trying to do at the Coliseum.

[Alan Hahn]

The Lighthouse project.

[Don La Greca]

You know the Lighthouse project, something to that effect. Where to take out all the chop shops across the street from Citi Field and make it a fun place to go, a family fun place. Then you add the casinos for the adults and just have like a whole bacchanal there along with Major League Baseball. Is that. Is that what he's looking to do? I don't know. But it's a line for him, guys, because he waited for this general manager David Stearns, forever. We waited for him to. And his contract to be up in Milwaukee. He has come here and this season could maybe be one of the most disastrous seasons in the history of this franchise. And I have. This is not hyperbole. I mentioned this yesterday, Allen. You were out. You're a Jet fan. The jets have gone longer without a championship. The jets have been an embarrassment, but I don't think they've disappointed their fans. And as many times as the Met fan has been disappointed by this franchise, how many times have the hopes been so high and yet just see colossal disappointment? Yeah, the jets had disappointments with Aaron Rodgers, Achilles, with Vinny Testaverde in 99, and of course with Brett Favre, you know, hurting his elbow in. What was that, 2008? Yeah, injuries derail seasons. That happens in football. Right. But how many Times have we been in this situation where the Mets make a bunch of changes. We're sold a bill of goods that hey, we're going to be better than the 83 win team. We're moving in the right. This team might lose 90 plus games and I'm tired of hearing, well that's baseball, Susan. That happens sometimes. Seasons get derailed. Look at the Braves last year. But I'm tired of seeing it with the Mets. What is, what is Steve going to do about it? Their own announcers during the broadcast, Allen are ripping into the team. Gary Cohen and Darling are ripping into the Mets on Snyder owned by, still owned by the Will Pond. So it's still somewhat like met property there are getting ripping the team that they basically exist for.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right here, here's, here's Gary talking about the infield defense.

[Don La Greca]

I mean what do you say at this point?

[Chris Carlin]

I mean this team is in the depths of despair. Can't get starting pitching to hold the other team at bay. Struggling with their offense and now the defense falls apart.

[Alan Hahn]

Six infield errors unprecedent.

[Don La Greca]

That was right after the Viento spoon.

[Alan Hahn]

Now that means they're in a good spot because the last time Gary did that, you remember.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh yeah, it all turned around.

[Alan Hahn]

Five under whatever it was under 500. No one in the building.

[Peter Rosenberg]

This is about as low as it gets. Oh yeah, rock bottom.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Here's Gary says this is the kind of game that causes reevaluation.

[Alan Hahn]

This is the kind of game that causes reevaluation.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Chris Carlin]

You can profess all you want about

[Alan Hahn]

being confident in the team you have, but this has been nothing short of ugly. Now, you know what, I'll say this because I've covered a lot of bad teams that there are times a front office decides we need to be patient and we got to let the process play out and you don't want to overreact and you want to let the give the players a chance. Then you get to a point when the players tell you, they scream it to you, this ain't it and you've got to make changes. That's seriously what this team is doing. Right. Like Don, that's really what it is is it's like we're. If we're just going to. Because you have the history of the franchise in mind and the many times this happens, certain brands just have a knack for moments like this. Which is why we say for Gary and the and Keith and them, this is not the first time they've had to rip the team. Right. So this is a common theme. So that's another conversation. But I'm just saying, from a front office perspective, when you're just looking at it black and white, there are times it is right to say, nah, this team has shown, they've shown its potential. We've got to give it time. They've got to get right. We've got a couple of injuries, but this is a good group. Then there's times where the group tells you we suck. We, you need to blow this up. Because we even know you need to blow this up. And that's what these players are telling you. Marcus Simeon back on the il, like guys who, who have been hurt, got hurt. This is no surprise. You have not hit on anything. They can't get consistent with anything. The players are telling you, this ain't it. And now, like you're saying, Don, there's only two people that can do something and the first one is David Stearns. And if he doesn't, the next one and the only one left is the owner. But doing nothing at this point, that's the biggest mistake. That's franchise malpractice.

[Don La Greca]

Well, but, but the firing the, the manager right now, to me, that's too little too late.

[Alan Hahn]

That's not it.

[Don La Greca]

That, that players are telling you they're

[Alan Hahn]

the problem, not the manager.

[Don La Greca]

And that's why you've got to do something that is rare, but I think it's appropriate and that's letting Stearns go. You don't normally see general managers be fired in season because let's face it, it's, it's a difficult thing to replace in season. But you know what also is difficult, guys? Having the guy to build this team, go out and fix his mess. He already made a deal last night and by all appearances, it was a good deal. David Peterson in Chicago. I don't know if you follow the Cub Peters decimated by injuries with their rotation. They lost another starting pitcher in this series and Cole Mathis is a prospect who's highly touted. This might actually be a good deal. But if you don't trust the man, do you allow him to work your deadline or do you bring somebody in here a good month before the deadline that now can kind of take over? And that's. And if you're going to tell me, well, Don, that's not a lot of time to go out and search, then you're telling me that Steve's been sitting on his hands after this awful start and not having a pivot plan in case he did have to fire his general manager, or is it? He has no intention of firing his general manager. He waited for this guy forever for the contract to expire in Milwaukee. And he has no qualms of just saying, I'm gonna have this guy stay and correct his own mess. And if that's the case, this could be a long time before this team's able to turn it around. We, we have identified the problem, people, and that you have to extract it. And waiting is never a good thing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't see the upside at this point. We have, we have, we have waited. They did the waiting. The waiting was maybe they'll be. And they started to do something and it looked like, okay, maybe they are going to write the ship.

