July 17, 2018 • 46 mins
Doug discusses Le’Veon Bell and the Steelers failing to agree on a long term contract and what that means for his future in the NFL. He also thinks Ben McAdoo handle the Eli Manning situation the right way during his time as head coach of the Giants. NBA Insider Ric Bucher joins the show to talk about LeBron’s appearance at Summer League.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the best of the dun got Lee Show
on Fox Sports Radio, Boom of America, Doug Gottlieb Show,
Fox Sports Radio, coming to you from beautiful sunny southern California,
where I do believe I do believe that most of
the sports world will we'll head to in the coming
(00:24):
days with the SPS right around the corner. Major League
Baseball All Star Game of course starters announced earlier today.
We have a World Cup champion. It is France and
the Friends have been the John Calipari of of soccer
with all the recruiting they've been doing with so many
foreign born players that have that have immigrated to France.
(00:47):
Will get to that upcoming soccer guy. Quick note to
soccer guy. Time for you guys to go away for
about three and a half more years. Soccer guy, simmy
soccer guy. You can argue with me all you want
about our best and our brightest not playing soccer, but
(01:07):
you're wrong. Okay, you're just wrong. The best athletes in
our country don't play soccer, and if they did, we
would dominate soccer. It's just sheer numbers, that's it. The
Croatian thing was an amazing series of upsets. They have
a very good team. And look, I don't know enough
about super high level soccer to be honest whether that
(01:29):
that was a handball that led to the p K
which allowed France to take a to one lead, I don't.
I'm not gonna sit here and argue back and forth
about about the nuance of when you call a handball
and when you don't call a handball. What I will
tell you is Thembobe kid is great, a spectacular star
(01:51):
who shined the brightest here late in the World Cup.
He's nineteen years old. He's the first teenager to score
in a World Cup finals since La By the way,
we call him pale here because we mispronounced everything. You
know why, because we're Americans. Because we're Americans. Are best
athletes don't play soccer, and if they did, we would
kick everybody's ass. You can argue with me all you want.
(02:13):
But if if Tyreek Hill, if Tyreek Hill played soccer
from a young age, he would be better than Mbomba
or as good. No, he wouldn't. There's skill, there's fine tuning,
there's belief in right. Because our best athletes, our best
athletes don't have great spatial awareness, like a like a
(02:36):
great point Kyrie Irving a Russell Russell Westbrook wouldn't be
a great soccer player, seeing as he's a freak athlete. Vertically,
he's six ft two seeks bigger, he's stronger, he's great. Latterly,
he's incredibly competitive and occasionally does see the court. No,
he wouldn't. He's smart enough to get in U c
l A. But he's not smart enough to play soccer.
Soccer guys are so smart they're absolute imbeciles and they
(02:58):
make everybody up. Said, you don't ever talk about our sport.
Then we do, and you're like, I don't like how
you talking about our sport because you don't know enough
about our sport. That's because nobody truly cares about your
sport except for during the World Cup, to which we
really care. And now we're like, cool, we'll care. Hopefully
in four years will be in the damn thing. And
if we can't make it when they expand the field,
we should stop playing soccer. I mean, really, that's what
(03:23):
happened right Italy in America. Don't get into like, man,
we gotta open the field up. That's what would happen
if you know I'm We're not Caroline or Duke or something.
But that's what would happen in the That's what happened
the n s A tournament. That's why they expanded that
bad boy soccer guy soccer guys mad because I have
stated repeatedly that the day in which our best and
(03:47):
brightest have access to and start playing soccer at a
young age, and it's not a white, suburban, rich kids sport,
then we will dominate internationally. You know why, because we
dominate everything else internationally. That our best and brightest play
period because we have the most diverse and greatest depth
(04:08):
of athletes anywhere in the world. And when it's a
clean sport and we competed it, we win it. You
could argue with me, but all I have is factual
data to support it. You know enough about soccer, You're right,
they don't. But I know enough about athletics to know
that in of the high schools in America, the elite
(04:33):
level athletes play football and basketball. And then it means
one of the things that one of the reasons that
athletes like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper that would be
good football players, decent solid basketball player, Aaron judge stick
out so much on a on a baseball field. Why
because the best athletes don't play baseball anymore and when
(04:55):
they do, they're awesome. So soccer guy, we loved your sport.
F This was awesome. It was really cool. It was
weird to see Russia and people cheering for Russia. That
whole thing was odd. Was like the way to my
cheering for Russia because they're the underdog. Congrats. Time for
you to go back and take a nap and start
telling me about you can tweet away on Saturdays about
(05:16):
international soccer and about the MLS. All right, Now, let's
get to foot ball where Levian Bell has fifty three minutes.
Fifty three minutes to sign on the line that has dotted.
This from Jason lock Camphor, who joins this weekly during
(05:37):
the NFL season for CB from CBS Sports. The Steelers
are making every effort to sign Levy on Bell and
remain willing to pay him more than any running back
has made in the league for quite some time, but
then again has noted that's the same mindset they had
a year ago when the pro bowler backed out just
before the deadline and opted not to sign the contract.
(05:58):
Talks of remain Amica Bowl and productive, and there is
some hope that a deal get done by four o'clock
Eastern time again, that is fifty two minutes and change
from right now. Levian Bell can sign a franchise tag
or he can sign a long term deal. Levan is
twenty six years old. He's been remarkably productive, and he
(06:24):
has also miss games because the suspension, miss gains because
of injury, so he has he has two choices. His
first choice is to sign the franchise tag, which would
be at about eleven point eight million dollars, or to
certa sign a long term contract reportedly turned out a
(06:44):
five year deal that averaged twelve million dollars a season,
with thirty million dollars guaranteed over the first two years.
Like Leveyan, Bell wants us to feel bad for him.
He wants to tell us that he's worth more than
running backs of make because he's more than a running act.
He catches the ball, he blocks, he runs the football.
But he's arguing against the salary structures of every running
(07:06):
back of the National Football League. It's a position that
has been devalued, even if he's more valuable with the Steelers,
then other running backs would be elsewhere. This is the
Jimmy Graham argument, and it didn't work with Jimmy Graham,
and it ain't gonna work with Levian Bell. So you
can sit here and tell me, no, I should get more.
I should get more. I should get more. But the
(07:28):
market sets the number, and the market that says you're
not worth sixteen or seventeen million dollars, nobody's making that.
Even if you take out the fact that he's miss
games because of injury, playoff games because of injury. Even
if you make it take out the fact that he's
missed games because of suspension. You take those two things out,
(07:50):
that's fine. You can take him out and just go, hey,
if he was perfectly healthy at twenty six years old,
is he worth more than the going rate for running backs?
And the answer is no. The answer is no. That
though there are some tremendous running backs like like Todd
Gurley and maybe Sae Kwon Barkley that have been taken
in the first round, there's an equal number of guys
(08:11):
have been taken in rounds three, four, five. There's just
as many teams that are successful in running back by
committee as there are running back. Uh with it with
a lead dog running back a matter of fact, more
so with a running back by committee. Go back and
look Philadelphia Eagles, they have a star making twelve thirty
million dollars a year running back. They do not, not
(08:33):
that I'm aware of the New England Patriots. How often
do they have to be successful without a star running back?
Matter of fact, Dean Lewis has gone from last year.
They turn, they cycle those things over. You know why,
because they know you age, you go stale and you
get expensive, so you get gone. So the Steelers are
(08:55):
still truthfully willing to commit to a longer term at
more money than they want to, and Levan's not. And
we're supposed to feel bad about this. We're supposed to
be like, this is just another case of the man
keeping the running back down. But the truth is, like,
you're you're an asset that does not have the value
you used to have in this league, even if you're
(09:16):
super valuable to the Pittsburgh Steelers. I could make the
argument that Pittsburgh uses him more than others would even
know how to use it, that they've they found a
way in which they can use him in a variety
of ways, and there's some talk Adam Schefter said earlier
today on serious uh NFL Radio that he might set
(09:38):
out half the season. Take a listen to what Schefter
had to say earlier today. I think if they don't
get a deal done, the most important thing for Levian
Bill is to preserve his health and make sure he's
healthy heading into the two thousand nineteen free agent market.
I think it's possible that Levan Bill skips the first
half of the year. I'm not telling he'll do that,
but I can tell you this, he'll he'll certainly think
(09:58):
about it is big this year. Is honestly to get
to the two does my team free? Is your market healthy?
It's not to get four touches, get more tread and attire,
wear down, risk injury before you get your big paid day.
It's just not. Yeah, that is um that that's an
agent talking through Schefter. That's all that is. If you
(10:21):
think it increases your value to be a year older
at running back, to play half of a season, plus
you'll play playoffs, likely with the Pittsburgh Steelers're still gonna
take a beating. And oh yeah, by the way, you
miss half the season, miss training camp, you're likely to
have you more likely to have a soft tissue injury.
Not wishing any injury on anybody, but the number stand up.
(10:42):
The holding out work for Emmett Smith. He famously held
out one year and it was a disaster without them,
and it may work for Levy on Bell. But if
you have a good contract in front of you, and
you've already been franchise tagged last year to which you've
earned upwards of eleven million dollars guarantee, like at some
(11:03):
point the game of Chicken is up and you just
got to sign the deal. NFL players have argued for
I don't know how many years about needing guaranteed contracts.
It's such a red herring. This is a guaranteed contract
that he's been offered thirty million dollars in guarantee. Sure
it says five years. You don't want five years, You say,
(11:25):
I just want to sign for two plus years or whatever.
I'm sure that would be adjusted. You probably wouldn't get
thirty guaranteed because they wouldn't have you under contract for
five years afterwards. But you still get a completely guaranteed contract.
But guys don't want that at at or above market value.
