Hour 3: Jets Need Geno

Summary

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Don, Hahn & Rosenberg: Hour 3 – "Jets Need Geno"

Date: July 14, 2026
Hosts: Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg
Notable Guests: Buster Olney, Danny (Caller)

Episode Overview

This hour centers on the New York Jets’ high-stakes gamble on Geno Smith as quarterback, dissecting the team’s ongoing quarterback woes, Smith’s off-field controversies, and the broader dysfunction of the Jets franchise. The hosts also shift into a lively debate on the relevance of the MLB All-Star Game, infuse personal anecdotes, and touch on the unsettled direction of the New York Mets.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Jets’ Gamble on Geno Smith

[01:02–12:35]

• Quarterback Void: The Jets lack a definitive top-10 quarterback; neither the Jets nor the Giants have a presence on current power rankings. The future hinges on players like Jackson Dart and, crucially, returning veteran Geno Smith.

  "The Jet offense on paper has a lot of talent...they just have been struggling to find a quarterback. Well, Geno Smith is back with the Jets and he could be that quarterback at least short term." – Alan Hahn [01:02]

• Smith’s On-Field Credentials: Geno posted two 4,000-yard seasons in Seattle, showing real potential, but his recent stint with the Raiders was a disappointment due to a poor team environment.

• Off-the-Field Concerns:

  • Smith’s offseason has been clouded by negative headlines: traffic stops for speeding (some without his license), and a high-profile accusation of battery (now dropped, with no charges pending).
  • The hosts urge Smith—at age 35, likely his last shot as a starter—to avoid further distractions:

    "From this point forward [he needs] to be as squeaky clean as possible." – Alan Hahn [03:34] "You cannot have the leader of your team doing things that don't look leader like. These aren't big boy moves." – Peter Rosenberg [07:03]

• Franchise Perception: The Jets are desperate to escape their reputation as a “circus.” The hosts recount Geno’s first Jets tenure, infamously ending with a locker-room punch, and plead for maturity in his return:

  "When your quarterback...in his second tour...we all remember how the first tour ended. It was a circus." – Alan Hahn [07:35]

• Expectations & Stakes:

  • Smith isn’t expected to win a Super Bowl, but he must stabilize the offense and bring respectability.
  • If Smith falters or is unavailable, depth chart options (Cade Klubnick, Brady Cook, Bailey Zappy) are underwhelming:

    "It's all or nothing right now when it comes to Geno Smith. They need him." – Alan Hahn [12:09] "They need his all because they got nothing." – Peter Rosenberg [12:29]

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2. Jets’ Consistent Quarterback Instability

[12:35–18:21]

• No Backup Plan:

  • The hosts lament years of the Jets’ lack of credible backup QBs (referencing failed experiments like Zach Wilson, Mike White, Skyler Thompson, etc.).
  • Even after acquiring stars like Aaron Rodgers, the Jets’ depth remains non-existent:

    "It’s just seems to be the MO of the Jets to never really have a good second option...So everything's riding on Geno Smith." – Alan Hahn [14:58]

• Franchise Stagnation:

  • The recurring storylines ("Do we have a coach? Do we have a quarterback?") are played for comedic effect:

    "If you were, if God forbid, you'd been in a coma...you wake up and you go, I'm so glad to be alive. Tell me about my Jets...They're trying to figure out if they have a head coach and do they have a starting quarterback in Geno Smith. You go, oh my god, I didn't miss any time." – Peter Rosenberg [18:23]

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3. MLB All-Star Game: Relevance and Format Debated

[24:39–34:12]

• Losing Relevance:

  • Both hosts agree the MLB All-Star Game, like those in other major sports, has lost significance due to player apathy and evolving league priorities.

    "I don't know if an All-Star game has the same cachet it used to have... Doesn't mean you can't have an All-Star weekend...But the game itself? Meh." – Alan Hahn [25:01]

  • They praise the Home Run Derby as the highlight event and propose the sport could shift to showcase moments rather than an actual game.

• Call-In Perspective:

  • "Danny" calls to defend the game’s place for kids and tradition, emphasizing the excitement for young fans—prompting Rosenberg to suggest that feature events (like player introductions and the Derby) would excite children just as much, if not more.

    "You could have all of that on the Monday night and your grandson will be just as happy because the Home Run Derby is so much more fun for him than the actual All-Star Game." – Peter Rosenberg [33:06]

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4. Personal Baseball Memories

[34:30–39:09]

• Taking Kids to the Ballpark:
  • Peter shares the story of taking his daughter, Maya, to her first Orioles game at Camden Yards, braving the heat and enjoying Dippin' Dots—"ice cream of the future."
  • Alan shares a humorous story about almost catching a home run ball at Citi Field with his kids, only for a fan to spill beer everywhere instead.

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5. Yankees & Mets: Trade Deadline and Clubhouse Dynamics

[41:31–49:16]

• Post All-Star MLB Storylines:

  • The Yankees need to be aggressive at the trade deadline, with Aaron Judge’s health situation looming over the season.
  • Anticipation for the Yankees-Dodgers series and broader AL parity.

• Mets’ Looming Rebuild:

  • Buster Olney reports that the Mets are likely to be major sellers at the deadline, focusing on acquiring prospects and assets.
  • Hosts discuss the persistent friction between stars Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto ("the easier player to move would be Lindor") and the challenge of moving Lindor’s massive contract midseason.

    "[GMs say] when you're moving a big contract like that, it's really hard to do in the middle of a season." – Buster Olney [48:24]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• Alan Hahn [03:34]:
  "From this point forward to be as squeaky clean as possible...this could be a reclamation project type story like we saw in Seattle with Sam."

• Peter Rosenberg [07:03]:
  "You cannot have the leader of your team doing things that don't look leader like. These aren't big boy moves."

• Alan Hahn [12:09]:
  "It's all or nothing right now when it comes to Geno Smith. They need him."

• Peter Rosenberg [18:23]:
  "If you were...in a coma...you wake up and go, 'I'm so glad to be alive. Tell me about my Jets.' And then they go, 'Well, two things. They're trying to figure out if they have a head coach and do they have a starting quarterback in Geno Smith.' You go, 'Oh my God, I didn't miss any time.'"