[Don La Greca]

They didn't.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They sunk even further. Now the waiting is over. There's no more waiting.

[Alan Hahn]

Here's the problem. You know, the Norwegians aside, your fan base now has got to start showing its frustration. And I don't mean by going and booing. I mean by not going. And that's a hard thing to tell a fan. Stop supporting your team. But we all know sometimes that's the only way to create change. It's the only way to get. It's. It's kind of ironic that the only way to be heard is to not be heard or seen. And that's, I think, the problem sometimes with New York is, you know, we want to go to our games, we want to support the teams. You want to be there for them and all that stuff. And there is something about that loyalty. You always talk about Don, being there for the worst of times, but this is that moment right now where the fans need to be heard. The fans have got to say, enough's enough. Because you were supposed to be different. You were supposed to change everything about the franchise. And you know what? This sure looks a lot like the usual.

[Don La Greca]

But the problem with modern day baseball and sports in general is there's no more walk up to the ticket window and buying tickets. Oh, it's a nice day, kids. You want to go to Shea and go to a game? Like, that's how it was with me and my dad. You know, we'd sit there at dinner at 5 o', clock, you go, all right, listen, we might have some time to swing over to Yankee Stadium. You want to go to a game? Those days are over. These are all prepaid. These are all bought during the off season, right? Because there were expectations around the Mets. And it's like, oh, Braves are in town in, in early June. Let, let's. Let's buy some tickets. Cause I went to the game a couple of Sundays ago when they took on the Braves and that place was, I'd say 75, 80% full for a bad team on a Sunday. It was the day after the Knicks had won the championship. That might have affected some of the people showing up to Citi Field. Cause maybe they were hungover from the celebration for the night before. And then I thought about, I'm like that this is a pretty good crowd for a bad team. And then I realized they probably bought these tickets. They probably got them for Christmas. And if I, if I bought tickets to a game and I'm not going to be able to sell them because nobody wants them, I'm going to end up going, I don't want to eat it. Where it's going to affect this next year. If this team ends up being a 90 win team, you're not going to be able to sell any tickets for the 27 season unless you go out and, you know, bring in another superstar player that you can kind of sell. That's where you always see the trickle effects. He said, what can the fans do? Well, if I paid, you know, 200 bucks for a couple of tickets, I'm going to probably go, all right, all

[Alan Hahn]

that aside, what do you do? What do you do?

[Don La Greca]

Well, you do, you know what I'm saying? You know what the moment was last night, Allen? The moment last night is the fans chanting where you could hear it on television. Pete Alonzo. They're chanting Pete Alonzo. That's not just 10 drunk fans having some fun.

[Alan Hahn]

All right, well it started with that and then everybody, everybody knew what they

[Don La Greca]

were saying exactly was, you know what? I want to be on board. That's the embarrassment I want Steve to feel. If this is just a GI Joe doll with all of his billion dollars that he plays with every once in a while and then puts on the shelf. You know what, that's one thing. But if he actually cares, he should be sickened by last night. Six errors by his infield. A large percentage of those guys are there because of Sterns or playing a

[Alan Hahn]

position because of Stearns Run prevent prevention. I believe so.

[Don La Greca]

Six made errors. Every single infielder made an error. And now the fans in the building after you give up 20 runs in two games of a double header are chanting Pete Alonzo. Doesn't that make you want to do so? If you're Steve Cohen and you don't care, then you doesn't bother you. But if you do care, doesn't that make you want to get up and do something. And I'm not talking about a tweet. Hang in there, fans.

[Caller]

It's.

[Don La Greca]

It's not even halfway through the season. I'm as disappointed as you are. No, take somebody's job. Rip it from them. But the other problem is, and this is what makes me sick, he couldn't pick David Stearns out of a lineup when he owned this team. Somebody is in his ear. Who is it? Major League Baseball. Hey, Steve, we want you to control your spending because you're worth so much money. There's a guy in Milwaukee looking to come back. Used to be a Met band when he was growing up. Really good with money. Doesn't overspend. Big analytic guy. You know what? I'll let you buy the team. Make sure it's a guy like that that you hire as your general manager. You think he knew who Steve Cohen was? I mean, that he knew what David Stearns was? So does he know the next guy who is in his ear? Is Major League Baseball going to be his ear and say, here's a guy for you? I'd like to know who he's going to talk to to find out who the next general manager of this team is and will actually spend the money that he has to correct the problem. Because I don't think the fans, Allen and Peter, have the patience to sit here. A slow burn of redoing the minor league system, bringing these guys up and putting them together like Met fans went through in 82, 83, 84, and 85 before they won the World Series in 86. This team wants to see immediate dividends. And the. One of the reasons we love you, Steve, I love that the little. The little hat on your head that kind of doesn't quite fit. You could certainly afford the authentic one, but you've got the painter's cap one that kind of looks like you bought it, that you wanted on those wheels at Seaside Heights and that you're.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because he's one of us.

