June 25, 2020 • 45 mins
Jason and Mike understand that playing 3 months in an NBA bubble, or the MLB season can seem daunting to players and leagues right now but if they think of it as "We're going to TRY to play, and if we can't, we can't" it'll be much easier mentally to deal with. Jets Insider from NY Daily News, Manish Mehta joins the guys to explain how Adam Gase has lost all respect in the organization which has led to Jamal Adams demanding a trade and the guys list some 'surprising' MLB teams that can take advantage of the shortened schedule and win the World Series.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmen podcast. Be sure to catch us
live every weeknight from ten pm to two a m.
Eastern seven to eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio.
Find your local station for The Jason Smith Show with
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by searching fs R. This is the best of The
(00:22):
Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.
Greetings and welcome inside The Jason Smith Show with my
big friend Mike Harmon. We are live from the Geico
Studios as fireworks go off across America and everybody turns
(00:46):
into Mike Harmon, old man, get off my law and
I'll tell you what, Mike. I didn't think about it
to the last couple of days, but this big push
this year more than any other with fireworks going off.
You know, this is what happens the month before we
get a fourth of July. Really from Mother's Day till
the fourth of July, we we get fireworks going off
during the day. People lighting off fireworks. Everybody hates it
(01:06):
hates today it goes off during the day what is
going on? Why are people sending off fireworks? I saw
stories on CNN, Huffington Post, all over the place about
people are really fed up with fireworks now, and I'm like, yeah,
this is that just that kind of year because this
happens every year, but you know, so I got to
see it live and in person today when people on
(01:27):
our block are calling me and Pam saying, hey, what
can we do about making sure people don't light off fireworks?
I mean, this is where we're at right now. We're
a tough time, Mike Harmon. It's a lot of people
just burning their money. It's really when it comes down
to there. I used to do a nice retrieval system
when neighbors would do bottle rockets and stuff up real
(01:47):
early the morning of the fifth, and I think that
blue on my lawn. I'd bring him my back all
the remnants. Okay, all right, that's nice a trash can
and here's all your crack. Sure. So yeah, Like, I
don't don't quite understand the obsession with it. I think
at one point my dad bought like a four dollar
(02:08):
thing and just said, all right, here, it is also
a city cop. So he wasn't going to encourage any
you know, stupidity. Sure, follow the letter of the rules there,
uh at the law. Uh so, yeah, at one point
it was one of those little things that kind of
spun in a circle and burned out against there it is.
That's it. Uh watch the rest of the people burn
up their money. I feel like it's just, you know,
(02:31):
look this year because obviously everybody is on edge and
and everybody is piste off about stuff and and everything
going on. But every year fireworks go off, but this
year it's no. I don't like the fireworks now. I
don't like them when they go off during the day.
I don't like when I hear a couple of bottle
rockets go off at one PM. I don't like it.
I don't want to hear an m A D at
four forty five, just when I'm gonna make dinner. I
don't want to know. Nobody wants to hear the M
(02:52):
A D. Because you're also at a heightened awareness that
there's other crap going on, So don't don't add that
to the mix. Right, everybody's on a bit of edge.
It is. It's tough, it's tight. I mean, look, isn't
that kind of the summary statement off of what we
discussed in NASCAR the last two nights. Everybody's on edge,
so it went to a code red and then you
(03:14):
can decide, I mean instill. You know, Bubble Wallace today
puts out his statement of the support of NASCAR and everything,
but last night was still fiery rhetorics. So you know, likewise,
the fireworks may may if folks are a little bit
on edge, that that's probably not helping. No, no, it's not.
It's definitely one of those things where you can say,
(03:35):
all right, all right, I get it, but really it's
just fireworks going off. Let's everybody just calm down a
little bit here. Let's let's just figure everything out that
it's just I mean, think about the cost adding up that.
Where did you go find fireworks during the pandemic? Was
this all just sitting stored away? Hey, box work next summer?
But he got there fireworks? Where is it stored down
(03:57):
by the furnace? Why? I mean, you know, so you
have that part of the element, because I don't think
you have the roadside stands all set up like you
would most may in June months of years past, so
you know people were fully prepared. Uh So while we
are all, you know, figuring out what to do with
(04:17):
fireworks and and the love hate relationships we have with them.
Today is one of the maybe because of the way
we're starting the show, you can feel today is that
kind of day. We are now in a really weird
position as it comes to sports returning when the NBA
comes back, when Major League Baseball comes back. Because we
have the agreements, major League Baseball is signed, seal delivered.
(04:40):
They're gonna try to report to training camp a week
from today. The NBA is making their plans. Team were
all teams are already fearing out how to get to
Orlando for the Bubble season. They're going to have their
and yet every day we get more reports of positive
coronavirus tests involving athletes. Today, Malcolm broad In, Jabari Parker
(05:01):
Buddy healed. Last night it was Charlie Blackman in Major
League Baseball to go along with members of the Philadelphia
Phillies who've had members test positive for COVID nineteen. Many
GMS have said today in the NBA they are nervous
about the bubble plan because we're still seeing athletes get
uh COVID nineteen and luckily they're recuperating. They are you know,
(05:23):
they're they're taking care of themselves and being you know,
we're sick for a little while and moving on. So
you know they're fortunate that way. But now it's gone
from Okay, how a sports gonna return? Now we're here
and now it's what are we gonna do with the coronavirus?
And what are we gonna do with it? And I
understand the weird time we're in because it's like we
want to fast forward and get there and see how
(05:45):
it goes and hopefully something incredibly positive happen, is something
big happens. But to take you through the nervous time,
I I think, what will What I would tell people
nervous about the NBA or whether it's a player, whether
it's a team, whether it's a GM, even Major League
Baseball too, I I would tell them all the same thing.
(06:07):
I would say, Listen, I said, don't think of it
as this huge, daunting task that you have to get through.
Right Like last night, we've talked about, hey, you get
what you get. You don't get upset if sports comes
back and they play for a little bit and it
goes away. We just celebrate the sports being here because eventually, look,
that could happen, right, we could see a sport resume
and not play, and or resume and not be able
(06:28):
to play, and then we move on, move on to
the next sport, and eventually all sports are gonna come
back as we figure out a way, as we continue
to deal with COVID nineteen. You know. So if you
think about that perspective, that would help now for the
for the nervous time, because now it's rubber hitting the
road for both sports. All right, the agreements are here.
You gotta decide if you want to play, if you're
gonna play. I know people are only playing, and they're
(06:49):
only doing it because a for the money, you know,
and be because boy, what's gonna happen if I don't play?
What's it gonna be? What are my teammates gonna think
about me? No one is going to this restart all
full of sunshine, lollipops and rainbows, going, this is gonna
be the greatest thing in the world. Now, everybody is nervous.
And when you think about something being you know, three
(07:10):
months long and NBA, g M S and and and
teams and players going, my good am, I gonna be
able to stay safe for three months? What is it?
Don't think of it as something that's that long. Don't
think that we're gonna play the season. Don't think we're
gonna play the Just think we're going to try to play.
We're gonna try to play and see if we can,
and we're gonna know before any games are played if
(07:33):
we can play this season in the NBA and Major
League Baseball. Just that we're gonna go. We're gonna try
because you have to try, right, We got to try
and see and and and see how things go because
we have players. What we've seen from the athletes getting coronavirus,
the the health, the great health they're in. It's there
sick for when it's the vast majority of people as well.
But they're sick for a while, they recoup, right, Okay,
(07:54):
So we have to try. But think of it as
trying because if something happens and we can't do it,
we're gonna know before we play a game that the
NBA and Major League Baseball is gonna say, you know what,
we tried. We can't do it. All right, Everybody go
home and and we'll figure things out later on. But
obviously this season can happen. Just think about it that way.
If you think about, hey, where gonna go and try
(08:16):
and if we try it, okay, great, it's it's it's
it's almost the same philosophy of trying to get you know,
one of your friends, or trying to convince your uh,
you know, your wife to go on a roller coaster ride,
or convince one of your kids to try a new sport. Hey,
just try it. Hey, just try this for dinner. Okay,
try this pasta. If you don't like it, then we'll
try something. But just try it. Just try. If you
just think about that we're gonna try to play the season,
(08:38):
it becomes less daunting. It becomes let's go day to
day and see how it goes. Because when you think
about it being a three month task, it gets to
be way too much and it gets mentally overwhelming and
you're thinking, how can we do this? But we're gonna
go try and when when Major League Baseball reports next Wednesday,
they'll know within a week and a half if they'll
be able to play games. NBA same thing, they'll report,
(08:58):
they'll know within a week and a half can we
play games? Are we getting positive coronavirus tests. How are
we doing? So if you think about it that way,
that's that's going to be much better mentally for players
and and teams to approach these coming seasons. Well, it's
like anything whenever you talk about a sport, right, what
what we we talked to NFL coaches and what is it?
(09:19):
We go by the quarters, Right, We're gonna look at
the first four games and then we evaluate, and then
we go to the second quarter and move forward likewise.
You know, baseball is in a dead sprint. Basketball is
an eight game ramp up. Probably not a lot of
juggling in terms of playoff seating, but we finish it off,
we get a little bit of the slim down zion
(09:39):
or whatever it is. We're being sold that he is UH,
and people get excited. So, you know, take it one
homestead at homestand at a time, take it one block
of games, one calendar week, whatever it is, UH, knowing
that they're putting in whatever protocols they can that the
union agrees to, obviously consulting medical professionals as best they
(10:04):
can in each municipality to make sure everybody's on board.