The Steelers are offering a fair deal and if not
(11:49):
sign the franchise tag and hope somebody else offers you
a more fair deal next year. But not playing frankly
as silly and goes opposite to what, uh what anyone
would believe would drive up your price in the coming
off season next year. Be sure to catch live editions
of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Easter
(12:10):
noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
Radio app plub My Guy. Rick Buker, senior writer Bleacher
Report covering the NBA, also hosted his own show on
Serious Sex m NBA Radio. He joins us here on
The Doug Gottlip Show Fox Sports Radio, and he played
soccer in college. Huh uh, Buka, I've long contended that, Um, look,
(12:31):
I know there are other issues with our soccer program,
but I watched the level of athleticism on some of
these teams, and I watch NFL football, college football, college basketball,
and I'm just a normal human being that realizes that
a lot of there's either not access, too expensive, or
just not the desire to play at a young age.
(12:54):
Um in in diverse parts of our country, are our
best athletes are not playing? Is that too? Is that
too outsider ish to to point to the one of
the reasons we're not as competitive as we should be
in soccer. No, not at all, And it's I mean
it's not the only reason, but it certainly is a
(13:16):
big reason. I mean just when you watch him, boy
at that nineteen you know, I mean, how many other
guys have we seen in other sports, uh in in
in the US who have that speed and he really
that's the difference. I Mean, he's got some great moves,
but more than anything, he just turns a corner and
and he creates angles that that uh that give him
(13:38):
a huge advantage, uh simply because of of how athletic
he is. So yeah, there's there's some things about our
program and the way we teach the game. I think
the level of creativity is not there. We've We've become
very systematic, uh in the way we teach the game,
and I think there has to be that that playground element.
This is the one time that I will vouch for
(14:00):
a AU basketball is that it does allow a certain
degree of, or maybe too much a creativity, and we
don't really have that uh in soccer in this country
at the at the highest level. So um, but yeah,
certainly for the athleticism that we have in this country
and the resources that we have in this country. Uh,
(14:22):
there is no reason that that we shouldn't be a
a power on the world stage. All right, let's that's
that's that's all the soccer talk we're gonna have for
the four years. Rick Bucker joining us in the Doug
Gottlieb Show. Lebron shows up in Vegas wearing some Lakers shorts,
tapping up the Lakers, hugging everybody. It it felt real
(14:43):
to me. It felt like, all right, this is all right,
he's really, it's really and and my and look, I
do do I think sometimes things are fake? Sure? I
just kind of think this is a hey man, we're
a team. Other guys have shown up to watch their teams.
This is me showing up to watch my team. I
thought that was I bought what he was selling yesterday,
(15:05):
did you? Uh sure? I thought it was, as with
most things with Lebron, a little over the top. Did
he have to wear Lakers shorts? Did he have to
wear Lakers shorts with Lakers emblazoned across the crotch. I
thought that that. Uh, I couldn't help but feel like
that was some kind of a message to Dan Gilbert.
(15:27):
Uh that said, he showed up. You know I was
looking when I when he showed up, immediately thought, I
couldn't recall. I go to Summer League every year. I
don't stay this late. Generally, I go to say, stay
the first three or four days because that's when the
picks play. Uh and generally they get shut down the
longer it goes on and and the game's just become
(15:49):
become wearisome because players get just worn down. But all
that said, I wondered, you know, how many times has
he shown up before Summer League? And I checked with
somebody with the with the calves, and they said, yeah,
he's he's he's been out to watch us. He had
done that previously. The last summer he came out and
he watched Alonzo. That was the story, is that he
(16:11):
came out to watch a Lonzo. So maybe that, uh,
that should have been taken as a harbinger of what
we uh we eventually saw happen. All that said, no,
I I do believe that he feels vested in the Lakers,
and uh, and showing up and knowing all who all
the players are. I mean, it is what Lebron does
(16:33):
there For anybody who's who who wants to criticize Lebron,
there are elements that are fair to criticize. But one
of the things that he is intimately involved in, whichever
team is he's playing playing for, is he's um, he's
intimately involved in in in knowing who the players are.
(16:54):
He may not know their background, he may not be
involved with them personally, but he knows who they are
as players. And so this didn't surprise me. Rick Buker
from Bleach Report joining us, Doug gotlub Show, Fox Sports Radio.
All right, some other league news, which is interesting. Jimmy
Butler does not sign an extension. Now, Um, there's financial
intelligence to it to which if he waits, you can
(17:15):
sign a bigger deal. Or there's the growing thought that
he didn't like what's going on there. Um, they got
two young guys that are a little bit different and
that he doesn't buy into, and that Jimmy Butler wants
to be either l A or New York after next offseason.
What do you think I've heard those I've heard those
(17:36):
same very things and I heard them before. He actually
when when he first got to Minnesota, when he was
dealt to Minnesota by the Chicago Bulls, I was told
this is a stop, it's not a destination. And that
being in Minnesota, being in that market, actually playing for
Tom Thibodeau again, even though Tips made him into the
(18:00):
star that he is, gave him the uh, the authority
and the and the and the and the role that
made him into the star that he is, that he
wasn't enthralled with that because he knows all that comes
with playing for TIBs. But I don't I don't think
that this is just I'm just making a fine And
this isn't Kyrie Irving and Boston saying hey, it doesn't
(18:22):
make any sense for me to sign extension. Now, we'll
talk about that when we get there. That one has
a different feel to me. This one is no, I'm
not signing because I'm not planning planning on staying here
long term. Brick Buker joining us on the Doug Gottlieb Show,
Um Kawhi Leonard, Where where where is san Antonio with
their decision as to where to send him or or
(18:44):
if to keep him next season? Well, they're my what
I've been told is that, you know, they come into
this thing in New Territory, they've never had a player
who has expressed the desire, the outright desire to leave
San Antonio, particularly one who is the nucleus and and
a cornerstone. Um, so they are now they're looking for
(19:09):
one of two things. And and the first, it's still
kind of hard for me to believe, but that they
still hold out hope that they can convince him to
stay and continue the relationship. And the second is that
if we are going to trade him, we want as
close to, uh, the requisite amount of talent equal talent
(19:30):
coming back, and not just in a young player and
building blocks, but they want a legitimate player in the mix.
And so ultimately I believe that they're going to get
to the point where they're they're going to have to
accept maybe a little less than what they're hoping for.
But uh, the idea that he's going to stay, I
(19:52):
just I don't see that happening. Um. You know, when
it comes to Philadelphia and Toronto are the teams that
are most often discussed outside of the Lakers. I do
think it's possible that he could go to one of
those two. And the reason is because there are connections
between the Spurs and those two and people in those
(20:14):
organizations that would give them a comfort level that that
neither the Spurs nor the receiving team would otherwise have
Rick bukerf from Bleacher Report joining us on the Doug
Gottlieb Show. All Right, so we still don't really have
clarity as to where Kauai will play next year. We
do know Lebron will be like, let's bring it back
around to Lebron and the Lakers now that people have
(20:36):
seen some of their young players development. I know Alonzo
had had his knee scoped, He's supposed to be back
for training camp. What's now the thought of that Laker
plan part one? If if this is what they're going
to roll with our other NBA people laughing, are they
what's what's what's their reaction to what they've decided to
do in l A Uh, Well, they all stand the plan,
(21:01):
which is we're signing a bunch of guys to one
year deals. And because we're just really it's year one.
We got Lebron. It's a little bit like getting Westbrook
to resign in Oklahoma City. We got the biggest job done.
The rest of it is don't screw up our ability
to hit another home run next summer. What this this
(21:25):
this season essentially is just to get through it, develop
the young guys, get through it. I don't see anyway
anyhow that they make a deal for Kauhi Leonard Now.
I don't think they want to give up assets. Uh,
they can take another year to see which pieces fit.
They still haven't seen brandon ingram play essentially with uh
(21:49):
with this group, so get an opportunity to to do that.
But the feeling is even when it comes to Lebron,
this is kind of a year off. The whole idea
that he's still chasing a title this year. Nobody sees
that as being in the cars. Everybody understands that this
what I think the magic is now saying it's a
(22:10):
three year process. Uh, it's year one. They got one
building block in place. They're gonna make sure that when
they get to next summer that they can add a
second one, trusting the process. In Los Angeles, Rick Buker
from from Bleacher Report with a little soccer mixed in
great stuff. Thanks for joining us. Fox Sports Radio has
(22:31):
the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all
of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and
within the I Heart Radio app. Okay, so Ben McAdoo
had this to say Monday Morning in America Peter King's
new column, Right or Wrong. I'm at peace with how
I handled the decision to play quarterbacks other than Eli
Manning down the stretch last season. I was not ending
Eli's career with the Giants. I was making sure we
(22:53):
knew what we had behind him with a high draft
choice prior to the big quarterback draft. I gave him
the option to start games to keep his streak alive.
I understand why he said no. He was a true
pro about it. My bedside manner hurt me that week.
I'm working on that. I do think it was special
how his former teammates and fans rallied around him that week.
(23:14):
But if there's one thing, I want Giants fans to
know that I made this call to try and make
the Giant stronger for the future. It probably got me fired,
but I believe I did the right thing for the
right reasons, and I agree with him when we go
back and we try and realize, like, look, they weren't
winning any games. They were better off losing more games.
(23:36):
And remember McAdoo when when he says, you wouldn't lose
your starting job, like they wanted to get Davis Webb
up and playing, they started Geno Smith because because Eli
forced their hand. That's really what happened. That's really what happened.