[Don La Greca]

I love his money. Don't mistake this, all right? The Wil Ponds, the whole Ponzi scheme with Madoff and all that. We wanted them out. But you know why? Because they weren't spending the money. Because they didn't have it. They lost it all. And then Steve Cohen's in. You know what we loved about Steve? Not your tweets, not your little yo yo hat, not the fact that supposedly you were a Met fan when you were growing up. We loved your money. So what are you going to do?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Use the Money, baby.

[Don La Greca]

But how much are you going to be allowed to use it next year when there's a cap, it's all just no matter where you turn.

[Alan Hahn]

It's bad to me. The bigger problem is he tried to use the money and nobody wanted to take it. Think about that.

[Don La Greca]

Well, that's what happened with Tucker, right?

[Alan Hahn]

It's a good thing Kyle Tucker didn't take the money because he sucks.

[Don La Greca]

Well, you pivoted to Bouchette, the Boba shet. That hasn't worked out either.

[Alan Hahn]

It hasn't worked out.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah, he's had his moments.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, how about the boba Shed also think about what he signed. He signed a I can get out early contract. He signed. He signed one of those player friendly. I'll sign with you because the big market might help me. If I have a good season, then I can go back in the market because I really don't want to be here and here. And here's what that contract told me.

[Don La Greca]

And here. Here's what's also funny, guys. For not funny ha. Like funny funny.

[Alan Hahn]

Like, like am I comedian. Do I make you laugh?

[Don La Greca]

If I told you that the Mets would miss the playoffs in the first two years of Juan Soto. If you look at the history of free agency in New York, you'd probably blame Soto, right?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don La Greca]

No, he's been good. I know he was hurt this year, but he's been good. It's not his fault this team is the playoffs last year. It's not his fault they're missing it this year. The team has fallen apart around him. They went out and got Juan Soto, gave him everything, including sweets at Citi Field. He's going to be here for 13 more years and you failed him. How often do you see that in sports, Alan, where the free agent gets failed by the team, not the other way around. Usually the free agent fails the team. The team has failed the free agent.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. Now you didn't build properly, that's for sure. And that's again, this all goes back to one person who at the end of last season was hell bent on breaking up that group and saying that this isn't working and we need to have more focus on run prevention. He does not want to spend on starting pitching, which is always at the crux of Mets success. When they're good, it's because they have really good starting pitching. That's just those two go hand in hand. But he didn't believe in that and instead he. He built a team. It felt like just threw pieces together. But he called it run prevention, better defensively, all that stuff, and this is on him. This was a team he built and it failed. So now what does he do about it? Or again, Don, on the other side, I want. If you were the owner, what would you do? That's what I want to hear you. I need to. I'll give you five minutes during the break to come up with an outline of you're the owner, what you would do, because it's, it's. I don't know if I would trust it. If I would walk into the front of GM's office and say, hey, listen, you built this thing, fix it, because this isn't working. Or do I say to myself, all right, this guy doesn't know what he's doing. I need somebody better because I can't let him do any more damage to this team. I got to bring in somebody in now before this trade deadline to just, just make a couple of moves to get us on the right track. And then in the off season, we got to try again. Like, that's. But there's a lot of things you'd need to do, and that's something I'd love to hear.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, that's a, that's a, that's a question we'll pose to Don about what he would do if he were the owner. We'll do that after the breakout.

[Alan Hahn]

It's a business move. And, and boys, in New York, every block is a business and every minute counts. And Amazon Hub Delivery lets you earn extra revenue from the business you already run. You and your staff can deliver packages right in your neighborhood on a schedule that works for you. For example, Brian and the crew at 165 Hardware in Washington Heights tells us that they deliver during their store's afternoon downtime. And the extra revenue from Amazon Hub Delivery helps their bottom line. And delivering has given the business more visibility and connection to their community. Getting started is easy. No delivery experience, no long term contracts, no startup costs either. So if you're a New York local business and you want to make your next move, visit Amazon.com hubdelivery that's Amazon.com

[Peter Rosenberg]

hubdelivery Pete, now Alan's gotta go put on his hard hat and help out the guys working on his door right now from ring's end. Yeah, he's about to do some work. But for soccer fans, I got something for you. Join Bart and Chris today. That's right, Bart Scott and Chris Carlin having a watch party brought to you by Rataburger Pilsner. You can Watch Germany Ecuador at the Hoboken Beer Garden in Hoboken. I've been there. Great time starting at 4pm Enjoy Pilsner perfection since 1872. From the first German Pilsner come out, grab a cold ratted burger and join the energy with ESPN New York. That's Bart Scott and Chris Carlin live at the Hoboken Beer Garden today, brought to you by Radeburger Pilsner. We'll answer those questions and talk to you guys as well. Much more to do on Don Hanna Rosenberg, ESPN New York

[Don La Greca]

Are all batteries the same? That's like asking if all soccer players are the same. Take Messi, the most decorated player ever. Is there any other player who has achieved that? No, just him. Now take Duracell.

[Producer/Assistant]

Is there any other battery with power boost ingredients inside?

[Don La Greca]

No, just Duracell. Remember, goats only trust go because they're built different and Messi only trusts Duracell.