All right, you're coming from state x, what do they
say here? And let's let's figure this all out. And
then you roll knowing you're gonna have positive tests, knowing
there's going to be the alarmism, right because we see
even the couple of the positive tests announced today and
(10:25):
all of a sudden, everybody's got their megaphones out, going,
how are we gonna play? It's like you're gonna play,
just like everybody else is trying to go back to work,
just like those folks go to Walmart, Target, the grocery
store every day. You figure it out and you apply
best practices, and you move forward, and you get momentum.
And you've got baseball teams already talking about fans in
(10:47):
the stand, including my White Sox. We'll see if light foot,
let's that happen. But if you're gonna let people back
into zoos and aquariums, you better damn well let them
back in the stadiums, is all I'm gonna say that
to that. If you can go watch mere cats pop
their heads up, I can watch a guy pop out
to short. So we go through this, uh going to Orlando. Yeah,
(11:08):
it's a unique experiment, a unique time. You know what,
Get the cameras out and let's document it at all.
Look Jason Smith Show with Mike Carmen Live from the
Geico Studios. We're gonna get to camps, right, We're gonna
figure things out. And I can see the NBA and
all the players getting there, and I can see a
scenario where the NBA and Major League Baseball says, Okay,
now we have control of the players right now, we
(11:30):
can make sure they're living in the quarantine. We trust
them too, because look what's going on is players aren't
hearing to quarantine. Look, buddy, healed positive coronavirus test. I
read today that last week he played in a Skins
League game in Oklahoma, scored forty five points. So the
guys playing basketballs filling it up amongst yeah, amongst when
when he shouldn't have been playing in a gym with
(11:50):
a bunch of people, and here he is getting positive
corona coronavirus test. So you're going is gonna play right?
This is this is what teams have to fight against,
is that the players aren't doing what they should be doing.
A lot of people aren't doing it. We decided we
just we're done with coronavirus. And that's just stupid. But
now they feel like, Okay, now we're gonna have the players.
Now we have control over them, so now we can
(12:12):
make sure we they they don't do anything that's going
to expose them to the coronavirus. So I can see
that being a great scenario that hey, wait a minute,
you know what, this whole thing is working. Now everybody
is around the team, and and and they're around each other.
It works. The old Bill parcels theory that the worst
part for him for a football team was the time
when they weren't playing, because you leave guys to their
own devices, and sometimes bad decisions get made. But when
(12:35):
you're around the team every day and you have that
sense of together to some responsibility, you're going to do
what you can for uh your team, and you'll be
a good teammate. He said, I never had to worry
about my team while we were together. So I can
see that part of it for the NBA and Major
League Baseball that you know what, we're together now, it's
gonna work. It's gonna work, and we have control and
make sure that. You know, maybe a night where you
(12:55):
wanted to go out and do X, Y or Z,
now you can't do it, so you're staying safe and
you're staying home. But I can also see us going
to the bubble and practicing for a few days, and
they're being a bunch of coronavirus tests that that are
that are dotted across the landscape, and the NBA says,
you know what, we gotta pull up stakes and leave.
And suddenly the bubble idea never even gets off the
(13:16):
ground and everybody is going back and we're trying to
figure out a way forward from here because it just
didn't work. So I can see those things happening. But
that's why, since no one knows, just think we're gonna
try to play. And if we try to do it, okay, great,
and if it doesn't, we're gonna know way ahead of
time that we can't do it. Mentally that will do
a lot for everybody involved. Take those next steps ahead,
(13:39):
best practices, and treat these folks to like adults, but
talk to them like their five year olds. And here's
the diagram of how how this really screws us up
and takes money out of your pockets. Put it all
down in dollars and cents, uh, and it'll start making
more sense. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern,
(14:02):
seven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I
Heart Radio app. My goodness, did we get a big
NFL story crop up and just say hello, I'm here?
Everybody kind of like you know, harm in the middle
of the night after going on a bender suddenly just
shows up in your room with it's just as under
our arm going hey, I'm here. Yeah, he gave my
(14:25):
clothing too much credit. Yeah, let's get it. Uh. That
was the story that hit us today by Miniche made
a New York Daily News Jets insider Who's gonna join us?
Coming up in a couple of minutes. Why suddenly is
Jamal Adams want to be traded? Why suddenly after he
has talked about wanting out for a while, but I'll
(14:46):
still stay with the Jets. Why suddenly in the past
week is he pushing to go to Dallas? Has he
officially requested a trade? Miniche Mada reports that the fissure
between the Jets and Jamal Adams cracked open because of
the bad relationship he has with head coach Adam Gaze.
Here's some of the facts that or here's some of
(15:08):
the the story that Miniche Maida has on Adam Gaze.
Major factor why he's uncomfortable with the team. The team
does not respect Adam Gaze. He has lost the respect
of the locker room. He has rubbed them the wrong
way with his inability to lead and lack of support.
This is coming right from a niche made his article.
Too many players, including play Too many people, including players, coaches,
(15:31):
and front office members don't trust or believe in Gaze.
They feel he's disingenuous. They feel he is insecure and
will always point a finger at other people. All of
this stuff we have seen over the course of the
past fourteen months. Last week he fired a long time
team trainer, John Melody, which was really, you're firing this
guy because he was so well liked in the organization.
(15:53):
And the only reason that he is around is because
Sam Donald and David Fails the first and seconds ring
quarterback right now, because Joe Flacco, still coming back from injury,
are the only ones who really tolerate him. And this
is where the relationship is. Nobody likes Adam Gaze. He's
alienated the players, and the only reason he's around is
(16:13):
because Sam Donald quote tolerates him. I don't doubt any
of this because look, look what if I told you,
Mike from the beginning with Adam Gaze, he didn't learn
his lessons from Miami. He alienated players in Miami. He's
alienated players here in New York. He's alienated Levian Bell,
He's now alienated Jamal Adams. The only reason he is
still the coach is because if you fired him suddenly,
(16:36):
this would be the third head coach and the third
offensive system that Sam Donald would have in three years.
And you are never going to be a good quarterback.
If that's the case, I guarantee you that's the only
reason he has a job is because Donald hasn't said, hey,
let's get rid of the guy, and and they thought
the best thing for his growth is let's keep him
in this system. But really, I mean, you know me,
(16:58):
my my whole big thing is I say, I don't
get certain actors or actresses appeal. Why people think they're
such a good Why this guy is not really a
good actor, She's not really a good actress. I can't
believe the jobs that they get in Hollywood. I feel
the same way about Adam Gaze. Adam Gaze failed with Miami.
The players hated him. He didn't learn any lessons because
he jumped right from head coach of the Dolphins to
(17:18):
the head coach of the Jets. His offenses stink. They
finish in the bottom the bottom quarter of the NFL
every single year. I don't get the affinity for him.
Did Peyton Manning really did? Did he screw the Jets
for a second time in twenty years? He wouldn't get
us to the draft in nineties seven, and he recommends
Adam Gaze a year and a half ago that hey,
you gotta hire Adam Gaze. So okay, we're gonna hire
(17:39):
Adam Gaze. I I don't get the draw of why
the Jets had to have Adam Gaze. You're damn right
he did. And he let's let's bring on many to
explain exactly how miserable this situation is. Maniche Maida joins
us now on the hot line New York del and
he was insider, you know, man, we're gonna have a
conversation right now, and we're both gonna say to each other,
(17:59):
oh yeah, yeah, that's it. No, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,
how's it going. I'm doing well. How are you guys?
Oh man, I'll tell you what. I reading your article
today and seeing this story just blow up this afternoon
and there everything in there. I said, Yeah, I don't
understand that the affinity for for Adam Gates. I don't
understand how the Jets loved him. I don't understand how
(18:21):
they still think he's good because his offenses are terrible.
He's alienated players. And I keep coming back to the
same thing. And you alluded to this in in your
in your column. If it wasn't for the fact that
Donald would have his third head coach and third offensive
system in three years, Adam gatee would be gone. And
I feel like I'm just waiting for that to happen,
which is at some point it's gonna happen. I'm just
gonna wait until the day it happens. Well, I can
(18:42):
assure you that if Sam Donald ever did go to
ownership and say that I can't evolve and grow with
Adam Gaze, and Adam Gaze would be in all leglhood
fired tomorrow. However, that's not practical because that's not in
Sam donald makeup. It's not part of his d N
a and I genuinely do think that Donald hopes that
(19:04):
this marriage with Adam Gates works, and that just kind
of how Donald is, you know, is made up and
he's you know, he kind of looks for the best
and everybody. He's also an extremely young player. Uh not
not everybody is twenty three years old in that locker room.
There's people, uh, on both sides of the ball who
have more experience. Uh you know, they have been around
the league kind of understand the business aspect of it
(19:27):
more than than Donald does. But look, I think part
of the reason that Gays is still here is because
of what you just said. You know, having three different
coordinators in the first three years of your young quarterbacks
career is a recipe for the disaster. There's also a
real financial element to this, and that should not be discounted.
(19:48):
The Jets ownership does not want to be on the
hook after firing a coach after one year because coaching
contracts are guaranteed, so uh, you know, that's another element.