And Eli is one of these guys that he's gonna
(23:58):
go down at what he's gonna go and he's gonna
go to the Hall of Fame who want two super Bowls,
And he's gonna go down in there as the victim
in this deal when the truth is he was kind
of the opposite. Sure, mcadoo's like he said, his bedside manner,
how he handled it, what how he said, what he
(24:19):
said could have been better. Look, I was a lot
more curt about it. I thought they should have traded
Eli midyear to Jacksonville to play for Tom Coughlin. But
in the did he win or did he lose? He
lost his job, So I guess he loses that battle,
(24:39):
but he'll lose the war if and only if Eli
Manning suddenly has a resurgence this year. Right, Eli Manning
bounces back this year and is great. Well, now, he
lost the war, but he's right. If if Eli continues
to struggle and they have all their guys back, well
now the and Ben McAdoo was right. He didn't. He
(25:04):
wasn't his decision to bench Eli Manning. He was Eli
Manning's decision to bench Eli Manning. It was like NFL
is like giants, fans, giants, media, former giants. They all
lost their collective mind because they all all of a
sudden thought that the streak was somehow representative of them
(25:29):
when it was really about Eli. The greatest thing Eli
has done is be incredibly selfish in a deflecting way
to which it feels like he's not selfish. Oh you
don't want to start me, you don't want to finish me, Well,
I won't start. I'll just lose my streak. That's fine,
I'll just lose my streak. It's you know what it is,
(25:53):
it's fake Murderdom. There are people that will talk about
the things they do and like all the sacrifice they
make and how difficult things are for them, and they
want you to go. Man that that's awful. They don't
appreciate you, they don't respect you. Should walk from that job. Smartyrdom.
(26:16):
That's what he'd like Manning did. He did the martyr thing.
He said, you know, listen, if you if you don't
want me to finish the game, then I guess you
just shouldn't start me. You know, I know I've been
starting all these different years. But if you know what
I mean, you let me finish, well, then what's the
point of starting. So I guess I just won't start.
He did the martyr thing, and it worked. Be sure
(26:36):
to catch live editions of The Doug gott Leap Show
weekdays at three p m. Eastern noon Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. Rogers had
this to say, I'd love to play until I'm forty.
I just think that number means a lot. Obviously, Tom
Brady is kind of rewriting the book Brett. Brett still
had a good season when he turned forty. My goals
be able to move like I do and or clothes
(27:00):
are close to how I do and still be able
to do that at forty, just because nobody's been able
to do that and still move around the same way.
Steve Young's career got cut short in his late thirties.
John Elway the same. He didn't really move the same
when he was younger, so to be able to move
the same way thirty forty would be cool. That's my aim.
(27:21):
He disagrees with the take that he's got to get
rid of the ball quicker to take fewer hits. I
tried to already. I've played football since I was thirteen
years old. I've taken two shots where I couldn't wriggle
free and broke my collar bone twice. I feel pretty
good about the way I play, avoiding some major stuff.
I've had a couple of muscle polls, but other than that,
(27:42):
as a starter, I've been pretty healthy. Two hits. First
time was in thirteen against Chicago. I didn't see the guy.
Second time was last year. Anthony Barr hit him outside
the pocket. I didn't think he was gonna hit me,
maybe as hard as he did, but he did, and
that's what happened. Setten, the question become um. His contract
(28:03):
now has two years left on a five year, one
and ten million dollar deal. Quote. It's only been on
my mind because people have been writing and talking about
a lot. There have been many conversations about it. I
think there's some merit to looking into where you do
a non traditional contractual agreement. And if anybody at this
point is able to get to do something like that,
I think it needs to be a conversation about I've
(28:25):
never said anything about trying tying the contract to the cap.
I just think there's ways to do contracts. We can
still be competitive. The team is happy about it, but
you have some freedom, he said, And this is he'd
like to play his entire career in Green Bay. But
I think in my time here I realized no one's
(28:47):
above the team. They can trade bread far Jordy Nelson,
They cannot resign Julie, Charles Woodson or Julius Peppers. They
can make decisions that are the best interests of the team.
It could be me at some point. You have to
be humble enough to realize that, and I do. I'd
love to be able to how many guys actually picked
the way and team in which they go out. You know,
(29:08):
hardly anybody. My dream situation would be to stay in
Green Bay. All right, let me just tell you what
I might take insummation. UM, I do think that he
only wants to play till he's forty, wants to be
able to move till he's forty. I do think that
he would like to stay in Green Bay and wants
to rework his contract, and that's a smart way of
(29:30):
saying it a non traditional agreement. What is that? I
think that My guess would be that he's thinking more
in line of of what Lebron James has been doing
in basketball. You know, football players, a lot of them
love basketball, not just basketball contracts, but basketball in general.
And signing a short term deal which allows freedom, flexibility,
(29:52):
the chance to move if you're no longer wanted or whatever, like,
all of that stuff is enticing to those guys. But
NFL teams have those longer contracts for a guy like
Rogers because even if we're gonna cut you, we want
to be able to own your rights so we don't
have to if we don't want to. But my biggest
takeaway is still mad about Jordy Nelson? Still mad? Right?
(30:18):
And if you're in a relationship, I don't know if
guys do this, women do this all the time. You
say something nice about a woman, she looked nice today.
Four months later, your wife's cooking dinner. It turns out
a little bit burned. You had said something four months
(30:40):
previous about Susie Wait, Susie looks nice today. She serves
you dinner. You say, oh, honey, it's kind of burned. Well,
why don't you ask Susie to cook for you? She's
still pissed, right, there was that time when you came
in just completely blitzed to her Thanksgiving dinner. This is
twenty years ago. She's still mad. That's what Aaron Rodgers
(31:03):
is doing. Aaron Rodgers is still he like, he's like
they can trade. Brett Farve. Okay, Brett Farve is an
iconic Green Bay Packer, a first ballot Hall of Famer.
A matter of fact, he was, even though he was
persona non grata because he ended his career in Minnesota,
he was still in the Ring of Honor, Walk of
(31:24):
Fame or whatever they call it in Green Bay before
he was in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Me's
Brett Farve longest uh starting streaking the history of football?
And oh yeah, by the way, one two circles and
a couple of m vps. Charles Woodson, though not a
lifer as a Packer, also a first ballot Hall of Famer.
(31:44):
Julius Peppers, probably a Hall of Famer. Jordy Nelson. Now look,
Jordy Nelson. Some of it is recency biased that he
and Julius Peppers were the most recent to be bid
a do but I think a good part of it
is he's, you know, he's trying to talk in big
terms about how it's not might not be his choice
to remain, but this is his way of getting a
(32:05):
little dig in and going like, hey, cut shorty, I
haven't forgotten you, cut Jordy. It's the kind of thing
where a guy will have a drop in the end
early in the season and be like, well, you know,
Jordy Nelson wouldn't have dropped that. That's the kind That's
what it feels like here, Aaron Rodgers only making twenty
(32:26):
two million on average, less than quarterbacks of Kirk Cousins
per all guaranteed Matt Ryan thirty per. Rogers, to me
is the best quarterback I've seen throw football, best I've
ever seen if you check every box of what you
have to do. Competitive, smart, tough, able to throw multiple
arm angles, moves his feet and throw in the pocket
(32:46):
and throw out of the pocket. Rogers is that guy.
But he's a little bit too smart for his own
good sometimes, right, he's like, look, what about a creative contract.
You start saying creative contract and people will think you're
trying to get over on them. Just is, how do
(33:07):
they know that, because most creative contracts are just that.
It's it's like the old adjustable rate and mortgage. Oh
don't worry, you can afford that house. We got a
creative mortgage plan for you. See, you'll pay interest only
the first five years, and then you know you can
refinance or the interest it will go up and you'll
start have to pay principle and interest after that. That's
(33:30):
what happened last time around. Ryan. People are making living
in three thousand dollar homes and they're paying almost nothing
and interest only when they had to start playing some
principle and they had to refinance or the loan went up,
you know, two percentage points a year, and end of
the day they end up paying eight nine percent when
other people are paying three percent plus they're having to
(33:51):
play principle and the payments are just too much. People
think creative contracts and they assume you're trying to get
over on them, mostly because you are. So Look, look,
I just I think Aaron Rodgers wants to play for
(34:11):
the Packers. I think the Packers have swallowed hard and
made some unpopular moves this offseason. I genuinely think it.
It makes them better in the long term, maybe even
in the short term, but I think in the process
they pist some people off, like Aaron Rodgers. He's mad
about Jordy Nelson. Otherwise, why would you throw Jordy Nelson's
name in there? Yes? Right, music, After all this talk
(34:34):
about Aaron Rodgers and his contract and as you just said,
trying to get creative to see you know, different ways
to get money and whatever. Aaron Rodgers, we always talk
about how great he is, even though he only has
one Super Bowl. If he had to choose one or
the other getting the most money possible or taken a
bit off the table in order to spread that out
(34:55):
to hopefully get better players and win more titles. Which
do you think he cares more about at this point
in his career? I would say he his pargument. Probably
you can do both if you're smart about it right.
You can do short term deals, you build some trust,
you put it in a signing bonus, and it doesn't
hurt you against the cap nearly as much, I would say,
(35:17):
he'd say, But, um, I do think that winning a
second Super Bowl completely elevate, elevates you to a completely
different level, uh, in terms of your legacy. So I
would guess winning another Super Bowl. Now, look, there's a
balance there. Would I do it for less, sure, but
that doesn't mean that I'm gonna do it for less
than what I make Now, when I do it for
(35:39):
less than thirty five million dollars, which is what I'm worth, Okay,
would I do it for less than five million dollars?
Probably not, That's not smart. Fox Sports Radio has the
best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of
our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within
the I Heart Radio app. Jeff Passon joins us. Uh.
He could probably name every Major League Baseball player. He's
(36:00):
a Major League Baseball columns for Yahoo Sports. Check out
his Yahoo Sports Major League Baseball podcast It's Awesome. He
hosts features some of the biggest names around the league
in baseball. Jeff, there's seems to be renewed vigor with
the Machado trade talk. At least that's what Twitter says.