[Producer/Assistant]

This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up, required Compatibility and Availability Various 18

[Commercial Announcer]

this episode is brought to you by State Farm. You know, those friends who support your preference for podcasts over music on road trips? That's the energy State Farm brings to insurance. With over 19,000 local agents, they help you find the coverage that fits your needs so you can spend less time worrying about insurance and more time enjoying the ride. Download the State Farm app or go online@state farm.com like a good neighbor, State Farm is there

[Chris Carlin]

thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Chris Carlin]

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

[Peter Rosenberg]

How about a little Game Time, brought to you by Tullamore. Do Irish Whiskey because when it's game time, it's Tully time. It's Tanny time.

[Don La Greca]

It's Tully time. Is that that girl is poisoned. Was that the song that came in?

[Peter Rosenberg]

No.

[Don La Greca]

Sounded like.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What was it again?

[Producer/Assistant]

Just got paid.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, it's Friday night. Just got paid.

[Caller]

I don't know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's not Friday night. But it's Thursday. It's Friday. Jazz Mets.

[Don La Greca]

Well, that's why I thought it was odd.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Mets closed their series with the Cubs with coverage immediately following us on 880 at 6:30.

[Don La Greca]

We apologize.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The Yankees open a series with the Red Sox at 7:10. Team USA taking on Turkey in their final World cup groom game at 10 and the Liberty visit the Storm at 10. Don, you know where the storm's from?

[Don La Greca]

I should know this.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh wait, keep. Mind the time I said too.

[Don La Greca]

At 10 it's. Oh, so it's the Seattle storm.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There has to be, right?

[Don La Greca]

Well, they're known for their storms.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Tullamore do the original triple distilled, triple blended and triple cast matured Irish whiskey. Be sure to grab a Tullamore do or try the new Tullamore Dew honey. During today's action glass up to enjoying Tullamore Dew responsibly. Allen's at home today. Anthony's not with us today which is very.

[Alan Hahn]

Where is Pusick?

[Peter Rosenberg]

He told us he was off today.

[Don La Greca]

He's going to a concert tonight.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, do we know what?

[Don La Greca]

It's at the Garden. He said who it was and I never heard of them. Oh no, it's a Boy Meets World.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's no TV show.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah, it was something like that. We could probably look the Joey Bananas. What was it again? It was something like that can't be.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Joey Eats Bananas.

[Alan Hahn]

It's finally taking Brittany out, which is

[Don La Greca]

nice start the Soul. What is it?

[Producer/Assistant]

It's basically according to Google. It's Rufus the soul is performing at msg.

[Don La Greca]

That's not.

[Producer/Assistant]

We have no clue who it is.

[Don La Greca]

That's not always going to say. So maybe it's not at the Garden, but it was.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, no, it's at the Garden.

[Don La Greca]

No, but maybe his show isn't at the Garden. Oh, but there's something meets. It's a three word name.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We'll figure it out. We're going to work on this.

[Don La Greca]

Oh, and I can. People tell me things and I don't remember.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, I was.

[Don La Greca]

I was running late. I didn't. I didn't get here to like 20 after 2 because it was like major traffic at the termite. Nothing to do with the World Cup. They were doing this emergency construction course around Carteret and I was stuck and I wasn't sure and I wanted to see if somebody can get me lunch. I called Anthony. He's like, I'd love to help you but I'm not in. I'm like, oh, that's right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's off.

[Don La Greca]

And he told me that, you know, Steve meets planet or something. It's something like that. Come on, help me out. All right. Jacob knows.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Does He.

[Producer/Assistant]

I got it. Yeah. I text Anthony. I had to find out, all right, because he didn't. He did tell me too, and I just slipped my mind. Jimmy Eat World.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Jimmy Eat World. Okay.

[Don La Greca]

So I was.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You never heard of Jimmy World?

[Don La Greca]

No, I heard of him. I. I don't know what they play. Judging Anthony's musical taste. It's not good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, that's not fair.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't know about that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I think judging Anthony's music tastes just hard.

[Alan Hahn]

You know the song the Middle.

[Don La Greca]

I know Stuck in the middle with you, but that's not Boy Eats World.

[Alan Hahn]

No, you know the Middle. Everybody knows.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Why don't you just meet me in the middle? No, not that one either.

[Ken Rosenthal]

No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, you know the Jimmy World. I don't know if I know this.

[Alan Hahn]

All I know is you're gonna find it.

[Don La Greca]

Sometimes we riff on me. I'm looking at and Anthony like. It's like scanners. His mind blows up and. Right in front of us. So I just assumed he has. No, this. This is.

[Alan Hahn]

It's early 2000.

[Chris Carlin]

Like, it's.

[Alan Hahn]

It's not in our wheel.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's like the last 20.

[Don La Greca]

This is his girlfriend's doing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's what it feels like.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah. This is a zipper key moment.

[Alan Hahn]

You know this song? You know this song?

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's thinking, I'm watching.

[Alan Hahn]

Once it kicks in, you'll know it.

[Don La Greca]

Oh, of course.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don La Greca]

You know where.

[Alan Hahn]

Why are you making that face now?

[Caller]

You know why.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because Don is.

[Don La Greca]

Because this is. You know, probably last time I heard this song was like scoreboard karaoke at like a Ranger game.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Really?

[Don La Greca]

Yeah. Take some time.

[Chris Carlin]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

By the way. By the way, this is.

[Don La Greca]

It's not a bad song.

[Caller]

No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But for the record, this.

[Don La Greca]

I wouldn't go see him live on a bed.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But by the way, this is what makes Don a fraud. Makes Ballard a fraud.

[Chris Carlin]

Why would you.