And then perhaps the most important meant is that the
person making the decision on Adam Gaze's ultimate faith will
be Woody Johnson, who is the actual owner of the team,
and he's over in the UK as the ambassador for
(20:10):
the Trump administration. The indications are that what he will
be backed uh really regardless I think of the outcome
of the election, that Woody will be back at the
end of this year. He's the owner of Christopher Johnson
was the acting owner that you know, the placeholder if
you will, while Woody was overseas, and he is the
one who hired Adam Gates. I do not believe that
Christopher Johnson will have an opportunity to determine the fate
(20:32):
of another head coach. So you know, all of those
elements are in play when you're trying to decipher you know,
why Adam Gates is here still and how much longer
uh he will be here, and what he needs to
do to keep his employee alright, and he's one are
the best odds what that we're going to see as
a result for the Jets when they start playing. Adam
(20:53):
Gas and Jamal Adams are both Jets. Adam Gaze is
a Jet and Jamal Adams isn't. Or Jamal Adams is
a Jet and Adam Gaze is what's the most likely
of those seares? Uh? You know, given those three options,
I would say that the most likely scenario would be
that both Adam Gaze and Jamal Adams would be with
the team when the season begins, assuming the saying does
(21:15):
begin in a couple of months, when they go to
Buffalo for their first game against the Bills. Uh. You know, uh,
you know, I think uh you you read part of
the story that I wrote today. Uh. What was particularly
jarring for me, not necessarily surprising, but jarring really over
the past year or so, is getting this information kind
(21:36):
of trickle in from all corners of the organization. Players, uh, coaches,
even front office. Uh. They all say variations of the
exact same thing, which that Adam Gates is not respected
in the building. And anybody who tells you that Adam
Gates is respecting the building is being disingenuous, because that's
not true, that's not accurate, that's not a reflection of
what is happening in that organization. Some people tolerate him
(21:58):
in in the locker room, the quarterbacks uh quote unquote
like him for lack of a better word, because he
does invest most of his time with the quarterbacks, but
by and large, uh you know, the rest of his
team does not respect him, and for good reason. It's
because of his actions, how he comports himself day in
and day out. He is not a leader. I have
written that at nauseum because that is the information that
(22:20):
I've gotten over the past twelve to fifteen months and
over the past week or so. Uh, with this Jamal
Adams situation as the backdrop, I've been in and day
but from people in the organization, all levels of the organization,
basically reinforcing what I've already been told, which is that
(22:41):
you know, Adam Gates is an issue with not only
Jamal Adams, with other players. They don't want to play
for him. I can't be any more blunt about it. Uh.
He has a history of this, as everybody knows in Miami.
You know, you outline the fact that he has not
been successful without Peyton Manning. The most remarkable stat surrounding
Adam Gates is that he has been in the NFL
(23:02):
for seventeen seasons in some capacity. He has been part
of a winning team only four times in those seventeen seasons,
and in three of those four seasons, Peyton Manning was
his head coach. What was the quarterback? So I think
about that I think you said the coach Pat Manning
was associated with the team that he was on, when
(23:24):
Peyton Manny is not associated with the team that Adam
Gates is a part of. Gates has been a part
of one winning team in his NFL life. So you know,
just as a coach, you know, as a football person,
not nothing personal, but as a coach, Adam Gates is
a proven loser. You just summed it up nicely right there.
(23:46):
And he's so we've got Jamal Adams and that's the
one on the front burner. In the back is Lean
Bell just sitting there sipping on a soda pop and waving.
Because that's got to be lat in there too. I
think it's fairly obvious, uh, what that relationship is really about.
Levyan Bell was in the worst imaginable way last year.
(24:07):
It wasn't that long ago, guys. The end of the
two thousand and seventeen season, the Steelers lost in the
playoffs to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Levy on Bell's last game
as a Pittsburgh Steeler, he had over a hundred fifty
total yards and three touchdowns. I know he took a
season off, uh nowhere and tear on his body. But
I know he took a season off. He didn't suddenly
go from that type of running back, arguably the best
(24:29):
all around running back in the NFL, to a running
back who averages three point two yards to carry. And
it is largely an afterthought, which is what happened last year.
That's because largely the people around him, but perhaps most importantly,
how he was used. And this is a head coach
who never wanted him in free agency. Uh Levyan Bell
essentially was forced on Adam Gates by the former general
(24:50):
manager and the acting owner. Those are the two guys
who wanted Bell, and uh Adam Gates frankly is inflexible
enough or open minded enough to understand that he had
a dynamic weapon at his disposal. Instead, he tried to
conform Bell into his own offensive scheme, and it clearly
didn't work. New York Daily News Jets inside of Miniche
(25:11):
made it with us here The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Carmen Live from the Geico Studios. All right, so
many we've heard the stories you just talked about how
the Jets don't want to play for him, Jamal Adams
doesn't want to play for him. Yes, he has been
someone who, as we've seen in postgame press conferences, it's
not it's not going to point the finger at himself,
is gonna point at others. What's it? Give me a story,
(25:32):
Give me something that happened, maybe off the field, that
you could tell without without getting it out, you know,
burning a source. I don't want you to do that.
But give me a story you can tell that's like, wow,
this is this is one of those shining examples why
Jets players don't want to play for games. Uh wow,
it's hard for me to do that without violating some confidences. Ready,
(25:53):
let's get it. But I will put it this way. Look,
he is publicly thrown the offensive line under the bus.
He did that. I'd leave after the first game, so
it didn't take him long to throw the old line
under the bus. I will say this, and you guys
get interpreted anyway you want to look into it anyway
you want. No player on this roster, literally, no player
on this roster has been immune two Uh his criticism. Privately,
(26:19):
he had thrown virtually every meaningful player under the bus
for underperforming, every single one. And you can kind of
rewind his conversation. Uh, you know and and and listen
back to who we talked about earlier. He has criticized
and thrown virtually every player under the bus. Uh, nobody
is immune. Literally no player on this roster has been
(26:41):
immune to him. Uh, you know, kind of you know,
taking a shot at But that's uh, that's a nice
laundry list. Smith. Now we gotta start going through articles.
We gotta go work those secondary sources to find out
some of those great, great stories in the offing there. Uh,
just back to the Jamal Adams situation here. Obviously, the
(27:07):
more he talks, you know, we we've seen rumors of
the forty niners. Obviously he's talking to people randomly, Hey,
you coming to Dallas. Yeah, I'm in, I'm I'm coming.
I'm trying to Uh does he show up in camp
as a Jet or is this just done where he
just waits for for the call to send him somewhere else. Well, look,
(27:27):
if I were a twenty four year old old pro player,
it would be very difficult for me to to not
play football. You know, I can't obviously get into Jamal
adams head. But the one thing that every Jet fan knows, uh,
maybe not every NFL fan, but clearly, people that follow
the Jets on a daily basis, they know that this
guy has an incredible work ethic, he doesn't cut any corners,
(27:49):
and he legitimately loves football. He's not a guy who's
gonna mail it in if you gave him a big
time contract, like for example, Mo Wilkerson. I mean that
guy tanked as soon as he got a big deal.
I'm fairly certain that everyone who follows the Jets realizes, uh,
how much Jamal Adams has dedicated to playing football. So
(28:09):
I would I would say that he would be playing football.
I don't think he would sit out again. I don't
know that definitively. I just I'm going off the last
three years, going off of what I know about him
in terms of what football means to him. This this
is not only a superstar player. Guys, He's a guy
who does not get in trouble. Uh. You know, he's
(28:29):
He's been a good face of the franchise for three years.
And I know that there's you know, there's angst between
uh Jamal Adams and some of the fan base. They
don't necessarily like how you know, he has said certain
things publicly on social media. What I can tell you
is based on the information that I have collected over
the last I don't know, almost year. Uh. I would
(28:52):
say that any fan, if they were privy to everything
that has transpired behind the scenes, or most of everything
that's transpired behind the scenes in the last year or so,
I would suggest and tend to think that most fans
would understand where Jamal Adams is coming from. I do
understand where the Jets are coming from you on some level.
(29:13):
But I've had people in the organization try to justify
things that I have been told. Uh, you know about
what has happened over the last six seven months, and
you know, frankly, the justifications or ludicrous. You know, if
the Jets were in the right, I would say, I
think the Jets are in the right, the players in
the wrong. But in this particular instance, uh, knowing what
I know has transpired this offseason, I can tell you
(29:36):
that the Jets are absolutely not in the right all right. Lastly, Minetia,
one thing I would say, because I you know, there
is this part of it, and you know this goes
back really you know, like forty years, is that any
time the Jets give big money to somebody, it never
works out. I mean, and you you're you're staring, you know,
you go back to extending Mark Sanchez when they didn't
have to the money they gave Tom Wilkerson who just quit,
(29:57):
and now you're after he got paid, and now you're
coming off the big investment in Truemain Johnson and they
had to move on from him. If they hadn't gotten
burned so much, you know, just taken away from Gaze
for a moment, and they hadn't been getting burned so
much in the pat like I said, the past forty years,
and then they getting burned so much. What would it
be easier to give Jamal Adams the money and say, Okay,
this is gonna work. Yes, you're the guy we give
(30:18):
the money to, because you do give it to a
guy like Jamal Adams. But seeing the track record, boy,
everybody we've given money to, nobody has worked out, and
we're trying to figure out the end of contracts. I
don't think that that should really impact your decision makingdom
because every case is different. Obviously, the decision makers are different.
Ownership by and large, it's the same over the last
(30:39):
twenty years or so. But for the most part, you know,
these guys who were making the decisions, the head coach,
the general manager. You know, there's turnover there. Uh, you know,
you can't be gunshy about that kind of kind of stuff.
If you believe a guy is worth the investment, you
pay him regardless of past failures, because past failures don't
necessarily indicate that you're gonna fail uh and make a
(31:00):
bad deal with the current guy. So I don't know
if that should factor into the equation. What I do
know is that there needs to be an open and
clear line of communication when you have moneyed communication that
ultimately leads to fracture communication and then uh you get
you know, chaos, which you know, on some levels what
we have right now as an organization. You have to
(31:22):
have an open, clear dialogue with your player, especially if
this is the best player on your roster. Jamal Adams
is far and away the best player on this roster,
and to not have a clear dialogue and an open dialogue,
to me is confounding. It's really strange to me, you know.