What does Jeff Passons say? It's almost like and I
(36:23):
wrote this earlier this week, it's almost like the Orioles
have this sense of urgency that teams think they're gonna
pull the trigger within the next twenty four hours, and
then it just slows down to a grind. And look,
Manny Machado's moving. He has to move this because the
Orioles are going to get a whole lot more in
return than they would if they held onto him, gave
(36:45):
him the qualifying offer and got like the thirty first
pick in the draft this year, which is what the alternatate.
The alternative is. So he's going somewhere. I just don't
know if it's gonna be Los Angeles or Milwaukee or Philadelphia.
Those seem to be the three favorites at this point
of the teams that have the greatest need that can
offer the most in return. But he will be moving.
I just don't know if it's an imminent thing at
(37:06):
this point. And okay, if you don't know if it's
imminent thing, can you give me a one, two three?
Like two weeks ago, all of a sudden, Arizona hopped
into it. The Dodgers have been in the hunt. There's
others that are reportedly in the hunt. If you had
to give a most likely to third most likely destination
wherever to be. You know, I keep hearing It's interesting
(37:28):
you ask different people, uh in different groups of people,
and they say different things. You know, general managers around
the game tend to think that it's going to be
Milwaukee because the Brewers have arguably the best talent that
they can ship back to Baltimore Orioles in terms of
major league ready players. But you also think that Philadelphia
with a guy like Adonis Medina, you know, are throwing
(37:50):
right hander, could be in there, or or the Dodgers.
In the question where the Dodgers is more, are they
willing to give up Alan a year after going getting
you Darvish, Willie Calhoun and a couple other prospects. Are
they're going to make the same type of trade where
they give up using the l d Az or Dustin
May or Gavin Luck. And I think there's there's hesitancy
(38:11):
from people and thinking that the Daughters are willing to
give up that premium talent, but the Orioles want and
return and frankly deserve in return because Manna Machado is
one of the best players in baseball. Seattle's last four
in row, they get swept, sweep swept by the Rockies
in Inner League. But they're a team the run differentials
actually minus two for the year, this despite the fact
that they're fifty eight and thirty nine. So anyone who
(38:33):
follows baseball would say, well, that will eventually the record
will eventually even out if their run differential remains the same.
Really good teams do what Houston does to you, where
they just beat it to a pulp. Is that what
we're seeing here at the end of the first half,
regression towards the mean a hundred percent. And I've been
waiting more than half the seasons for it. And you know,
I go on the radio and Seattle every couple of
(38:56):
weeks and they call me the wet blanket because I
keep saying that I'm waiting for the Mariners to show
their true colors. And I think we saw it towards
the end of the first half. But the fact is, Doug,
those nineteen games over five hundred that they've got right now,
those are in the bank, man, like they're they're not
going to lose those, and so they're in a great
position going forward, even though after you know, ninety seven games,
(39:20):
uh or rather after ninety seven games They've got fifty
eight wins. If they go five hundred over the rest
of the season, that's the ninety win team, and that's
the team that probably is going to make the playoffs.
But Oakland is only four games behind them at this point,
and the A's are playing really good baseball, and so
I think that I think Seattle is in a good position,
(39:40):
but I still think that they need to strengthen themselves.
They are getting Robinson Canoe back, but the question is
where he's gonna play is a big one. They're keeping
the Gordon at second base, so is Cano gonna play
first base? And you canna shift over and play some
d H which would force Nelson Cruise into the field,
which you know Scott Service, the manager there, doesn't want
to do and Nelson Crews himself doesn't want to do
it either. There are a lot of questions with the
(40:01):
Mariners coming forward. There are a lot of questions. I
have a question for you, Mookie Betts or Mike Trout,
who's had a more impressive first half of season. And
I asked you that because I know that be baseball guys,
you don't believe in lineup protection. But I mean, I
saw a stat where Mike Trout has has has made
more played appearances with nobody on than anyone else in baseball.
(40:24):
I mean, look, Upton is a nice player, but pool
Holes is, I mean, you know, pools Is, He's on
base less than of the time. He's a shell of
his former self. I just like, this is the dude
that's got to do it all on his own, as
opposed to Mookie Betts, who you know, He's got j D.
Martinez who might well also be the A O. M
v P hitting behind him, a couple of spots behind
(40:45):
him who has been more impressive in the first half
of season. To you, well, it's interesting because you saw
of the end of the first half, the Angels had
Trout hitting third, and they moved Angels and Simmons, who's
had a great first half up to the number two
spot in the lineup. And I think that was a
good thing to get guys on base for Mike Trout. Uh.
And I want to throw Jose Ramirez in the mix
there if he looks just at wins above replacements. And
(41:07):
I know that that's a flawed metric, but it tries
to capture a guy's overall contributions offensively, defensively and running,
and Osiramirez is right on Mike trout field, so the
three of them are having historically good seasons. I still
think that Trout is the first half m VP in
the American League. I'm the guy who thinks that you
(41:28):
give the m v P to the best player, not
the best player on the best team. If you're looking
in that regard, uh, then I think Betts and Ramiro's
both have excellent cass Best missed a couple of weeks,
but his numbers have been otherworldly this year, and he's
just a fun baseball player to watch man and getting
to see him Trout and Judge in the same outfield
(41:49):
in the All Star Game tomorrow, it's gonna be a
pretty cool thing because we're seeing these guys at the
absolute height of their powers and it's something to behold. Okay,
was it Mike Is it Mike matheini fault that the St.
Louis Cardinals has dropped off the last couple of years.
I think you can certainly blame Mike Matheni for some
of it. The culture there in St. Louis has not
(42:09):
been good. The players have not been on board with
their manager, and look, all of us know that when
you have a boss who either you don't respect or
don't believe in his vision, you might not work is
hard for him. Now, I'm not saying that the Cardinals
slacked off by any means, but it makes things far
more difficult. And when you have that environment in which
(42:31):
you want to play for the manager and which you
want to do something great, not just for your own sake,
noncestor hemate sake, but to make him happy, that's a
lot more conducive to winning them what the Cardinals have.
And I think that the fact that there are five
dred team is reflective not just of their talent, but
of their attitude towards their leader. What what pitching did
the Yankees go out and get, Well, there's not a
(42:54):
whole lot. I mean, that's the issue. Do you really
feel like going and getting Jay happ is going to
be the difference make I almost wonder if the Yankees
can look internally and see just the Sheffield who's pitched
very well in the minor leagues. You know, they got
him the Andrew Miller deal a couple of years ago
from the Indians, and if he's going to be the
solution as much as anybody else, because right now there
isn't somebody you can put alongside Luis Savarino and say,
(43:17):
this guy is going to be a huge contributor for
us down the stretch and somebody in whom we believe
to help us win playoff games. The Yankees bullpen is
really their strength and their core in addition to you know,
a home run hitting bonanza of a lineup. And if
the Yankees are going to compete with the Astros and
the Red Sox, is going to be because of the
lineup in the pen, not because of their starters. What
(43:38):
happens the Jacob deGrom I mean like, look, you know,
the Mets you can build around him or you can
what do you what happens the Jacob? Does he remain
a met the remain of the season. Well, I think
a lot of that depends on the Mets ability to
negotiate a contract extension with him, and his agent, Brodie
van wagen In essentially said that today, you know, Jacob
has expressed interest in staying with him and signing long
(44:01):
term with them, and if not, he'd like to be traded.
And it wasn't you know, he went out of his
way to say, this is not a trade request, but
more a sense of where he is and what his
feelings are on the situation. I understand that if you're
the Mets, though, it's difficult when you have him and
Noah synder Guard to get rid of either of those guys.
(44:21):
And and you know, if you're going to do that,
you might as well just rebuild all the way. And
and that's a tough pill to swallow for a team
that's got Michael Comporto and got Brandon Nemo, and got
guys who have talent and who have the ability to
be good major league players in the core of a
contending team. The question is, and the Mets willing to
go out and spend the money that they need to
(44:42):
supplement them and spend it intelligently because they have spent money,
that money that they spent this offseason on top Rasier,
on j Bruce and I Anthony Swarzak is swirling down
a toilet and clean somewhere right now, all right? The
Washington Nationals, what happens with them second half of the season.
You know, they had a players only beating and they
saw some good out of it, but now they're stuck
(45:03):
at five. You know the s is going tomorrow in
the All Star Game. He's he's he's one of the
few guys that lives up to that contract. Um, no doubt.
Call it for me. What happens second half of the season.
I think the Nationals are going to turn things around.
And I say that out of no brand knowledge that
I have of something changing there. I just see how
(45:25):
much talent is on that roster. Let's just go around
the diamond. Doug third base, Anthony Random, all Star caliber player,
short thought trade turner, all Star second base, Daniel Murphy,
a guy who's been one of the best sitters in
baseball for the last couple of years. Uh, you know,
first base, they can rotate among Adams and Reynolds. Uh
you know they They've got Ryan Zimmern in there too.
(45:48):
In the outfield, one Soto may win Rookie of the
Year in the National League, Bryce Harper. I mean, there's
just talent. Adam Eaton, there's talent everywhere up and down
that roster, and they're under five hundreds. And it foggles
my mind. I have asked more people here, how is
this team under five hundred? And they just all shake
their heads and nobody has a good answer to it.
(46:09):
And that's the most frustrating part of the national season
that there's so much talent on that team and they
still stink. Ye yep, No, if we talked about all
the time, you nailed it. Great stuff, Jeff, Jeff enjoy
enjoy the home run derby. Although start a home run
derby's better than the end end of home run derby.
Just like, let's just get this thing over with. Of course,
Tomorrow's gonna be gonna be a great day. Download his podcast,
(46:29):
It's Yahoo Sports MLB Podcast with Jeff Passing, features some
of the biggest dance around the world and baseball fall
um on Twitter and read his work in Yahoo Sports. Jeff,
thanks so much for joining us, but asure is always mine.