• Alan Hahn [25:01]:
  "I don't know if an All-Star game has the same cachet it used to have..."

• Buster Olney [46:46]:
  "Collect as many assets and prospects as they can. Sounds like a rebuild to me. Sounds like a dismantle and a rebuild..."

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• Jets' quarterback situation and Geno Smith’s importance: [01:02–12:35]
• Jets’ lack of backup plan and ongoing instability: [12:35–18:21]
• MLB All-Star Game discussion: [24:39–34:12]
• Personal stories about baseball with kids: [34:30–39:09]
• Post All-Star, Yankees & Mets outlook: [41:31–49:16]
• Buster Olney on Mets’ trade deadline plans: [45:58–49:16]

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Episode Conclusion

The hour underscores the persistent identity crisis of the New York Jets, with Geno Smith cast as a potential stabilizer—while personal turmoil and poor decision-making threaten to undermine the hope for change. The franchise’s lack of depth and perpetual uncertainty are laid bare, echoing a recurring theme of stagnation. In parallel, the MLB All-Star Game’s diminished relevance generates both nostalgia and pragmatic critique, while the trade deadline looms large for both New York baseball teams. Injected with signature banter and relatable anecdotes, the episode is both an incisive look at New York sports woes and a playful reflection on what keeps fans invested, year after frustrating year.

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Transcript

[Peter Rosenberg]

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. Is there any other battery with powerboost ingredients inside? No, just Duracell. Remember, goats only trust goats because they're built different. And Messi only trusts Duracell.

[Alan Hahn]

This is the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast. That sounds like heaven to me. Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 880 ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers, of course.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Your ESPN New York MLB All Star Game coverage presented by Pella Window and Doors of New Jersey. Visit pella.com Eisen E I S E N Right. To find your local showroom today. And Alan, you teased us. Big tease heading into the break.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, because we were talking quarterbacks and the power rankings that we have happening right now in the NFL and top 10, there's nary a Jet or a Giant and we'll see. I mean, does Jackson dart play himself into the conversation next year? We shall see. There's a lot riding on him, but there's also a lot riding on Geno Smith because the Jet offense on paper has a lot of talent, has good talent, good young talent and their offensive line is good. They just have been struggling to find a quarterback. Well, Geno Smith is back with the jets and he could be that quarterback at least short term because when he's with Seattle, his numbers were good. Two 4,000 yard seasons. That's pretty impressive stuff.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It is.

[Alan Hahn]

Last year he was bad, but was it because he was with the Raiders and their line stinks and that organization's a mess and did that just affect his ability to play? That's what we're going to find out this year. The problem is though, is that Geno's been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons this offseason. And that's something that I think, you know, we can't just overlook. Now, he's been pulled over a couple of times for speeding down a floor.

[Danny]

That's right.

[Alan Hahn]

Not having his license, stuff like that. But he also got involved in something where a woman accused him of battery.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes, we remember that a few months.

[Alan Hahn]

There was a video of it and

[Peter Rosenberg]

that whole thing, she was screaming at him on the video.

[Alan Hahn]

The whole thing is he seemed calm, really bad. He did. He did seem to handle it the right way. And it's important just to make sure because we did talk about it that day when it all came out. It was a woman who claimed to be his ex girlfriend. She called 911, said she was assaulted by him. She had an Instagram video of her and Smith and she's yelling about how he came out and attacked me and all that stuff. Well, that investigation is now no longer active. They closed it. He will not be charged. And the police department in Davie, Florida confirmed that to ESPN today. So that's gone. Being pulled over a couple of times for speeding. That's not great. That's got to stop. There was another video. I think it was the same video or maybe a different one of this woman, you know, talking about not taking care of his kids and all that stuff. And that makes him look bad. Right. This is all stuff that in. When you're in New York, this stuff's just going to get magnified. He knows this. But these are players personal lives. And sometimes you can't control some things that and some people that are in your life. But the speeding part of it. Come on. Like he needs from this point forward to be as squeaky clean as possible.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's right.

[Alan Hahn]

Because this could be a reclamation project type story like we saw in Seattle with Sam.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Could be amazing.

[Buster Olney]

Right?

[Alan Hahn]

Because he did kind of had that same story in Seattle when he showed up there. People wrote me off. I didn't write back that whole thing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

And he performed well. But then Seattle moved on from him, brought in a new quarterback and they went one Super Bowl. So can Geno. Nobody's saying win the super bowl with the jets, but what you are saying is can you make the Jets a capable offense?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

Frank Reich's there. Can you show me something with this offense and yourself that can put the jets at least back in the like, can you get the jets out of relegation? Because the jets haven't been an NFL team for a couple of years now. And that's what's important to me. And for him, he's 35 years old. If he's a dad, wouldn't you say this is last chance? Oh, yeah. Like this is it for Geno Smith.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Don't you listen? Knowing football, there's a chance there's one more as a backup going forward or some other team.

[Alan Hahn]

But his last in earnest opportunity to say, hey, this guy's a true starter. Yes, it would be now.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Alan Hahn]

So this off season stuff's kind of concerning to me now. Again, can't control the ex girlfriend, can't control her actions. Clearly. The police said we find no wrongdoing, which is important for us to emphasize because it's always happens when the allegations are put out there. We talk about them. But when the case is closed and there's no charges, we don't say anything. So I want to make it clear that the case is closed and there's no charges pending. But that doesn't. Doesn't stop the fact that he has other issues with the law and it has to do with something he can control which is speeding and being caught in speed traps. Like just keep yourself out of trouble. Show up for training camp ready and give, give, give us a season. Let's see what you got. Because he's a big story and there aren't many big stories about the Jets. The most important story is whether or not they have a coach. And we're going to know that right away. He's running the defense. We're going to know whether or not this guy can coach. Because if the jets go south, their defense sucks. He's not going to be here for long. But if the jets are pretty good and the defense is stabilized and Geno Smith can just be a capable quarterback, the jets could actually surprise us and be a competitive team.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I agree with everything you're saying.