And I don't want to lampoon the Jets gratuitously. However,
(31:44):
I cannot wrap my brain around the notion that you
would not have a fleef, A free flowing dialogue with
your best player who's looking for a new deal. You
can follow on Twitter at m mada n y d
N m m e h t A n y d
N Miniche Mada, longtime Jet S insider. Check out his
latest at the New York Daily News on what's going on.
Players including Jamal Adams, do not want to play for
(32:07):
Adam Gates. Minisha has always thanks for staying up late
for us. My friend, appreciate it. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks, guys,
I appreciate you. Thanks. Man, be good. Wow that was
how do you really feel? Man? That's a that's that's
like he was Fireball from Running Man. And but look,
(32:29):
you know, look, Miniche made. Look, these are people I've
talked to for the last year plus, and we've known
that people don't like in players don't like Adam Gaze
privately public stuff. We see that that the average fan
can see and go, boy, Adam Gate, what's he doing
throwing the members of the team under the bus? Uh
not uh not taking it responsibility for bad uh plays
and bad decisions he's made. Not being successful offensive coach
(32:51):
because his offenses finished in the bottom of the of
the league all the time, and the players don't like him.
I again, none of this really has been uh disputed
from anywhere, and and it's just one of those cases
where I I don't know how long it's gonna be
until the Jets just decide, but I feel like I'm
just waiting it out. It's an inevitability that Adam Gates
is gonna get fired and we would have to go
(33:13):
through this year and then it's gonna be another head coach,
Jim Harbaugh, and then who knows who's next, Who's gonna
come in and you know, take over the team. Pete Carroll,
You have no idea who's gonna want to do it.
He can get into another run as a Jets coach,
you know. But listen, because they're gonna need Urban Meyers.
Somebody's gonna come in from somewhere and take over. And
really Nick Saban be able to to try to coach
(33:36):
Sam Darnald and get him to the next level. Kyle Shanahan,
one of these guys is gonna do it. So I
just feel like I'm waiting until that Sty Shannon to
hand me with the wishing and helping of the rest
of the games, alright, they're over. They want a challenge.
Kyle Shanahan, Wow, big stuff on the biggest NFL story
(33:59):
of the past few days. Without a doubt, Miniche made it.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific. Let's talk because we talked about last night
a little bit when the decision came in. Many teams
will have a chance to win it all this year
where they normally wouldn't because they can uniquely take advantage
(34:20):
of what a sixty games schedule has to has to offer,
and there's different teams that can do it in different ways.
That's what we're gonna what I'm gonna lay out for you,
because look, there's some teams that in a hundred and
sixty two games would have no shot of overtaking anybody
in winning the division and getting to the playoffs, right,
But when you talk about sixty games, there are definite
(34:41):
things that are right in the wheelhouse of a lot
of teams that you wouldn't expect to be contending. But
could you see him catch lightning in a bottle for
sixty games? And then you stay hot in the playoffs
and do it absolutely and there's different reasons for it.
But this short season, obviously, teams like the Dodgers and
the Yankees are gonna be the favorites to win the
World Series, and they should be because on paper they're
(35:03):
the most talented teams. But there are a couple of
teams out there there. I got at least four teams
that I could say, boy, if they won the World Series,
I can see it happening, and I wouldn't be surprised
at it. I like it. You've you've colored me intrigued.
All right, So let's let's go with a couple of
teams here, and again we're gonna go over four for
the night. All right. The first team I can tell
(35:25):
you about is I know this is gonna surprise you,
but this is a team that's on the way up already,
and they haven't been on the way up for a
long time, but now they're on the way up, and
they have prospects who are who are showing up and
they're starting to show they're pretty good. It would not
surprise me getting hot the San Diego Padres. Think about
(35:46):
this for a second, because the Padres have something uniquely
that could they could take advantage of this sixty game schedule. Right,
they look, we we know the prospects they have on
on the way up. Right, They're gonna rely on Machado.
They're gonna lie in uh Tatis who came up and
was fantastic. They have other big building blocks. They added
Zach Davies and Drew Palmeran's in the off season. But
(36:06):
here's the thing about the Padres. Right, Chris Paddock looks
like he's going to be a star. Right. He had
a really good year last year and he loves to
get into it on social media too, with a lot
of people. You have some other young pictures that are
coming up, like Mackenzie Gore, who was projected to be
a high end uh starting pitcher. Just Moon throws a
hundred miles an hour. You're talking about relying on young
pitching now over the course of a hundred and sixty
(36:28):
two games. Does that work out? No, because all young
pitching hits the wall at some point. Pictures are only
gonna throw a certain number of innings and and before
you have to either power them down or before they
lose their effectiveness. Because I gotta build up to be
able to to be a starting pitcher in Major League
Baseball from April through the end of September. But sixty games,
you're talking about these guys making ten or eleven starts
(36:50):
before you hit the playoffs. We have seen guys stay
hot that have shown up. Hey through ten or eleven games.
Look at that, they're eighting two. They're having a phenomenal season.
Then if we get to the middle of the season,
the end of the season, they kind of fall back
to the pack a bit because baseball either catches up
with them or they hit the wall a bit because
you know, they they're just not throwing as hard, or
they're not throwing as well because mentally and physically they're tired.
(37:12):
But can I see these you know, the Padres young
arms come up and over the course of the first
few weeks, could they win thirty five games and make
the playoffs? And suddenly, hey, all this young pitching, all
this full of adrenaline. Guys that that that don't know
any better. Can I see the Padres making a run there? Yeah?
Are you talking about surprise teams now that are outside
(37:33):
that I can see the Padres of us be a
surprise team making a running winning the World Series. I
like the way you think, I like the cut of
your jib, and Dodger fans right now are just waving
you off. Going that guy's insane. Let's he talking about.
How about I go to the American League and give
you one. Okay, you can't say the White Sox though
(37:53):
your White Sox are actually uh not bad. Like your
odds are just like a couple below the Mats. You're
like to one that they're thirty to one right now
side the Phillies and the Indians. Phillies are interesting, they're
they're at thirty to one, but uh, certainly gonna be
well off the radar because everybody's just assuming, uh, your
your normal heavyweight to run away with that division and
(38:15):
hide when you got the Nationals and and and certainly
um the Braves. You know it's not not not easy
pickings at all, but certainly and your mets uh I
have to be gradually throw them in. I'm gonna go
look at the Texas Rangers because they have three veterans
(38:36):
at the start of their rotation. When you look at
uh coming in with Lynn Minor and Cluber, you got
guys that that can all eat innings. Right, So the
potential is of having a too to work through the
the early part of a sixty game stretch, and those
(38:56):
arms will still be fresh and their battle tested when
you get down to it for the playoffs as well. Right,
you're not gonna have guys that are suddenly wide eyed
and it takes on some other meeting and maybe this
is just the weird year that even for the kids,
it doesn't happen. Yeah, Frostberg just posted to Twitter we're
laughing with a picture of Ron Burgundy responding to years. Look, look, look,
(39:19):
I understand that. Look I understand that nobody really thinks
of the Padres or knows they're good young players that
are coming. This is what they've done for the past
five years. They've done the seventy sixers. They have built
up a lot of good young players, and here they are.
They're on the way up. And in a normal season,
maybe the Padres are a team, you know, but we're
(39:40):
talking about sixty games and you're talking about getting out
of the gate fast and matching at the young pictures,
not having to throw a lot, and being able to
go all out for the entire season into the playoffs. Yeah, surprise, teams.
Now surprise teams. Look sleep on the padres at your own,
at your own risk. I got you, and that's why
I went at so crazy Town with my hundred and
(40:01):
one shoot of the Texas Rangers, looking at the three
veteran starters at the front of your rotation. Once we
get to the playoffs, you know in theory, that's that's
what you need, right is is just guys that can
eat some innings for you. Uh, make it interesting and
give your lineup that is so replete with power all
the way through. Santana is going to be your everyday
(40:23):
center fielder. He's got popped. The Todd Father is still
getting some at bats. Oh door can can launch gallo,
et cetera. Go through their entire lineup. I mean they're
gonna put up runs and now it's just may and
make them count. And Texas said, think could surprise because
I in Houston's far and away favorite for the division.
(40:43):
And then we've talked a lot about why not us
when it comes to the the the Angels and into
the Mariners, which will get into as the show goes on.
And Oakland, just like Tampa Bay, they win games. You're
always left wondering how did they do it? You've never
heard of these guys. But again, a young rotation will
keep them in it. But I say, for Texas, seventy
(41:05):
eight wins kind of surprising, uh, last year, giving all
the considerations coming in. So we'll throw that on the board. Here,
look at you throwing the Texas Rangers out. They're awesome.
Not the Jason Spends Show with Mike Carmen Live from
the Geico Studios. I'm gonna give you another team, uh,
(41:25):
that can win it all for another different reason, being
able to take advantage of the shortened season, and this
one is more about hitting than pitching. But you know,
we mentioned them really briefly last night because we talked
about you know, if if you're any bottom feeder team,
you have to be able to go into the season
and say, hey, why not us this year? Right? It's
only sixty games. Right, it's not hard to sixty games.
It's sixty games? Why not us? Watch out for the
(41:48):
Angels A right, Joe Madden taking over? Right? They paid
all that money for Anthony ren Don Their lineup is deep.
I mean they they are gonna hit the baseball and
Otani at some point's gonna come back and pitch. They
have a lot of pitching questions, and I understand that,
but in a sixty games season, not a hundred and
sixty two games, they can hit their way by teams
(42:10):
over that amount of time. Now, they don't need their
pitching to be great. They just needed to be okay.