To take it easybody,
This is the best of the dun got Lee Show
on Fox Sports Radio, Boom of America, Doug Gottlieb Show,
Fox Sports Radio, coming to you from beautiful sunny southern California,
where I do believe I do believe that most of
the sports world will we'll head to in the coming
(00:24):
days with the SPS right around the corner. Major League
Baseball All Star Game of course starters announced earlier today.
We have a World Cup champion. It is France and
the Friends have been the John Calipari of of soccer
with all the recruiting they've been doing with so many
foreign born players that have that have immigrated to France.
(00:47):
Will get to that upcoming soccer guy. Quick note to
soccer guy. Time for you guys to go away for
about three and a half more years. Soccer guy, simmy
soccer guy. You can argue with me all you want
about our best and our brightest not playing soccer, but
(01:07):
you're wrong. Okay, you're just wrong. The best athletes in
our country don't play soccer, and if they did, we
would dominate soccer. It's just sheer numbers, that's it. The
Croatian thing was an amazing series of upsets. They have
a very good team. And look, I don't know enough
about super high level soccer to be honest whether that
(01:29):
that was a handball that led to the p K
which allowed France to take a to one lead, I don't.
I'm not gonna sit here and argue back and forth
about about the nuance of when you call a handball
and when you don't call a handball. What I will
tell you is Thembobe kid is great, a spectacular star
(01:51):
who shined the brightest here late in the World Cup.
He's nineteen years old. He's the first teenager to score
in a World Cup finals since La By the way,
we call him pale here because we mispronounced everything. You
know why, because we're Americans. Because we're Americans. Are best
athletes don't play soccer, and if they did, we would
kick everybody's ass. You can argue with me all you want.
(02:13):
But if if Tyreek Hill, if Tyreek Hill played soccer
from a young age, he would be better than Mbomba
or as good. No, he wouldn't. There's skill, there's fine tuning,
there's belief in right. Because our best athletes, our best
athletes don't have great spatial awareness, like a like a
(02:36):
great point Kyrie Irving a Russell Russell Westbrook wouldn't be
a great soccer player, seeing as he's a freak athlete. Vertically,
he's six ft two seeks bigger, he's stronger, he's great. Latterly,
he's incredibly competitive and occasionally does see the court. No,
he wouldn't. He's smart enough to get in U c
l A. But he's not smart enough to play soccer.
Soccer guys are so smart they're absolute imbeciles and they
(02:58):
make everybody up. Said, you don't ever talk about our sport.
Then we do, and you're like, I don't like how
you talking about our sport because you don't know enough
about our sport. That's because nobody truly cares about your
sport except for during the World Cup, to which we
really care. And now we're like, cool, we'll care. Hopefully
in four years will be in the damn thing. And
if we can't make it when they expand the field,
we should stop playing soccer. I mean, really, that's what
(03:23):
happened right Italy in America. Don't get into like, man,
we gotta open the field up. That's what would happen
if you know I'm We're not Caroline or Duke or something.
But that's what would happen in the That's what happened
the n s A tournament. That's why they expanded that
bad boy soccer guy soccer guys mad because I have
stated repeatedly that the day in which our best and
(03:47):
brightest have access to and start playing soccer at a
young age, and it's not a white, suburban, rich kids sport,
then we will dominate internationally. You know why, because we
dominate everything else internationally. That our best and brightest play
period because we have the most diverse and greatest depth
(04:08):
of athletes anywhere in the world. And when it's a
clean sport and we competed it, we win it. You
could argue with me, but all I have is factual
data to support it. You know enough about soccer, You're right,
they don't. But I know enough about athletics to know
that in of the high schools in America, the elite
(04:33):
level athletes play football and basketball. And then it means
one of the things that one of the reasons that
athletes like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper that would be
good football players, decent solid basketball player, Aaron judge stick
out so much on a on a baseball field. Why
because the best athletes don't play baseball anymore and when
(04:55):
they do, they're awesome. So soccer guy, we loved your sport.
F This was awesome. It was really cool. It was
weird to see Russia and people cheering for Russia. That
whole thing was odd. Was like the way to my
cheering for Russia because they're the underdog. Congrats. Time for
you to go back and take a nap and start
telling me about you can tweet away on Saturdays about
(05:16):
international soccer and about the MLS. All right, Now, let's
get to foot ball where Levian Bell has fifty three minutes.
Fifty three minutes to sign on the line that has dotted.
This from Jason lock Camphor, who joins this weekly during
(05:37):
the NFL season for CB from CBS Sports. The Steelers
are making every effort to sign Levy on Bell and
remain willing to pay him more than any running back
has made in the league for quite some time, but
then again has noted that's the same mindset they had
a year ago when the pro bowler backed out just
before the deadline and opted not to sign the contract.
(05:58):
Talks of remain Amica Bowl and productive, and there is
some hope that a deal get done by four o'clock
Eastern time again, that is fifty two minutes and change
from right now. Levian Bell can sign a franchise tag
or he can sign a long term deal. Levan is
twenty six years old. He's been remarkably productive, and he
(06:24):
has also miss games because the suspension, miss gains because
of injury, so he has he has two choices. His
first choice is to sign the franchise tag, which would
be at about eleven point eight million dollars, or to
certa sign a long term contract reportedly turned out a
(06:44):
five year deal that averaged twelve million dollars a season,
with thirty million dollars guaranteed over the first two years.
Like Leveyan, Bell wants us to feel bad for him.
He wants to tell us that he's worth more than
running backs of make because he's more than a running act.
He catches the ball, he blocks, he runs the football.
But he's arguing against the salary structures of every running
(07:06):
back of the National Football League. It's a position that
has been devalued, even if he's more valuable with the Steelers,
then other running backs would be elsewhere. This is the
Jimmy Graham argument, and it didn't work with Jimmy Graham,
and it ain't gonna work with Levian Bell. So you
can sit here and tell me, no, I should get more.
I should get more. I should get more. But the
(07:28):
market sets the number, and the market that says you're
not worth sixteen or seventeen million dollars, nobody's making that.
Even if you take out the fact that he's miss
games because of injury, playoff games because of injury. Even
if you make it take out the fact that he's
missed games because of suspension. You take those two things out,
(07:50):
that's fine. You can take him out and just go, hey,
if he was perfectly healthy at twenty six years old,
is he worth more than the going rate for running backs?
And the answer is no. The answer is no. That
though there are some tremendous running backs like like Todd
Gurley and maybe Sae Kwon Barkley that have been taken
in the first round, there's an equal number of guys
(08:11):
have been taken in rounds three, four, five. There's just
as many teams that are successful in running back by
committee as there are running back. Uh with it with
a lead dog running back a matter of fact, more
so with a running back by committee. Go back and
look Philadelphia Eagles, they have a star making twelve thirty
million dollars a year running back. They do not, not
(08:33):
that I'm aware of the New England Patriots. How often
do they have to be successful without a star running back?
Matter of fact, Dean Lewis has gone from last year.
They turn, they cycle those things over. You know why,
because they know you age, you go stale and you
get expensive, so you get gone. So the Steelers are
(08:55):
still truthfully willing to commit to a longer term at
more money than they want to, and Levan's not. And
we're supposed to feel bad about this. We're supposed to
be like, this is just another case of the man
keeping the running back down. But the truth is, like,
you're you're an asset that does not have the value
you used to have in this league, even if you're
(09:16):
super valuable to the Pittsburgh Steelers. I could make the
argument that Pittsburgh uses him more than others would even
know how to use it, that they've they found a
way in which they can use him in a variety
of ways, and there's some talk Adam Schefter said earlier
today on serious uh NFL Radio that he might set
(09:38):
out half the season. Take a listen to what Schefter
had to say earlier today. I think if they don't
get a deal done, the most important thing for Levian
Bill is to preserve his health and make sure he's
healthy heading into the two thousand nineteen free agent market.
I think it's possible that Levan Bill skips the first
half of the year. I'm not telling he'll do that,
but I can tell you this, he'll he'll certainly think
(09:58):
about it is big this year. Is honestly to get
to the two does my team free? Is your market healthy?
It's not to get four touches, get more tread and attire,
wear down, risk injury before you get your big paid day.
It's just not. Yeah, that is um that that's an
agent talking through Schefter. That's all that is. If you
(10:21):
think it increases your value to be a year older
at running back, to play half of a season, plus
you'll play playoffs, likely with the Pittsburgh Steelers're still gonna
take a beating. And oh yeah, by the way, you
miss half the season, miss training camp, you're likely to
have you more likely to have a soft tissue injury.
Not wishing any injury on anybody, but the number stand up.
(10:42):
The holding out work for Emmett Smith. He famously held
out one year and it was a disaster without them,
and it may work for Levy on Bell. But if
you have a good contract in front of you, and
you've already been franchise tagged last year to which you've
earned upwards of eleven million dollars guarantee, like at some
(11:03):
point the game of Chicken is up and you just
got to sign the deal. NFL players have argued for
I don't know how many years about needing guaranteed contracts.
It's such a red herring. This is a guaranteed contract
that he's been offered thirty million dollars in guarantee. Sure
it says five years. You don't want five years, You say,
(11:25):
I just want to sign for two plus years or whatever.
I'm sure that would be adjusted. You probably wouldn't get
thirty guaranteed because they wouldn't have you under contract for
five years afterwards. But you still get a completely guaranteed contract.
But guys don't want that at at or above market value.