[Alan Hahn]

Frauds.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, listen. Makes everybody. But. No, not you. I didn't include you. Alan, you're not a fraud.

[Alan Hahn]

I thought you said Alan.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, Ballard.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, Ballard.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It makes Ballard a fraud and it makes Don a fraud. Not you. Because you're proud of, like. You are really big on the whole music subjective thing. The reason Ballard and Don are frauds are. And I fall into this too, but I'm not including myself.

[Don La Greca]

Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Is because they will make faces or bold comments about like cheese until you get to the part of their library that's complete cheese. And they're like, oh, I love that I see your. Like Don was the other day.

[Alan Hahn]

Music is art. And art is in the eye of the beholder.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Cheesiness is like what? One's man's cheese is another man's prosciutto.

[Alan Hahn]

You see what I'm saying?

[Don La Greca]

No, I get that. I'm just. And it's. Listen, I'm not gonna. It was not something I would go see. And he's going. It's. I was. I got it wrong. He's going to Asbury Park.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don La Greca]

So it's Stone pony and he lives in Brooklyn. All right, so it's not a hop, skip and a jump here.

[Alan Hahn]

You're saying this is definitely a date. This is big time dating.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Zipper key.

[Don La Greca]

It's zipper key. He's saying it's because even in a relationship there are zipper key moments.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. And you're saying this like, I can

[Don La Greca]

make this just a day. Any Thursday I come home from work. Or I can make this a special Thursday he decided to make it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Especially Anthony. I'm going to need you to. I mean, Jacob, I'm sorry. I'm going to need you to pull it together. And we're going to need reasonable doubt instrumentals the rest of the day.

[Producer/Assistant]

First of all, I thought about that, but, you know, I was kind of doing like 10 different things.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, of course you are.

[Alan Hahn]

Welcome to the chair.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, you're in the chair now. The big boy seat.

[Producer/Assistant]

And of course you want me to play because you would have told me about your night last night against. At the party.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, not even about that. I did go to a party last night outside. P was outside again last night celebrating Jay Z's 30th anniversary. Reasonable doubt. But no, it's more the music part. It just. Come on, it's a big day. Thirty years, for God's sake, if it's a day.

[Producer/Assistant]

Yeah. I will say though, I think we should bring Anthony to the docket tomorrow for fraud Friday.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Is that what you're sensing?

[Producer/Assistant]

Yeah, it seems like it. I don't want to personally because, you know, Anthony's not a music guy and this is the concert. He decided to take a day off.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's a.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, that's a good take.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And I don't know why we're bringing him to the doctor for fraud Friday. I think the judge will suffice.

[Producer/Assistant]

No docket.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, the docket. I think it's the doctor.

[Don La Greca]

So what's the name of the band again?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Jimmy Eat World.

[Producer/Assistant]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

They're not one hit wonder. I do believe they.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, no, they're not. They're not a one hit wonder. Let's keep things moving before I get

[Alan Hahn]

accused of leading us off, but Alan

[Don La Greca]

asked me a question.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, the question was about, you're the owner. The Mets are your team. Don, what are you doing?

[Don La Greca]

Well, he has to be careful again, because we don't know what it's going to look like financially next year if a cap is going to come in. But I think everybody agrees there'll be some grace period to be able to buy out deals or grandfather some things in for deals that were made before the cap came into place. Not sure how it's all going to work. You just cannot have David Stearns make decisions at the trade deadline. You just can't. I mean, the fan base deserves better. You need somebody to come in and fix it. If I'm the owner of the team, I am looking to try to find who his replacement is going to be. Have that guy bring in his manager. I would strongly suggest bringing back Buck Showalter to try to fix what you have here.

[Alan Hahn]

Wow.

[Don La Greca]

But I would want the general manager to be able to do that, make that decision. And, hey, I'm sitting on $23 billion. Why are we talking about run prevention? Why are we worried about contracts aging poorly? I do agree that that's a bad thing. Yeah, contracts age poorly. Cece Sabathia's contract aged poorly. But you got a World Series out of it. You also got a Hall of Famer out of it.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes.

[Don La Greca]

And you live with the bad deals at the end. Why are we so worried about five years from now and how a contract's going to look? Why don't we live in the now? The team hasn't won in 40 years. You look at the Pete Alonso. Hey, I'd have a guy with 18 home runs, 50 RBIs, playing a better first base than the three guys that are doing it here. Do you realize you could combine the three players that have played first base and still wouldn't hit the war that Pete Alonso has in Baltimore? And he's not having that great of a year. Right. But you were worried. Oh, in year four and year five of that contract, it'll be a disaster. What about the first three years? Maybe I win a title and maybe I won't care and just have a philosophy of I'll pick you up. I could buy out a contract. Didn't you see what I did with Verlander? Did you see what I did with Scherzer? Let's live in the now. I'll worry about 2030 when I get there. So I've got to find that guy is that guy out there. Well, I don't know if we're able to play the sound from Rosenthal, who was on saying, you have it because I asked for it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. Here's Ken Rosenthal on foul territory. His thoughts on Mendoza's situation.

[Ken Rosenthal]

Carlos Mendoza can do some good things in that dugout. And I know Mets fans aren't seeing it. He is someone who is caught up in their malaise right now. And that's what this is. It's a malaise that goes back years and years. And I'm not saying he's blameless, don't get me wrong.