And look, they don't have good pitch. I'm gonna tell
you they don't. But Mickey Callaway as bad a manager
as he was with the New York Mets, and he
was terrible, just completely out of his death. As a
pitching coach, he's been fantastic. He was great with the Indians,
he was great with the Mets starters. Zach Wheeler is
(42:30):
making all kinds of millions of dollars with the Philadelphia
Phillies now because of Mickey Mickey Callaway. Stephen Mats is
now staying healthy and and part of the Mets future
because of Mickey Callaway. Jacob Degram won the Cy Young
again last year. Well, I mean that was just but
you've seen what what he can do and the effect
he can have on a pitching staff, And all you
do is get these guys to pitch. Okay, I'm not saying,
(42:52):
Mickey callawy's gonna show up and suddenly, hey, guys, yeah,
we we go one through three with anybody else in
Major League Baseball. But you can make the slight improvements
in a division that isn't as strong top to bottom
as you think it is, and they mash and you
can mash over sixty games. Watch out. I mean, the
Angels could be that team with a new leadership they got,
(43:14):
they got a new lease on life in Major League
Baseball and suddenly, bang, here go the Angels and win
the World Series. I like the way you're thinking. And
Albert Polhost won't fall apart sixty games Mike Trout meaningful
at bats because there's only sixty games. Uh, that would
be the most meaningful at bats he's had in a
while outside of opening games. That scam. Right, we're winning
(43:36):
a truck in the All Star Game. I mean, I
mean it because this is a team that forever has
had the mashers to be able to win games nine
eight all the time. But the problem is you can't
do that all the time. You know, you have to
be able to have some nights where right, we don't
we don't need to have the offense, go out and
(43:57):
score seven runs to win. And look, I said, it's
about the shortened season and about what you can do
over sixty games in the playoffs and stay out. Now,
once you get to the playoffs, you need some kind
of pitching because there's always less hitting in the playoffs
and there is in the regular season. But this line
up the way it is, he had a big bounce
back season from Mandelson Simmons. You got a lot of
mashes in this lineup, and now you're adding Anthony Rendn't,
(44:19):
oh my goodness, and Joe Madden. Certainly. You know, if
you're gonna listen to anybody, suddenly here comes Joe Madne.
It's okay, guys, this is how we're gonna do things,
all right, got it, got it, got it, got it,
got it. I mean that the Angels are a team
that people can really sleep on. But like I said,
it's that short schedule that you gotta take advantage of.
He'll be crazy, but it's fresh and new to them
as he lives out of his RV waiting for the
(44:40):
season to start. It's like, you're like my uncle used
to say that to me all the time whenever he
would give me something. I would go, I would go, hey,
what is is like? He said, hey, I got a
T shirt for you. Oh great, And I would get
it and I would go like, I feel like he's
worn it, Washington, give it to me. I go, oh,
is this new? He goes, it's new to you. What
do you care? I'm like, no, you're right. Thanks, I
appreciate the T shirt. Jim, thanks, and I got it.
It was the old line for reruns in the spring
(45:02):
on NBC
Thanks for listening to the best of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmen podcast. Be sure to catch us
live every weeknight from ten pm to two a m.
Eastern seven to eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio.
Find your local station for The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harmon at Fox Sports Radio dot Com, or stream
us live every night on the I Heart Radio app
by searching fs R. This is the best of The
(00:22):
Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.
Greetings and welcome inside The Jason Smith Show with my
big friend Mike Harmon. We are live from the Geico
Studios as fireworks go off across America and everybody turns
(00:46):
into Mike Harmon, old man, get off my law and
I'll tell you what, Mike. I didn't think about it
to the last couple of days, but this big push
this year more than any other with fireworks going off.
You know, this is what happens the month before we
get a fourth of July. Really from Mother's Day till
the fourth of July, we we get fireworks going off
during the day. People lighting off fireworks. Everybody hates it
(01:06):
hates today it goes off during the day what is
going on? Why are people sending off fireworks? I saw
stories on CNN, Huffington Post, all over the place about
people are really fed up with fireworks now, and I'm like, yeah,
this is that just that kind of year because this
happens every year, but you know, so I got to
see it live and in person today when people on
(01:27):
our block are calling me and Pam saying, hey, what
can we do about making sure people don't light off fireworks?
I mean, this is where we're at right now. We're
a tough time, Mike Harmon. It's a lot of people
just burning their money. It's really when it comes down
to there. I used to do a nice retrieval system
when neighbors would do bottle rockets and stuff up real
(01:47):
early the morning of the fifth, and I think that
blue on my lawn. I'd bring him my back all
the remnants. Okay, all right, that's nice a trash can
and here's all your crack. Sure. So yeah, Like, I
don't don't quite understand the obsession with it. I think
at one point my dad bought like a four dollar
(02:08):
thing and just said, all right, here, it is also
a city cop. So he wasn't going to encourage any
you know, stupidity. Sure, follow the letter of the rules there,
uh at the law. Uh so, yeah, at one point
it was one of those little things that kind of
spun in a circle and burned out against there it is.
That's it. Uh watch the rest of the people burn
up their money. I feel like it's just, you know,
(02:31):
look this year because obviously everybody is on edge and
and everybody is piste off about stuff and and everything
going on. But every year fireworks go off, but this
year it's no. I don't like the fireworks now. I
don't like them when they go off during the day.
I don't like when I hear a couple of bottle
rockets go off at one PM. I don't like it.
I don't want to hear an m A D at
four forty five, just when I'm gonna make dinner. I
don't want to know. Nobody wants to hear the M
(02:52):
A D. Because you're also at a heightened awareness that
there's other crap going on, So don't don't add that
to the mix. Right, everybody's on a bit of edge.
It is. It's tough, it's tight. I mean, look, isn't
that kind of the summary statement off of what we
discussed in NASCAR the last two nights. Everybody's on edge,
so it went to a code red and then you
(03:14):
can decide, I mean instill. You know, Bubble Wallace today
puts out his statement of the support of NASCAR and everything,
but last night was still fiery rhetorics. So you know, likewise,
the fireworks may may if folks are a little bit
on edge, that that's probably not helping. No, no, it's not.
It's definitely one of those things where you can say,
(03:35):
all right, all right, I get it, but really it's
just fireworks going off. Let's everybody just calm down a
little bit here. Let's let's just figure everything out that
it's just I mean, think about the cost adding up that.
Where did you go find fireworks during the pandemic? Was
this all just sitting stored away? Hey, box work next summer?
But he got there fireworks? Where is it stored down
(03:57):
by the furnace? Why? I mean, you know, so you
have that part of the element, because I don't think
you have the roadside stands all set up like you
would most may in June months of years past, so
you know people were fully prepared. Uh So while we
are all, you know, figuring out what to do with
(04:17):
fireworks and and the love hate relationships we have with them.
Today is one of the maybe because of the way
we're starting the show, you can feel today is that
kind of day. We are now in a really weird
position as it comes to sports returning when the NBA
comes back, when Major League Baseball comes back. Because we
have the agreements, major League Baseball is signed, seal delivered.
(04:40):
They're gonna try to report to training camp a week
from today. The NBA is making their plans. Team were
all teams are already fearing out how to get to
Orlando for the Bubble season. They're going to have their
and yet every day we get more reports of positive
coronavirus tests involving athletes. Today, Malcolm broad In, Jabari Parker
(05:01):
Buddy healed. Last night it was Charlie Blackman in Major
League Baseball to go along with members of the Philadelphia
Phillies who've had members test positive for COVID nineteen. Many
GMS have said today in the NBA they are nervous
about the bubble plan because we're still seeing athletes get
uh COVID nineteen and luckily they're recuperating. They are you know,
(05:23):
they're they're taking care of themselves and being you know,
we're sick for a little while and moving on. So
you know they're fortunate that way. But now it's gone
from Okay, how a sports gonna return? Now we're here
and now it's what are we gonna do with the coronavirus?
And what are we gonna do with it? And I
understand the weird time we're in because it's like we
want to fast forward and get there and see how
(05:45):
it goes and hopefully something incredibly positive happen, is something
big happens. But to take you through the nervous time,
I I think, what will What I would tell people
nervous about the NBA or whether it's a player, whether
it's a team, whether it's a GM, even Major League
Baseball too, I I would tell them all the same thing.
(06:07):
I would say, Listen, I said, don't think of it
as this huge, daunting task that you have to get through.
Right Like last night, we've talked about, hey, you get
what you get. You don't get upset if sports comes
back and they play for a little bit and it
goes away. We just celebrate the sports being here because eventually, look,
that could happen, right, we could see a sport resume
and not play, and or resume and not be able
(06:28):
to play, and then we move on, move on to
the next sport, and eventually all sports are gonna come
back as we figure out a way, as we continue
to deal with COVID nineteen. You know. So if you
think about that perspective, that would help now for the
for the nervous time, because now it's rubber hitting the
road for both sports. All right, the agreements are here.
You gotta decide if you want to play, if you're
gonna play. I know people are only playing, and they're
(06:49):
only doing it because a for the money, you know,
and be because boy, what's gonna happen if I don't play?
What's it gonna be? What are my teammates gonna think
about me? No one is going to this restart all
full of sunshine, lollipops and rainbows, going, this is gonna
be the greatest thing in the world. Now, everybody is nervous.
And when you think about something being you know, three
(07:10):
months long and NBA, g M S and and and
teams and players going, my good am, I gonna be
able to stay safe for three months? What is it?