[Alan Hahn]

That's a step in the right direction.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It would be a huge step in the right direction. And I want to add to what you're saying as far as the Geno thing goes.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If I'm going to sit here as I did last week and give the spiel about I'm not 100% a believer in Jackson Dart and I and I thought that. Excuse me. Among other things I didn't love the introducing Trump because I thought it led to division and if I'm going to do all of that for Jackson Dart. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. The quarterback is expected to lead the team and make sure all attention is on what they do on the football field.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And I hate for Gino who is in the middle of a could put the perfect sort of finishing touches on his reclamation project. I hate for him anything speeding, any sort of anything at this point you can't have that. What you are here for. You're not here to be the next Tom Brady. You're here to stabilize this franchise. And you cannot have the leader of your team doing things that don't look leader like these aren't big boy moves.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, it still goes back to me is the jets are trying desperately to get away from being a circus. That's what they're trying to just stop being the franchise that everybody just laughs at. Because bad things always happen to you. And so when your quarterback, who is in his second tour, and we all remember how the first tour ended, it was a circus. He got his jaw broken by a teammate in the locker room in the offseason. Where else does that happen? With the Jets. So you come back and it's a great comeback story. Except this off season, we've heard more about things involving you and police investigations and tickets and all that stuff. That's not what the jets need. If I'm Darren Moshi, who, by the way, and I've been telling you this for a while now, this guy has proven that not only does he know how to run a franchise, he also knows how to keep Woody Johnson at bay. He definitely has the ability to let everybody know, I got this. Trust me. And the movie made, which was a gutsy one, was to bring Geno Smith back. Geno Smith comes back with baggage because he started here and left with baggage. So it doesn't matter what he did elsewhere. It doesn't matter what he did as a backup. It doesn't matter what he did with when he learned to be a starter again in Seattle. It doesn't matter what he did in. In. In Vegas. What matters is how he left and now he's coming back. And so because of it, this stuff hangs over the top and he's gonna be asked about it. So I. It's all I'm asking him is, all right, enough already. This stuff cannot be the forefront. This stuff can't be questions. And now I don't want to have beat writers that getting alerts from the Davie Police Department with the Gino's name on it. Now every time his name pops up in the blotter, I get an alert because that's what ends up happening when you got a player on the team and you know where he spends his off season and you know, he tends to get in trouble a lot. You get an alert, you set it up because you know this guy's going to get in trouble. And I want to make sure I have the story. Why.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's. That's not why we got aging.

[Alan Hahn]

No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Sort of.

[Alan Hahn]

You're not here for middle of the road quarterback.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's not.

[Alan Hahn]

You're not here for this.

[Danny]

No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We could have. We could have brought in someone else. Well, you are here to stabilize this thing and right the ship.

[Alan Hahn]

You're here to actually be a veteran presence that calms us all down, that plays well enough that our young players who are talented can actually Grow into big time roles and we want to be that surprise team. We can't do this stuff though, because you're putting all the clown show stuff in the forefront, which everybody's going to want to write about. And everybody is writing about it. So that's my concern.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's a totally fair one. There's no reason for it. And I thought at the beginning of the year, man, what if we get this exciting? What if the team, like, overachieves a little bit and you know, I mean, listen, if you listen to Bart Scott, this is a. The jets have a very talented roster and maybe they can finally get some quarterback play that's not embarrassing. I would think this would be their best shot at good quarterback playing a minute because last year Justin Fields gave them zero chance.

[Alan Hahn]

Nothing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Nothing. We all sat together and watched that Monday night game. Nothing.

[Alan Hahn]

That was painful.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So I would have, we all would have said at that moment, if you could have switched to Geno Smith in a heartbeat, we'd be like, oh my God, we'll take it. Maybe they could salvage a season.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. And maybe again, what you were hoping is that what happened in Vegas was more about the Raiders and less about Geno. That the guy he was in Seattle is still there and putting him in a stable situation here with good, young, talented players and more importantly, a good offensive line. Because we know Gino, if you blitz Gino, he's not going to take the hit. He's getting rid of the ball, throwing the ground, whatever it is, he does not want to take a hit. And so you've got to protect them. And that's. That's the biggest concern. But if you protect him, he's showed two years ago, three years ago that he's good. But this stuff, the trouble, it starts to become like a distraction. You don't need that. And let's also keep in mind, as I'm looking at the depth chart, it's Cade Klubnick, Brady Cook and Bailey Zappy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, boy.

[Alan Hahn]

Like, hold on, this is who Zappy.

[Buster Olney]

You said it's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Hold on, you said it's. Give me the order again.

[Alan Hahn]

It's who Cade Klubnick did the draft pick. Brady Cook. Yeah. And then Bailey Zappy. Still in the league. Yeah. That's your. That's your quarterback mix right now. So there it's. It's all or nothing right now when it comes to Geno Smith. They need him.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They need his all because they got nothing.

[Alan Hahn]

They got nothing. Yeah, nothing. That's the story with that. That's the story of the Jets.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And you know what?

[Ryan Reynolds]

That.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know what bothers me about that?

[Alan Hahn]

Not a lot to talk about with the jets, but this will be one. This is a story to talk about.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And jets fans, this is what bothers me. And tell me if it bothers you. You're yet again in a situation where if you lose this sort of, you know, mediocre to. Okay, pretty good quarterback. If you lose him, you have nothing.

[Alan Hahn]

Nothing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And how many years in the last five years, hey, the last 10 years, how many times has that been the case? We have one guy who's pretty good. If we lose him, we have nothing.

[Alan Hahn]

Think about this. What's it been four years ago, whatever it was, they drafted Zach Wilson second overall. And they had no true veteran backup quarterback. Like, no one of significance to bring him along, show him the way. Any of that stuff? Nope. And so when he struggled early on and then when he got hurt. But they have. They started scrambling, trying to find quarterbacks. They didn't have anyone.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's how he ended up with what's his face. The guy whose shirt they wore.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, Mike White.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Mike White.

[Alan Hahn]

Think about Mike White.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Think about how bottom of the barrel it was.

[Alan Hahn]

They must have gone through like three or four quarterbacks that year. It was unreal because they didn't plan for a Skyler Thompson. Skyler Thompson was it, Dave. Rob Streveler was.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Don't ever forget Chris Trebler.