[Alan Hahn]

But you show me who is going

[Ken Rosenthal]

to be better with this particular group of team, this particular group of players, a team of misfit toys. And not in the way that the Oakland A's back when were. When they had all these pieces coming together, guys from released backgrounds, all kinds of different situations. These are misfit toys because they don't fit together as a team. And that is the biggest problem.

[Don La Greca]

But the one that I was looking for is the one we're going to play in just a second where he specifically talks about the general manager situation. And it's. Guys, it's really scary to hear the potential replacements for Stearns if they decide to cut bait with their current general manager. I know he was just loading it into the system, but that's the one. Even though he did say a lot there, too. So misplaced characters. And, you know, Mendoza is just part of their malaise. But go ahead, Alan. I'm sorry.

[Alan Hahn]

No, I was going to say as. As. As we're getting the extra sound there. That's why I. Donna, I still want to just push you a little more on this because it's. It's clear that Mendoza, who everybody has said is a good manager, he's getting caught up in malaise, whatever to call. There is clearly, though, something, a cloud over this franchise. Clearly. And everyone's getting caught up in it. And if you're the owner, like, that's why I would say, like, I'm. If I'm the owner, I'm making swift, aggressive moves right now. That's what I'm doing. Like, you can't just be careful here. You can't be afraid to overreact. No, I'm the owner. I can swing the hammer. And I got to do that right now because this is beyond a team not playing well. This is beyond misfit players. This is beyond a fan base who's. Who's going through it. Once again, this is Groundhog Day for a Mets fan. It goes beyond that. This now is about me and my tenure as owner.

[Don La Greca]

Now.

[Alan Hahn]

And what do I do? Right now is the first sign that I realize we are falling right back in to everything this franchise has been about. And I bought this team to get us out of it. So to sit back and hope it gets better and be patient. No, this is when he's got to jump. This is when he's got to do something. And I don't mean just, you know, fire a batting coach or something stupid like that. No, this is. You got to swing the hammer and you've got to make it clear that this is not who we are anymore. Well, how do you do it? Here's how you do it. You clean house and you spend whatever it takes. Because there's no cap on this, on the best possible person that you could bring in to run your franchise. Because you got it wrong the first time, don't get it wrong the second time.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Do you want to hear more from.

[Don La Greca]

Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right, here, here's. Here's a little bit more from Ken Rosenthal.

[Ken Rosenthal]

I know he's making $10 million a year through 2028. That's not something that's going to stop Steve Cohen. But the danger in firing a Stearns or any of the people on my list today is the sport is not exactly teeming with GM types, guys you can point to or women and say, man, I need to get him now. Armand is pointed to one Brandon Gomes, but there aren't a lot of them. So be careful what you wish for. In certain cases, Stearns might be the best guy who you can have with this organization. Certainly there is value to continuity. I know they've had a down year with their farm system in many ways, even with Ewing and Benj coming up. But he has put processes in place in player development that have been good for the Mets. So I'm not ready to give up on him yet. I didn't like a lot of what he did last offseason, I'll admit that, and I wrote it. But again, sometimes it's too quick to make a decision on executives who have

[Chris Carlin]

a couple of bad years.

[Alan Hahn]

I completely disagree.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah, completely disagree. I mean, he. See that's coming from somebody that doesn't have a dog in the fight.

[Alan Hahn]

Also might have a relationship that he's being very careful about, being too publicly critical of someone that for years, you know, he's developed a relationship with.

[Don La Greca]

Well, if that's.

[Alan Hahn]

It does happen, Don.

[Don La Greca]

No, I don't doubt that, but I can only take it at face value and not the motivation behind him saying it is. That's easy for him to say sitting back and I, well, you were just, you were two games for the World Series a couple of years ago. Just, just give it, it's, give it a chance.

[Alan Hahn]

Listen, no, he wasn't there, though. He wasn't there build that team.

[Don La Greca]

Right, but that was someone else's team and that team has been completely blown up.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Don La Greca]

For the most part, Soto wasn't on that team. He still has Lindor, but otherwise he got rid of Nimmo, he got rid of McNeil, he got rid of Alonzo, who's the whole reason that you even made the run, because of the home run against Devin Williams.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Great point.

[Don La Greca]

But telling the fan base, it's like, hey, you know, you were not that far removed from being really good.

[Alan Hahn]

That's a bunch.

[Don La Greca]

How do you give this guy a chance? Didn't get a chance to put his fingerprints on the team last year. Looked like Cohen let him do it. They win 83 games and so far they're on the way to probably being a 70 win team. Peter, that might, it's just one year to you, but the Met fans, it's one of 40 plus years now of not winning a championship.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I know I get dramatic and I bring this up, but I do because it's, I think, a valuable thing for us to remember. There are Knicks fans who died and it was 53 years and this year they won. I have literally a friend who died a few months before. So my point is every year matters. You can't throw away years. Every year you lose people who care deeply about this team and never get a chance.

[Don La Greca]

Ken, people are watching the Mets and the Mets own announcers are ripping into them saying something has to be done. So it's not just fan, it's not the yo yo fans who are just overreacting. It's what people consider the best booth in baseball telling their fan base something has to happen. Steve Cohen can't ignore that. This is not the time for. Let's be patient. This is not the time to. Let's let it play out. It's the time for action.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They did the patient thing, by the way. They already did it. 1-800-919-3776. Phone lines completely jammed. So we can talk to you guys, Mets fans. Next here on Don Hanna. Rosenberg.