The Steelers are offering a fair deal and if not
(11:49):
sign the franchise tag and hope somebody else offers you
a more fair deal next year. But not playing frankly
as silly and goes opposite to what, uh what anyone
would believe would drive up your price in the coming
off season next year. Be sure to catch live editions
of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at three pm Easter
(12:10):
noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
Radio app plub My Guy. Rick Buker, senior writer Bleacher
Report covering the NBA, also hosted his own show on
Serious Sex m NBA Radio. He joins us here on
The Doug Gottlip Show Fox Sports Radio, and he played
soccer in college. Huh uh, Buka, I've long contended that, Um, look,
(12:31):
I know there are other issues with our soccer program,
but I watched the level of athleticism on some of
these teams, and I watch NFL football, college football, college basketball,
and I'm just a normal human being that realizes that
a lot of there's either not access, too expensive, or
just not the desire to play at a young age.
(12:54):
Um in in diverse parts of our country, are our
best athletes are not playing? Is that too? Is that
too outsider ish to to point to the one of
the reasons we're not as competitive as we should be
in soccer. No, not at all, And it's I mean
it's not the only reason, but it certainly is a
(13:16):
big reason. I mean just when you watch him, boy
at that nineteen you know, I mean, how many other
guys have we seen in other sports, uh in in
in the US who have that speed and he really
that's the difference. I Mean, he's got some great moves,
but more than anything, he just turns a corner and
and he creates angles that that uh that give him
(13:38):
a huge advantage, uh simply because of of how athletic
he is. So yeah, there's there's some things about our
program and the way we teach the game. I think
the level of creativity is not there. We've We've become
very systematic, uh in the way we teach the game,
and I think there has to be that that playground element.
This is the one time that I will vouch for
(14:00):
a AU basketball is that it does allow a certain
degree of, or maybe too much a creativity, and we
don't really have that uh in soccer in this country
at the at the highest level. So um, but yeah,
certainly for the athleticism that we have in this country
and the resources that we have in this country. Uh,
(14:22):
there is no reason that that we shouldn't be a
a power on the world stage. All right, let's that's
that's that's all the soccer talk we're gonna have for
the four years. Rick Bucker joining us in the Doug
Gottlieb Show. Lebron shows up in Vegas wearing some Lakers shorts,
tapping up the Lakers, hugging everybody. It it felt real
(14:43):
to me. It felt like, all right, this is all right,
he's really, it's really and and my and look, I
do do I think sometimes things are fake? Sure? I
just kind of think this is a hey man, we're
a team. Other guys have shown up to watch their teams.
This is me showing up to watch my team. I
thought that was I bought what he was selling yesterday,
(15:05):
did you? Uh sure? I thought it was, as with
most things with Lebron, a little over the top. Did
he have to wear Lakers shorts? Did he have to
wear Lakers shorts with Lakers emblazoned across the crotch. I
thought that that. Uh, I couldn't help but feel like
that was some kind of a message to Dan Gilbert.
(15:27):
Uh that said, he showed up. You know I was
looking when I when he showed up, immediately thought, I
couldn't recall. I go to Summer League every year. I
don't stay this late. Generally, I go to say, stay
the first three or four days because that's when the
picks play. Uh and generally they get shut down the
longer it goes on and and the game's just become
(15:49):
become wearisome because players get just worn down. But all
that said, I wondered, you know, how many times has
he shown up before Summer League? And I checked with
somebody with the with the calves, and they said, yeah,
he's he's he's been out to watch us. He had
done that previously. The last summer he came out and
he watched Alonzo. That was the story, is that he
(16:11):
came out to watch a Lonzo. So maybe that, uh,
that should have been taken as a harbinger of what
we uh we eventually saw happen. All that said, no,
I I do believe that he feels vested in the Lakers,
and uh, and showing up and knowing all who all
the players are. I mean, it is what Lebron does
(16:33):
there For anybody who's who who wants to criticize Lebron,
there are elements that are fair to criticize. But one
of the things that he is intimately involved in, whichever
team is he's playing playing for, is he's um, he's
intimately involved in in in knowing who the players are.
(16:54):
He may not know their background, he may not be
involved with them personally, but he knows who they are
as players. And so this didn't surprise me. Rick Buker
from Bleach Report joining us, Doug gotlub Show, Fox Sports Radio.
All right, some other league news, which is interesting. Jimmy
Butler does not sign an extension. Now, Um, there's financial
intelligence to it to which if he waits, you can
(17:15):
sign a bigger deal. Or there's the growing thought that
he didn't like what's going on there. Um, they got
two young guys that are a little bit different and
that he doesn't buy into, and that Jimmy Butler wants
to be either l A or New York after next offseason.
What do you think I've heard those I've heard those
(17:36):
same very things and I heard them before. He actually
when when he first got to Minnesota, when he was
dealt to Minnesota by the Chicago Bulls, I was told
this is a stop, it's not a destination. And that
being in Minnesota, being in that market, actually playing for
Tom Thibodeau again, even though Tips made him into the
(18:00):
star that he is, gave him the uh, the authority
and the and the and the and the role that
made him into the star that he is, that he
wasn't enthralled with that because he knows all that comes
with playing for TIBs. But I don't I don't think
that this is just I'm just making a fine And
this isn't Kyrie Irving and Boston saying hey, it doesn't
(18:22):
make any sense for me to sign extension. Now, we'll
talk about that when we get there. That one has
a different feel to me. This one is no, I'm
not signing because I'm not planning planning on staying here
long term. Brick Buker joining us on the Doug Gottlieb Show,
Um Kawhi Leonard, Where where where is san Antonio with
their decision as to where to send him or or
(18:44):
if to keep him next season? Well, they're my what
I've been told is that, you know, they come into
this thing in New Territory, they've never had a player
who has expressed the desire, the outright desire to leave
San Antonio, particularly one who is the nucleus and and
a cornerstone. Um, so they are now they're looking for
(19:09):
one of two things. And and the first, it's still
kind of hard for me to believe, but that they
still hold out hope that they can convince him to
stay and continue the relationship. And the second is that
if we are going to trade him, we want as
close to, uh, the requisite amount of talent equal talent
(19:30):
coming back, and not just in a young player and
building blocks, but they want a legitimate player in the mix.
And so ultimately I believe that they're going to get
to the point where they're they're going to have to
accept maybe a little less than what they're hoping for.
But uh, the idea that he's going to stay, I
(19:52):
just I don't see that happening. Um. You know, when
it comes to Philadelphia and Toronto are the teams that
are most often discussed outside of the Lakers. I do
think it's possible that he could go to one of
those two. And the reason is because there are connections
between the Spurs and those two and people in those
(20:14):
organizations that would give them a comfort level that that
neither the Spurs nor the receiving team would otherwise have
Rick bukerf from Bleacher Report joining us on the Doug
Gottlieb Show. All Right, so we still don't really have
clarity as to where Kauai will play next year. We
do know Lebron will be like, let's bring it back
around to Lebron and the Lakers now that people have
(20:36):
seen some of their young players development. I know Alonzo
had had his knee scoped, He's supposed to be back
for training camp. What's now the thought of that Laker
plan part one? If if this is what they're going
to roll with our other NBA people laughing, are they
what's what's what's their reaction to what they've decided to
do in l A Uh, Well, they all stand the plan,
(21:01):
which is we're signing a bunch of guys to one
year deals. And because we're just really it's year one.
We got Lebron. It's a little bit like getting Westbrook
to resign in Oklahoma City. We got the biggest job done.
The rest of it is don't screw up our ability
to hit another home run next summer. What this this
(21:25):
this season essentially is just to get through it, develop
the young guys, get through it. I don't see anyway
anyhow that they make a deal for Kauhi Leonard Now.
I don't think they want to give up assets. Uh,
they can take another year to see which pieces fit.
They still haven't seen brandon ingram play essentially with uh
(21:49):
with this group, so get an opportunity to to do that.
But the feeling is even when it comes to Lebron,
this is kind of a year off. The whole idea
that he's still chasing a title this year. Nobody sees
that as being in the cars. Everybody understands that this
what I think the magic is now saying it's a
(22:10):
three year process. Uh, it's year one. They got one
building block in place. They're gonna make sure that when
they get to next summer that they can add a
second one, trusting the process. In Los Angeles, Rick Buker
from from Bleacher Report with a little soccer mixed in
great stuff. Thanks for joining us. Fox Sports Radio has
(22:31):
the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all
of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and
within the I Heart Radio app. Okay, so Ben McAdoo
had this to say Monday Morning in America Peter King's
new column, Right or Wrong. I'm at peace with how
I handled the decision to play quarterbacks other than Eli
Manning down the stretch last season. I was not ending
Eli's career with the Giants. I was making sure we
(22:53):
knew what we had behind him with a high draft
choice prior to the big quarterback draft. I gave him
the option to start games to keep his streak alive.
I understand why he said no. He was a true
pro about it. My bedside manner hurt me that week.
I'm working on that. I do think it was special
how his former teammates and fans rallied around him that week.
(23:14):
But if there's one thing, I want Giants fans to
know that I made this call to try and make
the Giant stronger for the future. It probably got me fired,
but I believe I did the right thing for the
right reasons, and I agree with him when we go
back and we try and realize, like, look, they weren't
winning any games. They were better off losing more games.
(23:36):
And remember McAdoo when when he says, you wouldn't lose
your starting job, like they wanted to get Davis Webb
up and playing, they started Geno Smith because because Eli
forced their hand. That's really what happened. That's really what happened.