[Alan Hahn]

And then there was. Didn't Flacco get a couple of snaps that year?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I brought Flacco back.

[Alan Hahn]

We're just losing that Thursday night game against the Jaguars.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The people cheered.

[Alan Hahn]

Stress for Straebler.

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Then he came in, he had one run and I was there. Ray Dinahan and I did not know what to do with ourselves. I was there. The, the. It was pouring out. He comes in, he gets like one like eight yard run. The whole place starts screaming, cheering. Because the Jaguars suck too. They're. The game was still in hand. You had a chance.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

And then he threw the ball and it sound. I swear to God, I thought geese flew by.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I know.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. It was like, young man, don't throw the ball again. Don't let anybody ever see you throw

[Peter Rosenberg]

the ball like, young man.

[Alan Hahn]

That was painful.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Don't you dare throw that ball, young man.

[Alan Hahn]

So there was that. And then they get Rogers and again

[Peter Rosenberg]

everything went great and they won.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The super.

[Alan Hahn]

No, no, no. True.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I turned it off. I missed it.

[Alan Hahn]

I wish I did. No, there was, but they didn't have again, no real backup. They had Zach and he still wasn't ready. So it is. It just seems to be the MO of the jets to never really have a good second option. And they don't hear right now. So everything's riding on Geno Smith. And everything we've heard in this off season from Geno Smith has basically been surrounding things that pop up on the police blotter.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And even though, as we just said, one of them turned out to be not true at all. And that's great. That's great. We love to hear that. We'd rather not have any at all.

[Alan Hahn]

Just a 35, really. You're speeding twice, though, right, Anthony? It was two times he got pulled over.

[Buster Olney]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

And this time was without his license. And this time he didn't have his license.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Where are you going? Where's your license?

[Alan Hahn]

What do you want? He said it was in the house right over there. And I'm assuming he.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, but you're. But you're breaking the number one rule.

[Alan Hahn]

Big hurry.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You can't do two illegal things at one time. If you don't bring the id, that's fine. Everyone does that. Don't speed. Oh, you're speeding. You better have your id. Better not have weed in the car. Better not have some sort of anything that's gonna. In trouble. Only one illegal thing at a time. He's a veteran. He should know these things. So it is. It's not the way you want it to start. And I sincerely hope for jets fans that we. Other things come along and there's something else to talk about, but I don't know what it's going to be. Hopefully one of these rookies is really exciting.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm telling you, Peter, because I don't want to waste a lot of our airtime on the Jets.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't want you to.

[Alan Hahn]

The Giants are a huge story in New York. I think Eagles and Cowboys will be part of it as well because it's the Giants in the NFC east and it's. There's a lot to talk about on that in that realm. To me, the jets, they're going to have to earn their space in the newspaper, so to speak.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

And the two stories to follow will be can Geno Smith be a quarterback that is capable enough to get something out of this offense? Which on paper, again, Breeze hall and Garrett Wilson, you know, they got the Kenyan Sadiq. They've got talent, a good offensive line like you can get something out of this team. Braylon Allen's good. That's one story. And the other one of course is Aaron Glenn. We don't know if he's a coach. We don't know if he's a coach. You don't know?

[Peter Rosenberg]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

And he's running this defense. He's going to be calling plays and that's going to tell us a lot as well. How organized is his team, how prepared is his team? The. Those are all question marks. Last year he said, he admitted that he learned a lot last year from mistakes that he made. He got a more grown up coaching staff this time around. He's got some legit coaches now on his coaching staff. Guys with experience. People that could also step in in the middle of a season if they decide, you know what? This guy doesn't know what he's doing. We gotta fire the head coach. He's got people that you could make the head coach. Cause they had that experience. So those are the only two stories I think with the jets that I'm following as we're two weeks out of training camp beginning. Those are the two massive stories that matter for the Jets. What's Geno Smith going to be short term and do you have a head coach? Because the future. The future.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Think about what you just said.

[Alan Hahn]

I know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, think about what you just said.

[Alan Hahn]

The future quarterback is not on the roster.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Alan. If you were, if God forbid, you'd been in a coma, oh, for five

[Alan Hahn]

years, this could be 2019, this could be 2017.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But like whatever it was, it was three years ago, 10 years ago, you wake up and you go, I'm so glad to be alive. Tell me about my Jets. And then they go, well, two things. They're trying to figure out if they have a head coach and do they have a starting quarterback in Geno Smith. You go, oh my God, I didn't miss any time.

[Alan Hahn]

It's 2015.

[Buster Olney]

Wow.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I was only out for an hour. No, no, no, it's 10 years.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There have been 35 quarterbacks since then. But it's the same. It's an.

[Alan Hahn]

Has it been 35? I don't know how many quarterbacks.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That number we do. Somebody did with, you know, Gino. We read it. It was 20. It was 20. Something from Gino to Gino. By the way, the name of my next book from Gino.

[Alan Hahn]

Did you know from Gino? Gino I like. Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You think it would be like a biography of Gino Auriemma or Gino Smith or some Geno. No, it's my book.

[Alan Hahn]

Hey, tomorrow, top five genos.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, you got, you got the Philly

[Alan Hahn]

cheesesteak place in the conversation, I think.

[Danny]

Although I'm not.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm a pats. I'm pats over Gino. Yeah, but you got that. That Geno wants in.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Arama obviously wants in.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, he's got to be part of.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Smith wants to be in the conversation.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't know if he will be though.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Gene Hackman. Do people call him Gino?

[Alan Hahn]

Nobody calls him Gino.

[Buster Olney]

Looks like 17.

[Alan Hahn]

I just did a quick count.

[Peter Rosenberg]

17.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Who? What other Gino?

[Alan Hahn]

How about. How about if Jenny Malkin.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, they do call Gino Gino. That's right. Gino Malkin.

[Alan Hahn]

I think he'd be on that team on that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, he's certainly better all put him ahead of Smith. Geno Smith.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, See he's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He might be ahead of Genos and Phil.

[Alan Hahn]

Top 5 genos.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But is there anyone else?