[Commercial Announcer]

I get so many headaches every month. It could be chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting

[Producer/Assistant]

four hours or more Botox Onobotulinum toxin a prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine. It's not for Those who have 14 or fewer headache days a month. Prescription Botox is injected by your doctor. Effects of Botox may spread hours to weeks after injection, causing serious symptoms. Alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems or muscle weakness can be signs of a life threatening condition. Patients with these conditions before injection are at highest risk. Side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue and headache. Allergic reactions can include rash, welts, asthma symptoms and dizziness. Don't receive Botox if there's a skin infection. Tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions including als, Lou Gehrig's disease, Myasthenia gravis or Lambert Eaton syndrome and medications including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects.

[Commercial Announcer]

Why wait? Ask your doctor, visit botoxchronicmigraine.com or call 1-800-44-BOTOX to learn more. Hey, I just Venmo'd you for rent.

[Caller]

Nice.

[Producer/Assistant]

Now I can instantly spend it whether I'm checking out online with Venmo or using a Venmo debit card.

[Commercial Announcer]

Say more.

[Producer/Assistant]

More. Exactly, because the more you do with Venmo, the more you get. Like earning up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash on a bundle of

[Don La Greca]

brands so order more pizza. The meth demands it.

[Commercial Announcer]

Get the Venmo debit card Venmo Stash

[Producer/Assistant]

Bundle Terms and exclusions apply. See terms at venmo me stashturn venmo checkout not available at all merchants. Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A.

[Commercial Announcer]

your next chapter in healthcare starts at Carrington College's School of Nursing in Portland. Join us for our open house on Tuesday, January 13th from 4 to 7pm you'll tour our campus, see live demos, meet instructors and learn about our Associate Degree in Nursing program that prepares you to become a registered nurse. Take the first step toward your nursing career. Save your spot now at Carrington Edu Events. For information on program outcomes, visit carrington. Edu sci.

[Chris Carlin]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Chris Carlin]

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

[Peter Rosenberg]

Ah, 30 years. I went to the store. I'm very proud of this don. You you you may not realize that, like Jay Z's first album, Reasonable Doubt, which turns 30 years old today, and there's a Huge celebration across New York. He, like, they. They took over trains with, like, the actual outside of the train is like, his hands throwing up the logo.

[Ken Rosenthal]

Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And the inside of the trains, they put in full video screens. It's like. It's a ridiculous operation. But I was proud that I bought it the day it came out because it wasn't a huge album from Jump. It didn't have a huge first week. It became a classic, of course, as time went on. But when time goes on, people. People don't know what happened the first week. But I'm here to remind you folks,

[Don La Greca]

that's what you're here for.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I was there 30 years ago, 16 years old, at the Tower Records in Rockville, Maryland, when I bought that vinyl. God bless 1499. I thought it was a lot. I was like, 1499. You know how much it is? A new album on vinyl. If you can get a new album on vinyl for less than 34, 99, really, you're crushing. Let's talk to the people. We've talked a lot about the Mets and what the hell is going on? Or not going on. Let's let the people speak. Let's start with Manny in Flushing. Where are you at with your New York Mets?

[Caller]

Well, first off. Well, first, by the way. Good afternoon, guys. How y' all doing?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Good, good, good, good.

[Caller]

All right. I gotta remind you, you know, the Jeff Scott Pace song was supposed to be a key, key smart record, by the way.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Keith Sweat.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't know this.

[Caller]

Yes. Listen, anyway, dog, I mean, let me just say this. Thank the good Lord that I'm a Yankee fan, Giant fan, and a Knicks fan, because the Mets, unfortunately, Don, they have been the worst team in MLB since last June.

[Don La Greca]

Oh, without. I. They've. I think. What was the. The tweet that. That Lupica sent out after the game one loss? You're, like, over the. Over the span, like 72 and like 110. I got to find out. Exactly. But it's been miserable since their hot start last year in the first half. Miserable. Worst team in baseball level. I got to get the stat because it was just so jarring when I saw it. He doesn't tweet that much, so it should. Shouldn't be that difficult to find. All right, here it is. The Mets are about to have a record of 34 and 45, which is now 34 and 46 because they lost the second game of the double header. That means since they were 45 and 24 last year. I'll update the stat. Since they were 45 and 24 in the. In the 173 games since then, there's 72 and 101. Good Lord, guys, what are we doing right? The manager and the general manager of a team that's 72 and 101 over the last 173 games are still employed.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They're just coming out every day, trotting out again each day.

[Alan Hahn]

And they already changed the roster once. Like that's the thing is they have tried to make. And they made wholesale changes to the roster with the damning statement now of him saying our roster will be better to start next season than it is today.

[Don La Greca]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

That's what he said.

[Don La Greca]

So you held accountable for that Miss? It wasn't. Be patient. It wasn't. It's going to take some time. He said this team will be Better than the 83 team win team last year. Well, guess what? At the midway point, pretty much we're a game away from the Midway Point. They're 12 games under.500.

[Alan Hahn]

What is the pace? Do we have a pace for the season? Top of your head. Or do we not know that?

[Don La Greca]

All right. Well, it should be.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's not great.