Don't think of it as something that's that long. Don't
think that we're gonna play the season. Don't think we're
gonna play the Just think we're going to try to play.
We're gonna try to play and see if we can,
and we're gonna know before any games are played if
(07:33):
we can play this season in the NBA and Major
League Baseball. Just that we're gonna go. We're gonna try
because you have to try, right, We got to try
and see and and and see how things go because
we have players. What we've seen from the athletes getting coronavirus,
the the health, the great health they're in. It's there
sick for when it's the vast majority of people as well.
But they're sick for a while, they recoup, right, Okay,
(07:54):
So we have to try. But think of it as
trying because if something happens and we can't do it,
we're gonna know before we play a game that the
NBA and Major League Baseball is gonna say, you know what,
we tried. We can't do it. All right, Everybody go
home and and we'll figure things out later on. But
obviously this season can happen. Just think about it that way.
If you think about, hey, where gonna go and try
(08:16):
and if we try it, okay, great, it's it's it's
it's almost the same philosophy of trying to get you know,
one of your friends, or trying to convince your uh,
you know, your wife to go on a roller coaster ride,
or convince one of your kids to try a new sport. Hey,
just try it. Hey, just try this for dinner. Okay,
try this pasta. If you don't like it, then we'll
try something. But just try it. Just try. If you
just think about that we're gonna try to play the season,
(08:38):
it becomes less daunting. It becomes let's go day to
day and see how it goes. Because when you think
about it being a three month task, it gets to
be way too much and it gets mentally overwhelming and
you're thinking, how can we do this? But we're gonna
go try and when when Major League Baseball reports next Wednesday,
they'll know within a week and a half if they'll
be able to play games. NBA same thing, they'll report,
(08:58):
they'll know within a week and a half can we
play games? Are we getting positive coronavirus tests. How are
we doing? So if you think about it that way,
that's that's going to be much better mentally for players
and and teams to approach these coming seasons. Well, it's
like anything whenever you talk about a sport, right, what
what we we talked to NFL coaches and what is it?
(09:19):
We go by the quarters, Right, We're gonna look at
the first four games and then we evaluate, and then
we go to the second quarter and move forward likewise.
You know, baseball is in a dead sprint. Basketball is
an eight game ramp up. Probably not a lot of
juggling in terms of playoff seating, but we finish it off,
we get a little bit of the slim down zion
(09:39):
or whatever it is. We're being sold that he is UH,
and people get excited. So, you know, take it one
homestead at homestand at a time, take it one block
of games, one calendar week, whatever it is, UH, knowing
that they're putting in whatever protocols they can that the
union agrees to, obviously consulting medical professionals as best they
(10:04):
can in each municipality to make sure everybody's on board.
All right, you're coming from state x, what do they
say here? And let's let's figure this all out. And
then you roll knowing you're gonna have positive tests, knowing
there's going to be the alarmism, right because we see
even the couple of the positive tests announced today and
(10:25):
all of a sudden, everybody's got their megaphones out, going,
how are we gonna play? It's like you're gonna play,
just like everybody else is trying to go back to work,
just like those folks go to Walmart, Target, the grocery
store every day. You figure it out and you apply
best practices, and you move forward, and you get momentum.
And you've got baseball teams already talking about fans in
(10:47):
the stand, including my White Sox. We'll see if light foot,
let's that happen. But if you're gonna let people back
into zoos and aquariums, you better damn well let them
back in the stadiums, is all I'm gonna say that
to that. If you can go watch mere cats pop
their heads up, I can watch a guy pop out
to short. So we go through this, uh going to Orlando. Yeah,
(11:08):
it's a unique experiment, a unique time. You know what,
Get the cameras out and let's document it at all.
Look Jason Smith Show with Mike Carmen Live from the
Geico Studios. We're gonna get to camps, right, We're gonna
figure things out. And I can see the NBA and
all the players getting there, and I can see a
scenario where the NBA and Major League Baseball says, Okay,
now we have control of the players right now, we
(11:30):
can make sure they're living in the quarantine. We trust
them too, because look what's going on is players aren't
hearing to quarantine. Look, buddy, healed positive coronavirus test. I
read today that last week he played in a Skins
League game in Oklahoma, scored forty five points. So the
guys playing basketballs filling it up amongst yeah, amongst when
when he shouldn't have been playing in a gym with
(11:50):
a bunch of people, and here he is getting positive
corona coronavirus test. So you're going is gonna play right?
This is this is what teams have to fight against,
is that the players aren't doing what they should be doing.
A lot of people aren't doing it. We decided we
just we're done with coronavirus. And that's just stupid. But
now they feel like, Okay, now we're gonna have the players.
Now we have control over them, so now we can
(12:12):
make sure we they they don't do anything that's going
to expose them to the coronavirus. So I can see
that being a great scenario that hey, wait a minute,
you know what, this whole thing is working. Now everybody
is around the team, and and and they're around each other.
It works. The old Bill parcels theory that the worst
part for him for a football team was the time
when they weren't playing, because you leave guys to their
own devices, and sometimes bad decisions get made. But when
(12:35):
you're around the team every day and you have that
sense of together to some responsibility, you're going to do
what you can for uh your team, and you'll be
a good teammate. He said, I never had to worry
about my team while we were together. So I can
see that part of it for the NBA and Major
League Baseball that you know what, we're together now, it's
gonna work. It's gonna work, and we have control and
make sure that. You know, maybe a night where you
(12:55):
wanted to go out and do X, Y or Z,
now you can't do it, so you're staying safe and
you're staying home. But I can also see us going
to the bubble and practicing for a few days, and
they're being a bunch of coronavirus tests that that are
that are dotted across the landscape, and the NBA says,
you know what, we gotta pull up stakes and leave.
And suddenly the bubble idea never even gets off the
(13:16):
ground and everybody is going back and we're trying to
figure out a way forward from here because it just
didn't work. So I can see those things happening. But
that's why, since no one knows, just think we're gonna
try to play. And if we try to do it, okay, great,
and if it doesn't, we're gonna know way ahead of
time that we can't do it. Mentally that will do
a lot for everybody involved. Take those next steps ahead,
(13:39):
best practices, and treat these folks to like adults, but
talk to them like their five year olds. And here's
the diagram of how how this really screws us up
and takes money out of your pockets. Put it all
down in dollars and cents, uh, and it'll start making
more sense. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern,
(14:02):
seven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I
Heart Radio app. My goodness, did we get a big
NFL story crop up and just say hello, I'm here?
Everybody kind of like you know, harm in the middle
of the night after going on a bender suddenly just
shows up in your room with it's just as under
our arm going hey, I'm here. Yeah, he gave my
(14:25):
clothing too much credit. Yeah, let's get it. Uh. That
was the story that hit us today by Miniche made
a New York Daily News Jets insider Who's gonna join us?
Coming up in a couple of minutes. Why suddenly is
Jamal Adams want to be traded? Why suddenly after he
has talked about wanting out for a while, but I'll
(14:46):
still stay with the Jets. Why suddenly in the past
week is he pushing to go to Dallas? Has he
officially requested a trade? Miniche Mada reports that the fissure
between the Jets and Jamal Adams cracked open because of
the bad relationship he has with head coach Adam Gaze.
Here's some of the facts that or here's some of
(15:08):
the the story that Miniche Maida has on Adam Gaze.
Major factor why he's uncomfortable with the team. The team
does not respect Adam Gaze. He has lost the respect
of the locker room. He has rubbed them the wrong
way with his inability to lead and lack of support.
This is coming right from a niche made his article.
Too many players, including play Too many people, including players, coaches,
(15:31):
and front office members don't trust or believe in Gaze.
They feel he's disingenuous. They feel he is insecure and
will always point a finger at other people. All of
this stuff we have seen over the course of the
past fourteen months. Last week he fired a long time
team trainer, John Melody, which was really, you're firing this
guy because he was so well liked in the organization.
(15:53):
And the only reason that he is around is because
Sam Donald and David Fails the first and seconds ring
quarterback right now, because Joe Flacco, still coming back from injury,
are the only ones who really tolerate him. And this
is where the relationship is. Nobody likes Adam Gaze. He's
alienated the players, and the only reason he's around is
(16:13):
because Sam Donald quote tolerates him. I don't doubt any
of this because look, look what if I told you,
Mike from the beginning with Adam Gaze, he didn't learn
his lessons from Miami. He alienated players in Miami. He's
alienated players here in New York. He's alienated Levian Bell,
He's now alienated Jamal Adams. The only reason he is
still the coach is because if you fired him suddenly,
(16:36):
this would be the third head coach and the third
offensive system that Sam Donald would have in three years.
And you are never going to be a good quarterback.
If that's the case, I guarantee you that's the only
reason he has a job is because Donald hasn't said, hey,
let's get rid of the guy, and and they thought
the best thing for his growth is let's keep him
in this system. But really, I mean, you know me,
(16:58):
my my whole big thing is I say, I don't
get certain actors or actresses appeal. Why people think they're
such a good Why this guy is not really a
good actor, She's not really a good actress. I can't
believe the jobs that they get in Hollywood. I feel
the same way about Adam Gaze. Adam Gaze failed with Miami.
The players hated him. He didn't learn any lessons because
he jumped right from head coach of the Dolphins to
(17:18):
the head coach of the Jets. His offenses stink. They
finish in the bottom the bottom quarter of the NFL
every single year. I don't get the affinity for him.