[Alan Hahn]

No one wants to contribute to this Top five Geno.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No. Everyone's out. Don's gone and we're dead.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, if nobody wants to contribute, I'll just read off the list. Let's see

[Peter Rosenberg]

what other Geno popped up. Any other Genos pop up?

[Buster Olney]

Any Oriema?

[Alan Hahn]

I said Orema.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You should check out the show. It's great.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh man.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And he's out. Just don't curse.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't know what you're talking about.

[Buster Olney]

No, no.

[Alan Hahn]

I have no clue what you told.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay, good. Just respectfully show yourself the door. If you don't know anything, don't start going crazy. I don't want you to get all anxious, but. Yeah, I don't know. We might be fresh out of Geno's. Allen, are you interested in the major league all star game tonight? You know what answered on the other side.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, it's funny you say that. I'm going to be interested because there's nothing happening. So you're going to watch because it's on. But do we need it?

[Peter Rosenberg]

1-800 now. 1-93776. We'll jump into the All Star game next. We got ENN coming up at 6 o'. Clock. Of course, if you missed it, Spain beats France to nothing. One more semifinal in the World cup tomorrow. Argentina and England, a couple of powerhouses. And on the biggest stage in the world. Fanduel is changing the game. Because sometimes your player gets subbed off and your bet goes with them. Well, not anymore. The FanDuel Super Sub. If your player subbed out, your bet stays in. That's right. If your player leaves the match, your bet continues on with the substitute. So you're still in it until the final whistle. Visit FanDuel.com local to get started now. Let there be goals this summer on FanDuel21 and physically present New York for help with a gambling problem, call 877-8-Hopeny or text OPENY 467369 cluster only here

[Buster Olney]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Alan Hahn]

thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Alan Hahn]

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

[Peter Rosenberg]

Don is on vacation. Is he away? Is this one he actually he's actually

[Alan Hahn]

away right this business beach week. I think this is the week that he's this staycation. He's just like taking care of all the loose ends, you know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No better. No better way to have it. I know that you like it. You say you like that too.

[Alan Hahn]

I really struggle the first week is to just take care of things around the house that like you just need to take care of. I just think she Just gotta do.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I always just feel like I'm wasting the time off though.

[Alan Hahn]

It's not wasting, it's you if you don't have time to get into stuff like that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, but we also know you enjoy. You want to go out in the yard. You want to.

[Alan Hahn]

I need some sawdust in my life. Yeah, I do.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Sky saw dust.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm seriously.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So you're short, Anthony. Is that right?

[Buster Olney]

This is.

[Peter Rosenberg]

This is Don's staycation. Is this not the go away week?

[Alan Hahn]

I don't believe he's down the shore this week. No, I don't believe so. Yeah, that's usually August, which makes sense. That's the refresh.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So this one you just chill out, try to get into some work projects.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. You know, like do a couple more work stuff with the kids, like locally, you know. You know, just relax a minute because you know, vacations can also win.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, nothing's more relaxing than chasing after the twins.

[Alan Hahn]

That's what I mean. It's a lot of work.

[Peter Rosenberg]

A lot of work now. It's a lot of work getting through the MLB All Star game. It means nothing. Nobody plays. And last night was fantastic. The Home Run Derby is actually a good time. You could actually spend your time.

[Alan Hahn]

That was to me what it should have been about. They're doing a red carpet thing right now where the players are coming out the hotel. They do a red carpet, you know, then you go to the stadium, all that stuff and feels like all this could have been done yesterday. Right. Do you need the game? You know my answer, and I'm saying this for all of the major sports because the game used to be a showcase that for the sport. That was necessary because it drew the attention of, you know, the whole world. Everybody's watching because it's an All Star. It's very compelling to watch stars team up to watch stars go up against each other. You don't normally see them go up against each other. You know, what would it look like to put like these two All Star teams together? Have them play. You know, guys should take that stuff seriously. But because of where we are in pro sports now, when it comes to the money and the status, the fact that free agency exists, players have made super teams. Things have changed in the last 30 years to where I don't know if an All Star game has the same cachet it used to have. It doesn't mean you can't have an All Star weekend or All Star event. All Star break. And you do like last night's Home Run Derby. Home Run Derbies, for the most part, Peter, they've been fun.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I think. I think it's going back to 17, about nine, 10 years. They've been really fun.

[Alan Hahn]

And changed the format to the swing swing total instead of the clock. It did allow for it to slow down enough that you can see pitch to pitch versus just what became like a rapid fire thing and it became more compelling. And having the magenta ball at the end, meaning you stay beyond your 20 or 10 swings. If you keep hitting home runs until you miss, that's pretty cool. That was a show.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It adds another level of excitement. And it's the one act you can do where you can be competitive. The crowd is into it and there's really not. We know that there's been some risk of burning out, but there's no major risk of injury in the Home Run Derby.

[Alan Hahn]

Not really.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So it gives you. It's the one event that works. So that's it.

[Alan Hahn]

And then you. So you can do your red carpet, you can do your intros for your All Star teams. And now when there's an injured player, it doesn't matter. He's still getting introduced, he's still coming out waving to the crowd. You see them lined up, do the anthem. And then we all like, kind of, you go to your side, we go to our side and we'll have a Home Run Derby. And that's fun. And that's it. There's a celebration of our game. Now. We get a couple of days off before we resume the season. What's the issue?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't. I have no issue.

[Alan Hahn]

Because you're now not getting a second night of a sellout ticket crowd and another night of a broadcast probably. Is that really. So it's no longer then. All right, so then you're admitting, and I think the NFL already did, it's no longer now about the game, but it's about selling the game. And when I say selling the game, I don't mean promoting it. I mean literally monetizing. Yes, Monetizing the event.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So as Alan said earlier, we talked about this earlier. The mic drop moment is, if the All Star Game was so important, why would the number one most popular money making sport in America.

[Alan Hahn]

Yep.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The NFL completely punt, no pun intended, on the All Star Game. They're out. They left the All Star business.

[Alan Hahn]

We can't play a game because guys don't want to get hurt and our game's too tough.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So cool.