And Eli is one of these guys that he's gonna
(23:58):
go down at what he's gonna go and he's gonna
go to the Hall of Fame who want two super Bowls,
And he's gonna go down in there as the victim
in this deal when the truth is he was kind
of the opposite. Sure, mcadoo's like he said, his bedside manner,
how he handled it, what how he said, what he
(24:19):
said could have been better. Look, I was a lot
more curt about it. I thought they should have traded
Eli midyear to Jacksonville to play for Tom Coughlin. But
in the did he win or did he lose? He
lost his job, So I guess he loses that battle,
(24:39):
but he'll lose the war if and only if Eli
Manning suddenly has a resurgence this year. Right, Eli Manning
bounces back this year and is great. Well, now, he
lost the war, but he's right. If if Eli continues
to struggle and they have all their guys back, well
now the and Ben McAdoo was right. He didn't. He
(25:04):
wasn't his decision to bench Eli Manning. He was Eli
Manning's decision to bench Eli Manning. It was like NFL
is like giants, fans, giants, media, former giants. They all
lost their collective mind because they all all of a
sudden thought that the streak was somehow representative of them
(25:29):
when it was really about Eli. The greatest thing Eli
has done is be incredibly selfish in a deflecting way
to which it feels like he's not selfish. Oh you
don't want to start me, you don't want to finish me, Well,
I won't start. I'll just lose my streak. That's fine,
I'll just lose my streak. It's you know what it is,
(25:53):
it's fake Murderdom. There are people that will talk about
the things they do and like all the sacrifice they
make and how difficult things are for them, and they
want you to go. Man that that's awful. They don't
appreciate you, they don't respect you. Should walk from that job. Smartyrdom.
(26:16):
That's what he'd like Manning did. He did the martyr thing.
He said, you know, listen, if you if you don't
want me to finish the game, then I guess you
just shouldn't start me. You know, I know I've been
starting all these different years. But if you know what
I mean, you let me finish, well, then what's the
point of starting. So I guess I just won't start.
He did the martyr thing, and it worked. Be sure
(26:36):
to catch live editions of The Doug gott Leap Show
weekdays at three p m. Eastern noon Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. Rogers had
this to say, I'd love to play until I'm forty.
I just think that number means a lot. Obviously, Tom
Brady is kind of rewriting the book Brett. Brett still
had a good season when he turned forty. My goals
be able to move like I do and or clothes
(27:00):
are close to how I do and still be able
to do that at forty, just because nobody's been able
to do that and still move around the same way.
Steve Young's career got cut short in his late thirties.
John Elway the same. He didn't really move the same
when he was younger, so to be able to move
the same way thirty forty would be cool. That's my aim.
(27:21):
He disagrees with the take that he's got to get
rid of the ball quicker to take fewer hits. I
tried to already. I've played football since I was thirteen
years old. I've taken two shots where I couldn't wriggle
free and broke my collar bone twice. I feel pretty
good about the way I play, avoiding some major stuff.
I've had a couple of muscle polls, but other than that,
(27:42):
as a starter, I've been pretty healthy. Two hits. First
time was in thirteen against Chicago. I didn't see the guy.
Second time was last year. Anthony Barr hit him outside
the pocket. I didn't think he was gonna hit me,
maybe as hard as he did, but he did, and
that's what happened. Setten, the question become um. His contract
(28:03):
now has two years left on a five year, one
and ten million dollar deal. Quote. It's only been on
my mind because people have been writing and talking about
a lot. There have been many conversations about it. I
think there's some merit to looking into where you do
a non traditional contractual agreement. And if anybody at this
point is able to get to do something like that,
I think it needs to be a conversation about I've
(28:25):
never said anything about trying tying the contract to the cap.
I just think there's ways to do contracts. We can
still be competitive. The team is happy about it, but
you have some freedom, he said, And this is he'd
like to play his entire career in Green Bay. But
I think in my time here I realized no one's
(28:47):
above the team. They can trade bread far Jordy Nelson,
They cannot resign Julie, Charles Woodson or Julius Peppers. They
can make decisions that are the best interests of the team.
It could be me at some point. You have to
be humble enough to realize that, and I do. I'd
love to be able to how many guys actually picked
the way and team in which they go out. You know,
(29:08):
hardly anybody. My dream situation would be to stay in
Green Bay. All right, let me just tell you what
I might take insummation. UM, I do think that he
only wants to play till he's forty, wants to be
able to move till he's forty. I do think that
he would like to stay in Green Bay and wants
to rework his contract, and that's a smart way of
(29:30):
saying it a non traditional agreement. What is that? I
think that My guess would be that he's thinking more
in line of of what Lebron James has been doing
in basketball. You know, football players, a lot of them
love basketball, not just basketball contracts, but basketball in general.
And signing a short term deal which allows freedom, flexibility,
(29:52):
the chance to move if you're no longer wanted or whatever, like,
all of that stuff is enticing to those guys. But
NFL teams have those longer contracts for a guy like
Rogers because even if we're gonna cut you, we want
to be able to own your rights so we don't
have to if we don't want to. But my biggest
takeaway is still mad about Jordy Nelson? Still mad? Right?
(30:18):
And if you're in a relationship, I don't know if
guys do this, women do this all the time. You
say something nice about a woman, she looked nice today.
Four months later, your wife's cooking dinner. It turns out
a little bit burned. You had said something four months
(30:40):
previous about Susie Wait, Susie looks nice today. She serves
you dinner. You say, oh, honey, it's kind of burned. Well,
why don't you ask Susie to cook for you? She's
still pissed, right, there was that time when you came
in just completely blitzed to her Thanksgiving dinner. This is
twenty years ago. She's still mad. That's what Aaron Rodgers
(31:03):
is doing. Aaron Rodgers is still he like, he's like
they can trade. Brett Farve. Okay, Brett Farve is an
iconic Green Bay Packer, a first ballot Hall of Famer.
A matter of fact, he was, even though he was
persona non grata because he ended his career in Minnesota,
he was still in the Ring of Honor, Walk of
(31:24):
Fame or whatever they call it in Green Bay before
he was in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Me's
Brett Farve longest uh starting streaking the history of football?
And oh yeah, by the way, one two circles and
a couple of m vps. Charles Woodson, though not a
lifer as a Packer, also a first ballot Hall of Famer.
(31:44):
Julius Peppers, probably a Hall of Famer. Jordy Nelson. Now look,
Jordy Nelson. Some of it is recency biased that he
and Julius Peppers were the most recent to be bid
a do but I think a good part of it
is he's, you know, he's trying to talk in big
terms about how it's not might not be his choice
to remain, but this is his way of getting a
(32:05):
little dig in and going like, hey, cut shorty, I
haven't forgotten you, cut Jordy. It's the kind of thing
where a guy will have a drop in the end
early in the season and be like, well, you know,
Jordy Nelson wouldn't have dropped that. That's the kind That's
what it feels like here, Aaron Rodgers only making twenty
(32:26):
two million on average, less than quarterbacks of Kirk Cousins
per all guaranteed Matt Ryan thirty per. Rogers, to me
is the best quarterback I've seen throw football, best I've
ever seen if you check every box of what you
have to do. Competitive, smart, tough, able to throw multiple
arm angles, moves his feet and throw in the pocket
(32:46):
and throw out of the pocket. Rogers is that guy.
But he's a little bit too smart for his own
good sometimes, right, he's like, look, what about a creative contract.
You start saying creative contract and people will think you're
trying to get over on them. Just is, how do
(33:07):
they know that, because most creative contracts are just that.
It's it's like the old adjustable rate and mortgage. Oh
don't worry, you can afford that house. We got a
creative mortgage plan for you. See, you'll pay interest only
the first five years, and then you know you can
refinance or the interest it will go up and you'll
start have to pay principle and interest after that. That's
(33:30):
what happened last time around. Ryan. People are making living
in three thousand dollar homes and they're paying almost nothing
and interest only when they had to start playing some
principle and they had to refinance or the loan went up,
you know, two percentage points a year, and end of
the day they end up paying eight nine percent when
other people are paying three percent plus they're having to
(33:51):
play principle and the payments are just too much. People
think creative contracts and they assume you're trying to get
over on them, mostly because you are. So Look, look,
I just I think Aaron Rodgers wants to play for
(34:11):
the Packers. I think the Packers have swallowed hard and
made some unpopular moves this offseason. I genuinely think it.
It makes them better in the long term, maybe even
in the short term, but I think in the process
they pist some people off, like Aaron Rodgers. He's mad
about Jordy Nelson. Otherwise, why would you throw Jordy Nelson's
name in there? Yes? Right, music, After all this talk
(34:34):
about Aaron Rodgers and his contract and as you just said,
trying to get creative to see you know, different ways
to get money and whatever. Aaron Rodgers, we always talk
about how great he is, even though he only has
one Super Bowl. If he had to choose one or
the other getting the most money possible or taken a
bit off the table in order to spread that out
(34:55):
to hopefully get better players and win more titles. Which
do you think he cares more about at this point
in his career? I would say he his pargument. Probably
you can do both if you're smart about it right.
You can do short term deals, you build some trust,
you put it in a signing bonus, and it doesn't
hurt you against the cap nearly as much, I would say,
(35:17):
he'd say, But, um, I do think that winning a
second Super Bowl completely elevate, elevates you to a completely
different level, uh, in terms of your legacy. So I
would guess winning another Super Bowl. Now, look, there's a
balance there. Would I do it for less, sure, but
that doesn't mean that I'm gonna do it for less
than what I make Now, when I do it for
(35:39):
less than thirty five million dollars, which is what I'm worth, Okay,
would I do it for less than five million dollars?
Probably not, That's not smart. Fox Sports Radio has the
best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of
our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within
the I Heart Radio app. Jeff Passon joins us. Uh.
He could probably name every Major League Baseball player. He's
(36:00):
a Major League Baseball columns for Yahoo Sports. Check out
his Yahoo Sports Major League Baseball podcast It's Awesome. He
hosts features some of the biggest names around the league
in baseball. Jeff, there's seems to be renewed vigor with
the Machado trade talk. At least that's what Twitter says.