Did Peyton Manning really did? Did he screw the Jets
for a second time in twenty years? He wouldn't get
us to the draft in nineties seven, and he recommends
Adam Gaze a year and a half ago that hey,
you gotta hire Adam Gaze. So okay, we're gonna hire
(17:39):
Adam Gaze. I I don't get the draw of why
the Jets had to have Adam Gaze. You're damn right
he did. And he let's let's bring on many to
explain exactly how miserable this situation is. Maniche Maida joins
us now on the hot line New York del and
he was insider, you know, man, we're gonna have a
conversation right now, and we're both gonna say to each other,
(17:59):
oh yeah, yeah, that's it. No, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,
how's it going. I'm doing well. How are you guys?
Oh man, I'll tell you what. I reading your article
today and seeing this story just blow up this afternoon
and there everything in there. I said, Yeah, I don't
understand that the affinity for for Adam Gates. I don't
understand how the Jets loved him. I don't understand how
(18:21):
they still think he's good because his offenses are terrible.
He's alienated players. And I keep coming back to the
same thing. And you alluded to this in in your
in your column. If it wasn't for the fact that
Donald would have his third head coach and third offensive
system in three years, Adam gatee would be gone. And
I feel like I'm just waiting for that to happen,
which is at some point it's gonna happen. I'm just
gonna wait until the day it happens. Well, I can
(18:42):
assure you that if Sam Donald ever did go to
ownership and say that I can't evolve and grow with
Adam Gaze, and Adam Gaze would be in all leglhood
fired tomorrow. However, that's not practical because that's not in
Sam donald makeup. It's not part of his d N
a and I genuinely do think that Donald hopes that
(19:04):
this marriage with Adam Gates works, and that just kind
of how Donald is, you know, is made up and
he's you know, he kind of looks for the best
and everybody. He's also an extremely young player. Uh not
not everybody is twenty three years old in that locker room.
There's people, uh, on both sides of the ball who
have more experience. Uh you know, they have been around
the league kind of understand the business aspect of it
(19:27):
more than than Donald does. But look, I think part
of the reason that Gays is still here is because
of what you just said. You know, having three different
coordinators in the first three years of your young quarterbacks
career is a recipe for the disaster. There's also a
real financial element to this, and that should not be discounted.
(19:48):
The Jets ownership does not want to be on the
hook after firing a coach after one year because coaching
contracts are guaranteed, so uh, you know, that's another element.
And then perhaps the most important meant is that the
person making the decision on Adam Gaze's ultimate faith will
be Woody Johnson, who is the actual owner of the team,
and he's over in the UK as the ambassador for
(20:10):
the Trump administration. The indications are that what he will
be backed uh really regardless I think of the outcome
of the election, that Woody will be back at the
end of this year. He's the owner of Christopher Johnson
was the acting owner that you know, the placeholder if
you will, while Woody was overseas, and he is the
one who hired Adam Gates. I do not believe that
Christopher Johnson will have an opportunity to determine the fate
(20:32):
of another head coach. So you know, all of those
elements are in play when you're trying to decipher you know,
why Adam Gates is here still and how much longer
uh he will be here, and what he needs to
do to keep his employee alright, and he's one are
the best odds what that we're going to see as
a result for the Jets when they start playing. Adam
(20:53):
Gas and Jamal Adams are both Jets. Adam Gaze is
a Jet and Jamal Adams isn't. Or Jamal Adams is
a Jet and Adam Gaze is what's the most likely
of those seares? Uh? You know, given those three options,
I would say that the most likely scenario would be
that both Adam Gaze and Jamal Adams would be with
the team when the season begins, assuming the saying does
(21:15):
begin in a couple of months, when they go to
Buffalo for their first game against the Bills. Uh. You know, uh,
you know, I think uh you you read part of
the story that I wrote today. Uh. What was particularly
jarring for me, not necessarily surprising, but jarring really over
the past year or so, is getting this information kind
(21:36):
of trickle in from all corners of the organization. Players, uh, coaches,
even front office. Uh. They all say variations of the
exact same thing, which that Adam Gates is not respected
in the building. And anybody who tells you that Adam
Gates is respecting the building is being disingenuous, because that's
not true, that's not accurate, that's not a reflection of
what is happening in that organization. Some people tolerate him
(21:58):
in in the locker room, the quarterbacks uh quote unquote
like him for lack of a better word, because he
does invest most of his time with the quarterbacks, but
by and large, uh you know, the rest of his
team does not respect him, and for good reason. It's
because of his actions, how he comports himself day in
and day out. He is not a leader. I have
written that at nauseum because that is the information that
(22:20):
I've gotten over the past twelve to fifteen months and
over the past week or so. Uh, with this Jamal
Adams situation as the backdrop, I've been in and day
but from people in the organization, all levels of the organization,
basically reinforcing what I've already been told, which is that
(22:41):
you know, Adam Gates is an issue with not only
Jamal Adams, with other players. They don't want to play
for him. I can't be any more blunt about it. Uh.
He has a history of this, as everybody knows in Miami.
You know, you outline the fact that he has not
been successful without Peyton Manning. The most remarkable stat surrounding
Adam Gates is that he has been in the NFL
(23:02):
for seventeen seasons in some capacity. He has been part
of a winning team only four times in those seventeen seasons,
and in three of those four seasons, Peyton Manning was
his head coach. What was the quarterback? So I think
about that I think you said the coach Pat Manning
was associated with the team that he was on, when
(23:24):
Peyton Manny is not associated with the team that Adam
Gates is a part of. Gates has been a part
of one winning team in his NFL life. So you know,
just as a coach, you know, as a football person,
not nothing personal, but as a coach, Adam Gates is
a proven loser. You just summed it up nicely right there.
(23:46):
And he's so we've got Jamal Adams and that's the
one on the front burner. In the back is Lean
Bell just sitting there sipping on a soda pop and waving.
Because that's got to be lat in there too. I
think it's fairly obvious, uh, what that relationship is really about.
Levyan Bell was in the worst imaginable way last year.
(24:07):
It wasn't that long ago, guys. The end of the
two thousand and seventeen season, the Steelers lost in the
playoffs to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Levy on Bell's last game
as a Pittsburgh Steeler, he had over a hundred fifty
total yards and three touchdowns. I know he took a
season off, uh nowhere and tear on his body. But
I know he took a season off. He didn't suddenly
go from that type of running back, arguably the best
(24:29):
all around running back in the NFL, to a running
back who averages three point two yards to carry. And
it is largely an afterthought, which is what happened last year.
That's because largely the people around him, but perhaps most importantly,
how he was used. And this is a head coach
who never wanted him in free agency. Uh Levyan Bell
essentially was forced on Adam Gates by the former general
(24:50):
manager and the acting owner. Those are the two guys
who wanted Bell, and uh Adam Gates frankly is inflexible
enough or open minded enough to understand that he had
a dynamic weapon at his disposal. Instead, he tried to
conform Bell into his own offensive scheme, and it clearly
didn't work. New York Daily News Jets inside of Miniche
(25:11):
made it with us here The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Carmen Live from the Geico Studios. All right, so
many we've heard the stories you just talked about how
the Jets don't want to play for him, Jamal Adams
doesn't want to play for him. Yes, he has been
someone who, as we've seen in postgame press conferences, it's
not it's not going to point the finger at himself,
is gonna point at others. What's it? Give me a story,
(25:32):
Give me something that happened, maybe off the field, that
you could tell without without getting it out, you know,
burning a source. I don't want you to do that.
But give me a story you can tell that's like, wow,
this is this is one of those shining examples why
Jets players don't want to play for games. Uh wow,
it's hard for me to do that without violating some confidences. Ready,
(25:53):
let's get it. But I will put it this way. Look,
he is publicly thrown the offensive line under the bus.
He did that. I'd leave after the first game, so
it didn't take him long to throw the old line
under the bus. I will say this, and you guys
get interpreted anyway you want to look into it anyway
you want. No player on this roster, literally, no player
on this roster has been immune two Uh his criticism. Privately,
(26:19):
he had thrown virtually every meaningful player under the bus
for underperforming, every single one. And you can kind of
rewind his conversation. Uh, you know and and and listen
back to who we talked about earlier. He has criticized
and thrown virtually every player under the bus. Uh, nobody
is immune. Literally no player on this roster has been
(26:41):
immune to him. Uh, you know, kind of you know,
taking a shot at But that's uh, that's a nice
laundry list. Smith. Now we gotta start going through articles.
We gotta go work those secondary sources to find out
some of those great, great stories in the offing there. Uh,
just back to the Jamal Adams situation here. Obviously, the
(27:07):
more he talks, you know, we we've seen rumors of
the forty niners. Obviously he's talking to people randomly, Hey,
you coming to Dallas. Yeah, I'm in, I'm I'm coming.
I'm trying to Uh does he show up in camp
as a Jet or is this just done where he
just waits for for the call to send him somewhere else. Well, look,
(27:27):
if I were a twenty four year old old pro player,
it would be very difficult for me to to not
play football. You know, I can't obviously get into Jamal
adams head. But the one thing that every Jet fan knows, uh,
maybe not every NFL fan, but clearly, people that follow
the Jets on a daily basis, they know that this
guy has an incredible work ethic, he doesn't cut any corners,
(27:49):
and he legitimately loves football. He's not a guy who's
gonna mail it in if you gave him a big
time contract, like for example, Mo Wilkerson. I mean that
guy tanked as soon as he got a big deal.
I'm fairly certain that everyone who follows the Jets realizes, uh,
how much Jamal Adams has dedicated to playing football. So
(28:09):
I would I would say that he would be playing football.
I don't think he would sit out again. I don't
know that definitively. I just I'm going off the last
three years, going off of what I know about him
in terms of what football means to him. This this
is not only a superstar player. Guys, He's a guy
who does not get in trouble. Uh. You know, he's
(28:29):
He's been a good face of the franchise for three years.