[Alan Hahn]

We're going to do flag because we want to promote flag football anyway.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And we'll do a skills competition and

[Alan Hahn]

we don't care if nobody's watching. We don't care.

[Peter Rosenberg]

In fact, only 2 million people watch

[Alan Hahn]

and we don't care.

[Peter Rosenberg]

A fifteenth of what we get on a regular season game will watch.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, that's really what it is.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So if every, if the NFL is out on the All Star game, I don't really understand what the point is.

[Alan Hahn]

The NBA is like begging players to actually compete in that game. The NBA's All Star Game got embarrassing until Wemby called people out. And then it put a little juice in it, but not enough.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm hoping Wemby continues to be the force again.

[Alan Hahn]

Guys are going to be like, even his own teammates like Wemby, like it's an all time. It doesn't matter. Don't hurt yourself in this game. It doesn't matter. Don't take it seriously because this game doesn't matter.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Kobe. Kobe was our last.

[Alan Hahn]

He was the last guy that said it mattered. But even I think even now Kobe might say, what are we doing?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, it might have been. No, he wouldn't ever say, what are we doing? I think he would just give up

[Alan Hahn]

because his whole thing is we're keeping score. It does matter. Right? Like that's, that's of course an old school mentality, but I'm Also, I'm paying $300 million for some of these players. The last thing I want to do is have that guy get hurt. So my opinion is that league should start considering not bothering. Don't play the game. Right. Schlitler's not playing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So what are we doing?

[Alan Hahn]

Wheeler said, no thanks. Because I don't want to be like your fifth choice, which I respect that because again, when you're a Pro bowl selection, but you were like the eighth guy to be selected at that position because four guys got hurt and four guys don't want to go. Are you really a Pro Bowler? Right, that's where it starts to get silly. So let's just name our All Star team because that's what the fans voted. They come out, take pictures, all that stuff. Have the pump and circumstance home run derby and then we, we get an extra day off. And then when you do the NBA one, it's the same thing. Do your three point shootout. You want to do a dunk contest, fine, that's it. But have your, have your all stars come and line up, do media and you know, do some fan stuff. But we don't need the game. And the leagues will say, yes, we do because the TV companies The broadcast companies are paying rights for that game and that's money in our pocket and we'll never going to turn it down. We'll put you out there in an All Star game if we have to.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Do you mean literally me?

[Alan Hahn]

Yes, is in the end that's kind of what's happening, right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Let's talk to the people. 1-800-919-3776. Ah, it's Danny on Long island, folks.

[Alan Hahn]

Hey, Danny.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Hey Danny, how you doing?

[Danny]

I'm doing good, man. By the way, Peter, I'll be visiting your home state for the next four days. I'll be corralling around Indianapolis, St. Michael area dropping some coin. So maybe I'll run into the Rosenbergs.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It would be unlikely. Although my parents do like to take a random trip to various parts of Maryland. So you never, you never know. Enjoy yourself. Lovely down there.

[Danny]

Me and Mrs. Nap and the other couples were very big on like the four to five hour, three or four day weekend trips into Americana, Mystic, Newport beach is Annapolis. We always have a good time. But listen, you know, I just called my son in South Carolina a while ago. Both his sons play baseball. They're young. My 8 year old grandson or 7 years old guys are getting old. Is lining up his baseball cards as we speak on the table getting ready to watch the All Star game. I know there's no such thing as Santa Claus. I know that the baseball All Star game is not the game. I remember from my youth with Steve Garvey and the players played all the whole game the story. Players played the entire game. The backups were just, they're. I know it's not the same but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a place for the people who are the future of the game. What are you telling the kids who are going to be the ones watching baseball in 20 years? The place will be sold out. It'll get a decent rating. There's nothing else on. All the All Star games are a joke. Baseball is the most realistic one out of all of them because actually play the game without any real.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, well that's the best.

[Danny]

Play the game without any real chance of getting injured. But you know, it's not the same as I was. Of course it was. No one's barreling over Ray Fosse at home plate and separating his shoulder. It's an exhibition now more than a game. But my 7 year old kid doesn't know that and he loves baseball so he's going to be all tuned in. My son's buying A pizza. You know, he, and he knows it's a push back.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And I'll let you go. I'll let you go. Let me just push back on one point. The reason I hear everything you're saying, I receive it and I respond, you could have all of that on the Monday night and your, and your grandson will be just as happy because the Home Run Derby so much more fun for him than the actual All Star Game. So why not just do you have. The night starts 8 o', clock, they come out of the gate, they do a little intro, blah, blah, blah. The first big segment they do at 8:30 is the all Star introduction. Everyone gets to see their favorite player come out, get their song, get their moment, wave to the crowd. Your grandson pops for his favorite player. They do that for a half hour. Nine o', clock, they start at the Home Run Derby.

[Danny]

You could do it on separate nights. It's okay. It's enough. It's at a time of the year where there's really nothing going on. But let me just go.

[Peter Rosenberg]

People have to fork over money and like you do in theory, want people to watch that. And as Alan's saying, well, people, people

[Danny]

were there and they were forked over.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, but 2 million people to be

[Danny]

in the house last night and they forked it. By the way, before I go, Pete, as I said, I, I, I scoff at the I. God bless. I love you, little girl. Chasing around must be difficult. I had two twin four year olds at the beach yesterday. Imagine that voice. One of them wants to swim to England. Yeah, you talk about being on high

[Alan Hahn]

alert for five hours.

[Danny]

I didn't sit down.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, that, that ain't relaxing.

[Danny]

That ain't. No, it is not. It is not relaxing. But they loved every minute of it. And grandpa can build a good castle, so it's what. Anyway, enjoy the game. Thank you.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Thank you, buddy.

[Danny]

Thank you for what it is. Buy yourself.

[Alan Hahn]

All right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Later, Danny. Yeah. No chasing around four year old boys. I can't even quite imagine. Can't. I mean, Maya right now is super high speed. Hey, by the way, speaking of baseball, didn't even tell any guys this big moment yesterday.

[Alan Hahn]

Yesterday, yesterday. What happened?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, what's today?

[Alan Hahn]

Today's Tuesday.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It was Sunday.