What does Jeff Passons say? It's almost like and I
(36:23):
wrote this earlier this week, it's almost like the Orioles
have this sense of urgency that teams think they're gonna
pull the trigger within the next twenty four hours, and
then it just slows down to a grind. And look,
Manny Machado's moving. He has to move this because the
Orioles are going to get a whole lot more in
return than they would if they held onto him, gave
(36:45):
him the qualifying offer and got like the thirty first
pick in the draft this year, which is what the alternatate.
The alternative is. So he's going somewhere. I just don't
know if it's gonna be Los Angeles or Milwaukee or Philadelphia.
Those seem to be the three favorites at this point
of the teams that have the greatest need that can
offer the most in return. But he will be moving.
I just don't know if it's an imminent thing at
(37:06):
this point. And okay, if you don't know if it's
imminent thing, can you give me a one, two three?
Like two weeks ago, all of a sudden, Arizona hopped
into it. The Dodgers have been in the hunt. There's
others that are reportedly in the hunt. If you had
to give a most likely to third most likely destination
wherever to be. You know, I keep hearing It's interesting
(37:28):
you ask different people, uh in different groups of people,
and they say different things. You know, general managers around
the game tend to think that it's going to be
Milwaukee because the Brewers have arguably the best talent that
they can ship back to Baltimore Orioles in terms of
major league ready players. But you also think that Philadelphia
with a guy like Adonis Medina, you know, are throwing
(37:50):
right hander, could be in there, or or the Dodgers.
In the question where the Dodgers is more, are they
willing to give up Alan a year after going getting
you Darvish, Willie Calhoun and a couple other prospects. Are
they're going to make the same type of trade where
they give up using the l d Az or Dustin
May or Gavin Luck. And I think there's there's hesitancy
(38:11):
from people and thinking that the Daughters are willing to
give up that premium talent, but the Orioles want and
return and frankly deserve in return because Manna Machado is
one of the best players in baseball. Seattle's last four
in row, they get swept, sweep swept by the Rockies
in Inner League. But they're a team the run differentials
actually minus two for the year, this despite the fact
that they're fifty eight and thirty nine. So anyone who
(38:33):
follows baseball would say, well, that will eventually the record
will eventually even out if their run differential remains the same.
Really good teams do what Houston does to you, where
they just beat it to a pulp. Is that what
we're seeing here at the end of the first half,
regression towards the mean a hundred percent. And I've been
waiting more than half the seasons for it. And you know,
I go on the radio and Seattle every couple of
(38:56):
weeks and they call me the wet blanket because I
keep saying that I'm waiting for the Mariners to show
their true colors. And I think we saw it towards
the end of the first half. But the fact is, Doug,
those nineteen games over five hundred that they've got right now,
those are in the bank, man, like they're they're not
going to lose those, and so they're in a great
position going forward, even though after you know, ninety seven games,
(39:20):
uh or rather after ninety seven games They've got fifty
eight wins. If they go five hundred over the rest
of the season, that's the ninety win team, and that's
the team that probably is going to make the playoffs.
But Oakland is only four games behind them at this point,
and the A's are playing really good baseball, and so
I think that I think Seattle is in a good position,
(39:40):
but I still think that they need to strengthen themselves.
They are getting Robinson Canoe back, but the question is
where he's gonna play is a big one. They're keeping
the Gordon at second base, so is Cano gonna play
first base? And you canna shift over and play some
d H which would force Nelson Cruise into the field,
which you know Scott Service, the manager there, doesn't want
to do and Nelson Crews himself doesn't want to do
it either. There are a lot of questions with the
(40:01):
Mariners coming forward. There are a lot of questions. I
have a question for you, Mookie Betts or Mike Trout,
who's had a more impressive first half of season. And
I asked you that because I know that be baseball guys,
you don't believe in lineup protection. But I mean, I
saw a stat where Mike Trout has has has made
more played appearances with nobody on than anyone else in baseball.
(40:24):
I mean, look, Upton is a nice player, but pool
Holes is, I mean, you know, pools Is, He's on
base less than of the time. He's a shell of
his former self. I just like, this is the dude
that's got to do it all on his own, as
opposed to Mookie Betts, who you know, He's got j D.
Martinez who might well also be the A O. M
v P hitting behind him, a couple of spots behind
(40:45):
him who has been more impressive in the first half
of season. To you, well, it's interesting because you saw
of the end of the first half, the Angels had
Trout hitting third, and they moved Angels and Simmons, who's
had a great first half up to the number two
spot in the lineup. And I think that was a
good thing to get guys on base for Mike Trout. Uh.
And I want to throw Jose Ramirez in the mix
there if he looks just at wins above replacements. And
(41:07):
I know that that's a flawed metric, but it tries
to capture a guy's overall contributions offensively, defensively and running,
and Osiramirez is right on Mike trout field, so the
three of them are having historically good seasons. I still
think that Trout is the first half m VP in
the American League. I'm the guy who thinks that you
(41:28):
give the m v P to the best player, not
the best player on the best team. If you're looking
in that regard, uh, then I think Betts and Ramiro's
both have excellent cass Best missed a couple of weeks,
but his numbers have been otherworldly this year, and he's
just a fun baseball player to watch man and getting
to see him Trout and Judge in the same outfield
(41:49):
in the All Star Game tomorrow, it's gonna be a
pretty cool thing because we're seeing these guys at the
absolute height of their powers and it's something to behold. Okay,
was it Mike Is it Mike matheini fault that the St.
Louis Cardinals has dropped off the last couple of years.
I think you can certainly blame Mike Matheni for some
of it. The culture there in St. Louis has not
(42:09):
been good. The players have not been on board with
their manager, and look, all of us know that when
you have a boss who either you don't respect or
don't believe in his vision, you might not work is
hard for him. Now, I'm not saying that the Cardinals
slacked off by any means, but it makes things far
more difficult. And when you have that environment in which
(42:31):
you want to play for the manager and which you
want to do something great, not just for your own sake,
noncestor hemate sake, but to make him happy, that's a
lot more conducive to winning them what the Cardinals have.
And I think that the fact that there are five
dred team is reflective not just of their talent, but
of their attitude towards their leader. What what pitching did
the Yankees go out and get, Well, there's not a
(42:54):
whole lot. I mean, that's the issue. Do you really
feel like going and getting Jay happ is going to
be the difference make I almost wonder if the Yankees
can look internally and see just the Sheffield who's pitched
very well in the minor leagues. You know, they got
him the Andrew Miller deal a couple of years ago
from the Indians, and if he's going to be the
solution as much as anybody else, because right now there
isn't somebody you can put alongside Luis Savarino and say,
(43:17):
this guy is going to be a huge contributor for
us down the stretch and somebody in whom we believe
to help us win playoff games. The Yankees bullpen is
really their strength and their core in addition to you know,
a home run hitting bonanza of a lineup. And if
the Yankees are going to compete with the Astros and
the Red Sox, is going to be because of the
lineup in the pen, not because of their starters. What
(43:38):
happens the Jacob deGrom I mean like, look, you know,
the Mets you can build around him or you can
what do you what happens the Jacob? Does he remain
a met the remain of the season. Well, I think
a lot of that depends on the Mets ability to
negotiate a contract extension with him, and his agent, Brodie
van wagen In essentially said that today, you know, Jacob
has expressed interest in staying with him and signing long
(44:01):
term with them, and if not, he'd like to be traded.
And it wasn't you know, he went out of his
way to say, this is not a trade request, but
more a sense of where he is and what his
feelings are on the situation. I understand that if you're
the Mets, though, it's difficult when you have him and
Noah synder Guard to get rid of either of those guys.
(44:21):
And and you know, if you're going to do that,
you might as well just rebuild all the way. And
and that's a tough pill to swallow for a team
that's got Michael Comporto and got Brandon Nemo, and got
guys who have talent and who have the ability to
be good major league players in the core of a
contending team. The question is, and the Mets willing to
go out and spend the money that they need to
(44:42):
supplement them and spend it intelligently because they have spent money,
that money that they spent this offseason on top Rasier,
on j Bruce and I Anthony Swarzak is swirling down
a toilet and clean somewhere right now, all right? The
Washington Nationals, what happens with them second half of the season.
You know, they had a players only beating and they
saw some good out of it, but now they're stuck
(45:03):
at five. You know the s is going tomorrow in
the All Star Game. He's he's he's one of the
few guys that lives up to that contract. Um, no doubt.
Call it for me. What happens second half of the season.
I think the Nationals are going to turn things around.
And I say that out of no brand knowledge that
I have of something changing there. I just see how
(45:25):
much talent is on that roster. Let's just go around
the diamond. Doug third base, Anthony Random, all Star caliber player,
short thought trade turner, all Star second base, Daniel Murphy,
a guy who's been one of the best sitters in
baseball for the last couple of years. Uh, you know,
first base, they can rotate among Adams and Reynolds. Uh
you know they They've got Ryan Zimmern in there too.
(45:48):
In the outfield, one Soto may win Rookie of the
Year in the National League, Bryce Harper. I mean, there's
just talent. Adam Eaton, there's talent everywhere up and down
that roster, and they're under five hundreds. And it foggles
my mind. I have asked more people here, how is
this team under five hundred? And they just all shake
their heads and nobody has a good answer to it.
(46:09):
And that's the most frustrating part of the national season
that there's so much talent on that team and they
still stink. Ye yep, No, if we talked about all
the time, you nailed it. Great stuff, Jeff, Jeff enjoy
enjoy the home run derby. Although start a home run
derby's better than the end end of home run derby.
Just like, let's just get this thing over with. Of course,
Tomorrow's gonna be gonna be a great day. Download his podcast,
(46:29):
It's Yahoo Sports MLB Podcast with Jeff Passing, features some
of the biggest dance around the world and baseball fall
um on Twitter and read his work in Yahoo Sports. Jeff,
thanks so much for joining us, but asure is always mine.
To take it easybody,
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