[Don La Greca]

So what do I say? They're 34 and 46. So let's just. Let's give them the win today.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's nice.

[Don La Greca]

So that we'd be at the halfway point. You're talking about a 70 and 92 team.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. 71 win pace.

[Don La Greca]

What are we doing

[Alan Hahn]

that's not better? That's worse.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Let's go to.

[Alan Hahn]

And then to say, well, you know, we weren't expecting injuries. I'm sorry. Brought in players of injury history. How do you not expect them? Moving on. Sorry.

[Don La Greca]

Especially when you get guys that habitually get hurt.

[Alan Hahn]

That's. Yeah. Sorry, Peter.

[Producer/Assistant]

Move on.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, no, please. Let's go to Justin in Queens. What's going on, Justin?

[Caller]

Hey, guys. Hey, guys. What's going on? Listen, love the show, Alan. Excellent job with the Knick stuff. Listen, thank you, Dave. And Sturgis has to go right now. I'm going to preface what I'm going to say with I'm actually going to the game tonight. And Donna's goes to your point. I'm only going because the tickets are free and my kid want the one Soto bobblehead. That's the only reason why I'm going.

[Don La Greca]

Okay.

[Caller]

Now, I'm a lifelong. I'm a lifelong Met fan, Don. You'll remember I'm the same guy Michael tried to bribe with Yankee tickets. If my. If I would convert my son to a Yankee fan a few years back. And I told him, absolutely not.

[Don La Greca]

But do you. But at this day, do you regret not doing that?

[Caller]

No, I don't, because I respect.

[Don La Greca]

But I'd almost understand if you did.

[Caller]

No, no, no, listen, man, one thing that Knicks have shown me is if you stick with it, man, that the joy that comes from winning it, man, it's unmatched. But let me get back to this fraud, this clown, David Stearns. I knew from two years ago when he played with Pete Alonzo, he didn't want to sign him and Steve Cohen had to come in and save the day. That this guy was arrogant. And you can see that the reason we are where we are now is because of his arrogance. And I'll explain. Two years ago, he didn't want to sign a real pitcher. No, I don't need Max Freed. I'll get montage. He's the same thing. How'd that work out? Hey, we don't need Pete Alonzo. A guy who shows up every day is guaranteed 30 and 100. We don't need him. Let's just get Polanco and plug him in. It's the same thing. I can win with Chris Dansky and I can win with Rico Garcia. And last year you saw how it took him until a trade deadline to make moves that we all were screaming for. Because he's of the mindset that, listen, I can run the New York Mets like the Milwaukee Brewers. I don't have to spend money. I'm smarter than you, and I don't have to make these big time moves. And now you see where we are right now? He's smug, he's arrogant, and everyone knows it. And I think the only reason why Mendoza is not going on is because if he fired Mendoza, everyone really is going to be pointing the finger at him. Like, listen, listen, buddy, this is your team now. You gotta wear it. So I just feel like he has to go and I feel like, like you're saying that, that, that Cohen has to say, listen, it's just not working. That stat that you guys just, just laid out for us, 72 and one on one. What else do you need to see?

[Don La Greca]

I know that's a big sample size that Justin. That is a great, huge, huge sample size that cannot be ignored. But you just said it. Why didn't he sign Max Freed? He didn't sign Max Freed because it was what, seven, eight year deal? That's not going to age well. There's going to be a time where the Yankees be like, we're paying Max Freed for what? He's old, he's broken, he's not good anymore. But you know what? In the first four years of the contract, it might help you win a couple of World Series, might win a couple of Cy Youngs. Wouldn't that be worth it, Alan? Like, nobody, nobody complained about Cece. He was a leader in the clubhouse. They knew he wasn't the same pitcher. But they won in 2009 in part because of him. He brought leadership and you know, maybe people did complain that why is he getting paid so much money? But at the end of the day, he still remembered as a, as a great Yankee.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes, again, it's also the important thing about what he, the foundation he was able to lay as a leader. What he was in that clubhouse carrying the standard from the dynasty 90s, you know, Jeter stuff to into the next generation, passing that torch to Aaron Judge. Come on, man. Like, yes, at times people thought the contract was an albatross, but still, it's not like his resume wasn't an impressive one as a Yankee.

[Don La Greca]

I like Chris Wild on Twitter. It's only a 71 win pace. If they play 500 games the rest of the play 500 the rest of the way.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Excuse me. How about this? This is a. You know what, let's take a break. A Charles has a strong point, New Jersey. Well, I'm going to save that for 4 o'.

[Don La Greca]

Clock.

[Peter Rosenberg]

1-800-919-3776. A lot of strong feelings on the Mets and not for any of the reasons you hope for. It's Don Han and Rosenberg on ESPN New York.

[Chris Carlin]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't want to know how the

[Alan Hahn]

sausage is made, man. I just want to know it's good.

[Chris Carlin]

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.

[Don La Greca]

Athletic Brewing Company crafts award winning non alcoholic beers for those who want to

[Producer/Assistant]

be part of every round.

[Don La Greca]

With over 185 flavor awards, they're exceptional NA beers that fit your lifestyle and any social occasion. Summer's full of good times and Athletic fits right in. Go to athleticbrewing.com to have brews delivered to your door or find them at a bar, restaurant or store near you. Near Beer Athletic Brewing Co.

[Producer/Assistant]

Fit for all times.