[Alan Hahn]

Mm.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Maya went to her first ball game. Where, where else would it be? Camden Yards, baby. The best stadium in baseball. Oh, wow. We were so Natalie had the wedding we went to this weekend, had another event component on Sunday and I'm dropping Natalie off. We didn't have kid coverage, so we got a Babysitter. My brother babysat on Saturday. Sunday, we didn't have an option. So I go, I'll drop you at the event, and I'll watch the baby. So I'm going to where the event is, and I'm pulling up, and I'm like, that's literally Utah Street. We are at Camden Yards. I was like, no chance. The Orioles are here today. I look Kansas city at Baltimore, 1:35. I look at my clock in my car, 1:35, I go, oh, babe, it's meant to be. If it's all right with you, go to your little wedding thing. I'm just gonna literally park right here at the Marriott and walk a hundred yards to Camden Yards. Tickets were all of $20 at the box office.

[Alan Hahn]

Of course they were.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We walked in, hung out on Utah Street. She had dippin dots for the first time, like you dream about.

[Alan Hahn]

Must've been great.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Ice cream of the future. I keep waiting for that time. By the way, they have been saying the ice cream of the Future since 1997.

[Alan Hahn]

Ice cream is the ice cream of.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's a great take. It's the ice cream of the past. President. But anyways, it was really cool. Like, we didn't even go sit in the seats. It was a thousand degrees, and she's a little baby. But just getting to a walkout, you know, Camden Yard. You've been to Camden before, right? Yes, in the outfield right off Utah Street. They have, like, a standing room only. So we just went out in the standing room only area, checked it out, got some dippin dots.

[Alan Hahn]

You weren't one of those. You weren't one of those dads, like, caught a foul ball holding the baby in one arm? It could have been that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I will tell you, that did make me nervous, though. Sitting in homerun territory does make me a little antsy.

[Alan Hahn]

Absolutely.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because thinking worst case scenario, Allen, if a baseball is flying towards your child, you can't really. Do you trust yourself to simply reach out and hope you're catching? I think you have to throw your body in front of it.

[Alan Hahn]

You're protecting the child.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You can't just reach out and hope that this does enough. No, you have to literally jump in front, and if that means you catch it off the chest. You catch it off the chest.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Made me nervous.

[Alan Hahn]

I've never been in that situation.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, you haven't done that.

[Alan Hahn]

No, I just had the one where I had Emma and Zach when they were, like, probably, like, eight.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay, and what'd you end up doing in.

[Alan Hahn]

I was at City field.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right.

[Alan Hahn]

And I was about to catch home run ball. We were in the outfield. We were in left field.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay.

[Alan Hahn]

And it's coming right at us. And they're eight and felt like eight and seven, eight and six. Like in that. Yeah. So they're on either side of me. And I. I'm Glover.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

Huh?

[Peter Rosenberg]

You had a glove or.

[Buster Olney]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay.

[Alan Hahn]

No, but it's. It's. It's in my. It's in my view. And I'm like, okay, I can probably reach this thing. If I just reach forward, I can probably catch this. Yeah. So I go to. I put my hand up, but I didn't have to go up too high. Now you're very tall guy behind me puts his beer in front of me to catch it with the beer. Like in a beer cup with.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Full of beer.

[Alan Hahn]

Full of beer.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Of course.

[Alan Hahn]

The ball knocks the beer out of his hands, showers all of us in beer.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's right.

[Alan Hahn]

And the ball bounces and you beat

[Peter Rosenberg]

the guy who to his death you wanted to, oh, so badly.

[Alan Hahn]

But what am I going to do?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Listen to kids? With me, it could have been worse. At least it was just beer.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes. But still, I just kept wondering, were you trying to catch that with the

[Peter Rosenberg]

cup of beer or like you just had. Maybe it was just an instinct. He's like, I must reach out for balls. And he just stuck his. His beer handle.

[Alan Hahn]

What are you doing? Does it as you trying to catch that with a couple. I just kept staring at him going, why? He was.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, I'm so.

[Buster Olney]

I'm sorry.

[Alan Hahn]

And he's laughing. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

[Peter Rosenberg]

My kids are covered in beer.

[Alan Hahn]

They're covered in. They thought. Zach thought it was hilarious.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay, good.

[Alan Hahn]

So they weren't upset. But I'm like,

[Peter Rosenberg]

come on, dude, what are you doing? Have you ever. I'm always amazed at how many times during a baseball game someone reaches out and snares a ball. That's like. But that's. But that's like, you know.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Screaming. And they just reach out and grab it.

[Alan Hahn]

You know how much that hurts? I palm your palm just red. And just when I went on the

[Peter Rosenberg]

baseball team when we were throwing around, and I would randomly, for fun, just like, let me try and just grab it. It's. And that's a lot of toss from.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, I know. Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's like a crazy thing that's happening at every game that people are just

[Alan Hahn]

barehanded reaching up to catch that exit velocity, you know? 110.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Dude, you seeing what Wilson Contreras was doing to the ball last night? They were up there in the third deck in Philly. Yeah, he was turning on the ball where he ended up practically facing home plate. That's how far this guy was turning on the ball. And they're reaching up there, just grabbing it.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

Always cons your doctor to determine if this product is right for you.

[Alan Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Alan Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts, Beasties, Legends. All right, so look, there is an All Star game tonight. And as. Look, it is fair that there are kids who like to watch this. It's, it's. I feel like in all the sports it's kind of run its course. It's not what it used to be. But again, I'm also older. I've seen a million of them. I've seen how these games have become less and less valuable to players. Players don't look at these games as if they matter. It's fun when, like you're doing tricks and showcase stuff, then it's enjoyable to watch that kind of stuff. That's what makes it fun. But the problem is like when you're playing a game, you can't always do stuff like that. Like the hat, the backwards hat, you know, the, the pitchers don't throw in like a funny, funny pitch. Like a law would be hilarious. Bad flips, like all that stuff could be fun. But over nine innings you just keep, now you're just trying to force players into the game. You want to make sure everybody gets a chance to play. Like, again, it'll be something to watch because it's the middle of the summer. There's nothing else really sports wise to watch. But when we get out of the All Star break, I feel like to me, this is when it really becomes a story. Because after the All Star break is not only the quote unquote, second half, even though we're already in the second half, but you know what I mean. You, you get the dog days of August, but you do get the trade deadline. And the trade deadline to me, if you're the Yankees is huge. It's important. I said it yesterday. The Yankees need to be aggressive and look at this year as a go for it year because they don't. You don't know what's on the other side of whatever cost certainty you're going to see in Major League Baseball payrolls. You have no idea. Cap or no cap, there's going to be something that is going to control spending and could change the way you are building your team. The American League is also right now, tons of parody. Not a lot of good teams. You have a chance to make a run to a World Series. The first thing you got to do is get healthy. So the first thing you got to know is that you will have Aaron Judge at some point this season with enough Runway to get him ready and ramped up for October. We don't know that yet. That's still very much an uncertainty, so we can't pretend like that's a given. I said it yesterday. There's no guarantee that you're getting Aaron Judge or at least what version of him you're going to get, because a rib fracture affects everything. Throwing, swinging, all of that. He hasn't done any of that in over a month. So keep that in mind. So what do the Yankees do? How do they handle it going forward? But the very first thing you get out of the gate is Yankees, Dodgers and Ohtani's. Even though we're not going to see Ohtani. You're going to see Ohtani in the Bronx against the Yankees because he's had that left knee thing going on. But he's going to play. So you're not. It's too bad because that's again, the fun part of this whole thing is Ohtani versus Judge, Judge versus Ohtani. The two best players in the sport going head to head. I mean, that's what it's supposed to be about. But you're not going to get that. But still, you're going to get Yankees, Dodgers, the Mets and Phillies. And the Mets, of course, what are they going to do? That's something. Guys, I can't see the page, but I know we have Buster talking about the Mets thing because this is also something to watch when we get again as we get into August, but the end of the later stages of July, David Stern is going to have to start getting to work because it does sound like the Mets are probably going to start pulling this team apart and it could be interesting to see the deals they make and who they end up moving. So we have Buster only on with Dave and Rick. Well, Dan and Rick one in the morning show. And when he was asked, should we expect the Mets to be major sellers at the trade deadline, let's see what he says.

[Buster Olney]

Yes, it'll be a busy deadline for them. I think Clay Holmes is going to be coveted in this market because as I mentioned, school's kind of come off the the list of starting pitchers going to be available. Casey Mize, Sonny Gray, those. With those guys off the list, I think now everyone's going to be watching Clay Holmes, who's respected, he's a type of starter the teams like to add because, you know, the ground ball guy, the fact that he has established himself as a starting pitcher, they're going to do well there. This is the one time a year when small SA size can matter. So how Freddy Peralta pitches out of the deadline is going to be really important. And then, yeah, bullpen guys, for sure. I mean, we heard Steve Cohen in that interview he did with the New York Post basically say he's concerned about this team, you know, next year moving forward. They have to collect as many prospects and assets as they can with this year's trade deadline.

[Alan Hahn]

Collect as many assets and prospects as they can. Sounds like a rebuild to me. Sounds like a dismantle and a rebuild, which they thought they were doing in the off season. Now, the biggest name, and I said this yesterday, Peter, the Sotol indoor thing's not going away. You can't say, oh, it's better now. Like, that's what Cohen said. It was an issue last year, but, you know, we think it's better. But those types of locker room issues don't go away until you finally decide one of them's gotta go. Because there's this sense of the alphas never give in. Especially when one guy was there and this was my team, and now this guy comes in and he's got his own ways and he's not following. You've got to decide which guy you're going with and go forward with that guy. And then no one has any doubt or any question about it. It's really why Nimmos gone. It's why Alonzo's gone. Because those guys also were pulled. There was a tug of war going on in that clubhouse, fellas. Like, you gotta understand, like, that's what was going on with the Mets last year. Why that tailspin the way it did is because all those good feelings from OMG and all that stuff two years ago, that that fell off. You couldn't trust it. They did not have a strong foundation in that clubhouse. And it was clear circle the drain last year. They had to make changes. They thought they fixed some of the problem when it comes to the tug of war in there. But the biggest one still exists between Soto and Lindor. The easier player to move would be Lindor. So Buster was asked by the guys how likely it would be and how tough it would be to move a guy like Francisco Lindor.

[Buster Olney]

It would be really difficult. You know, one thing I always hear from general managers is all the time, is that when you're moving a big contract like that, it's really hard to do in the middle of a season. Now, the Red Sox did it last year in that deal with the Giants with Rafael Devers, but I suspect with Lynn Dorr, it would be so tough because of all the money owed, the uncertainty about the cap I don't. I think it'd be tough to convince a team, yeah, you should take on this deal when no one really knows what the economic system is going to look like a year from now. That would double it. It's almost, it feels like to me a waste of energy to try to move that contract until we know exactly what we're going to be dealing with next year.

[Alan Hahn]

Still me doesn't mean you don't listen, because what we've seen is mid season conversations can turn into off season deals, so I'm sure that'll be part of the situation. Look, I was telling everybody that Giannis wasn't getting traded in season. Remember I told you that that's an offseason.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You were very confident.

[Alan Hahn]

By the way, that's an off season trade because it's a massive contract, it's a massive player and it's going to take a lot of pieces and those are hard to do in season. Lindor is the same type of deal hard to do in season, so doesn't mean you can't have conversations about it. But I have a feeling that once you get to the off season and of course you got to get through all the CBA labor stuff, but that probably gets back on the table. But I might suspect that there could be a conversation the Mets have with a team, at least one, if not two right now that could end up being a trade for Lindor later on after this season. Those are off season trades, but it doesn't mean the Mets aren't going to do it. Bus will just let you know it's hard to do in season, but it doesn't mean that it won't happen. Two best words in sports are coming up.

[Peter Rosenberg]

ENN next.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, 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, but I just want to know it's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter Weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and you your smart speakers. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now I was looking for fun ways

[Peter Rosenberg]

to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] switch upfront payment

[Ryan Reynolds]

of $45 for 3 months, $90 for 76 months or $180 for 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees. Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy. See terms.