And I know that there's you know, there's angst between
uh Jamal Adams and some of the fan base. They
don't necessarily like how you know, he has said certain
things publicly on social media. What I can tell you
is based on the information that I have collected over
the last I don't know, almost year. Uh. I would
(28:52):
say that any fan, if they were privy to everything
that has transpired behind the scenes, or most of everything
that's transpired behind the scenes in the last year or so,
I would suggest and tend to think that most fans
would understand where Jamal Adams is coming from. I do
understand where the Jets are coming from you on some level.
(29:13):
But I've had people in the organization try to justify
things that I have been told. Uh, you know about
what has happened over the last six seven months, and
you know, frankly, the justifications or ludicrous. You know, if
the Jets were in the right, I would say, I
think the Jets are in the right, the players in
the wrong. But in this particular instance, uh, knowing what
I know has transpired this offseason, I can tell you
(29:36):
that the Jets are absolutely not in the right all right. Lastly, Minetia,
one thing I would say, because I you know, there
is this part of it, and you know this goes
back really you know, like forty years, is that any
time the Jets give big money to somebody, it never
works out. I mean, and you you're you're staring, you know,
you go back to extending Mark Sanchez when they didn't
have to the money they gave Tom Wilkerson who just quit,
(29:57):
and now you're after he got paid, and now you're
coming off the big investment in Truemain Johnson and they
had to move on from him. If they hadn't gotten
burned so much, you know, just taken away from Gaze
for a moment, and they hadn't been getting burned so
much in the pat like I said, the past forty years,
and then they getting burned so much. What would it
be easier to give Jamal Adams the money and say, Okay,
this is gonna work. Yes, you're the guy we give
(30:18):
the money to, because you do give it to a
guy like Jamal Adams. But seeing the track record, boy,
everybody we've given money to, nobody has worked out, and
we're trying to figure out the end of contracts. I
don't think that that should really impact your decision makingdom
because every case is different. Obviously, the decision makers are different.
Ownership by and large, it's the same over the last
(30:39):
twenty years or so. But for the most part, you know,
these guys who were making the decisions, the head coach,
the general manager. You know, there's turnover there. Uh, you know,
you can't be gunshy about that kind of kind of stuff.
If you believe a guy is worth the investment, you
pay him regardless of past failures, because past failures don't
necessarily indicate that you're gonna fail uh and make a
(31:00):
bad deal with the current guy. So I don't know
if that should factor into the equation. What I do
know is that there needs to be an open and
clear line of communication when you have moneyed communication that
ultimately leads to fracture communication and then uh you get
you know, chaos, which you know, on some levels what
we have right now as an organization. You have to
(31:22):
have an open, clear dialogue with your player, especially if
this is the best player on your roster. Jamal Adams
is far and away the best player on this roster,
and to not have a clear dialogue and an open dialogue,
to me is confounding. It's really strange to me, you know.
And I don't want to lampoon the Jets gratuitously. However,
(31:44):
I cannot wrap my brain around the notion that you
would not have a fleef, A free flowing dialogue with
your best player who's looking for a new deal. You
can follow on Twitter at m mada n y d
N m m e h t A n y d
N Miniche Mada, longtime Jet S insider. Check out his
latest at the New York Daily News on what's going on.
Players including Jamal Adams, do not want to play for
(32:07):
Adam Gates. Minisha has always thanks for staying up late
for us. My friend, appreciate it. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks, guys,
I appreciate you. Thanks. Man, be good. Wow that was
how do you really feel? Man? That's a that's that's
like he was Fireball from Running Man. And but look,
(32:29):
you know, look, Miniche made. Look, these are people I've
talked to for the last year plus, and we've known
that people don't like in players don't like Adam Gaze
privately public stuff. We see that that the average fan
can see and go, boy, Adam Gate, what's he doing
throwing the members of the team under the bus? Uh
not uh not taking it responsibility for bad uh plays
and bad decisions he's made. Not being successful offensive coach
(32:51):
because his offenses finished in the bottom of the of
the league all the time, and the players don't like him.
I again, none of this really has been uh disputed
from anywhere, and and it's just one of those cases
where I I don't know how long it's gonna be
until the Jets just decide, but I feel like I'm
just waiting it out. It's an inevitability that Adam Gates
is gonna get fired and we would have to go
(33:13):
through this year and then it's gonna be another head coach,
Jim Harbaugh, and then who knows who's next, Who's gonna
come in and you know, take over the team. Pete Carroll,
You have no idea who's gonna want to do it.
He can get into another run as a Jets coach,
you know. But listen, because they're gonna need Urban Meyers.
Somebody's gonna come in from somewhere and take over. And
really Nick Saban be able to to try to coach
(33:36):
Sam Darnald and get him to the next level. Kyle Shanahan,
one of these guys is gonna do it. So I
just feel like I'm waiting until that Sty Shannon to
hand me with the wishing and helping of the rest
of the games, alright, they're over. They want a challenge.
Kyle Shanahan, Wow, big stuff on the biggest NFL story
(33:59):
of the past few days. Without a doubt, Miniche made it.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific. Let's talk because we talked about last night
a little bit when the decision came in. Many teams
will have a chance to win it all this year
where they normally wouldn't because they can uniquely take advantage
(34:20):
of what a sixty games schedule has to has to offer,
and there's different teams that can do it in different ways.
That's what we're gonna what I'm gonna lay out for you,
because look, there's some teams that in a hundred and
sixty two games would have no shot of overtaking anybody
in winning the division and getting to the playoffs, right,
But when you talk about sixty games, there are definite
(34:41):
things that are right in the wheelhouse of a lot
of teams that you wouldn't expect to be contending. But
could you see him catch lightning in a bottle for
sixty games? And then you stay hot in the playoffs
and do it absolutely and there's different reasons for it.
But this short season, obviously, teams like the Dodgers and
the Yankees are gonna be the favorites to win the
World Series, and they should be because on paper they're
(35:03):
the most talented teams. But there are a couple of
teams out there there. I got at least four teams
that I could say, boy, if they won the World Series,
I can see it happening, and I wouldn't be surprised
at it. I like it. You've you've colored me intrigued.
All right, So let's let's go with a couple of
teams here, and again we're gonna go over four for
the night. All right. The first team I can tell
(35:25):
you about is I know this is gonna surprise you,
but this is a team that's on the way up already,
and they haven't been on the way up for a
long time, but now they're on the way up, and
they have prospects who are who are showing up and
they're starting to show they're pretty good. It would not
surprise me getting hot the San Diego Padres. Think about
(35:46):
this for a second, because the Padres have something uniquely
that could they could take advantage of this sixty game schedule. Right,
they look, we we know the prospects they have on
on the way up. Right, They're gonna rely on Machado.
They're gonna lie in uh Tatis who came up and
was fantastic. They have other big building blocks. They added
Zach Davies and Drew Palmeran's in the off season. But
(36:06):
here's the thing about the Padres. Right, Chris Paddock looks
like he's going to be a star. Right. He had
a really good year last year and he loves to
get into it on social media too, with a lot
of people. You have some other young pictures that are
coming up, like Mackenzie Gore, who was projected to be
a high end uh starting pitcher. Just Moon throws a
hundred miles an hour. You're talking about relying on young
pitching now over the course of a hundred and sixty
(36:28):
two games. Does that work out? No, because all young
pitching hits the wall at some point. Pictures are only
gonna throw a certain number of innings and and before
you have to either power them down or before they
lose their effectiveness. Because I gotta build up to be
able to to be a starting pitcher in Major League
Baseball from April through the end of September. But sixty games,
you're talking about these guys making ten or eleven starts
(36:50):
before you hit the playoffs. We have seen guys stay
hot that have shown up. Hey through ten or eleven games.
Look at that, they're eighting two. They're having a phenomenal season.
Then if we get to the middle of the season,
the end of the season, they kind of fall back
to the pack a bit because baseball either catches up
with them or they hit the wall a bit because
you know, they they're just not throwing as hard, or
they're not throwing as well because mentally and physically they're tired.
(37:12):
But can I see these you know, the Padres young
arms come up and over the course of the first
few weeks, could they win thirty five games and make
the playoffs? And suddenly, hey, all this young pitching, all
this full of adrenaline. Guys that that that don't know
any better. Can I see the Padres making a run there? Yeah?
Are you talking about surprise teams now that are outside
(37:33):
that I can see the Padres of us be a
surprise team making a running winning the World Series. I
like the way you think, I like the cut of
your jib, and Dodger fans right now are just waving
you off. Going that guy's insane. Let's he talking about.
How about I go to the American League and give
you one. Okay, you can't say the White Sox though
(37:53):
your White Sox are actually uh not bad. Like your
odds are just like a couple below the Mats. You're
like to one that they're thirty to one right now
side the Phillies and the Indians. Phillies are interesting, they're
they're at thirty to one, but uh, certainly gonna be
well off the radar because everybody's just assuming, uh, your
your normal heavyweight to run away with that division and
(38:15):
hide when you got the Nationals and and and certainly
um the Braves. You know it's not not not easy
pickings at all, but certainly and your mets uh I
have to be gradually throw them in. I'm gonna go
look at the Texas Rangers because they have three veterans
(38:36):
at the start of their rotation. When you look at
uh coming in with Lynn Minor and Cluber, you got
guys that that can all eat innings. Right, So the
potential is of having a too to work through the
the early part of a sixty game stretch, and those
(38:56):
arms will still be fresh and their battle tested when
you get down to it for the playoffs as well. Right,
you're not gonna have guys that are suddenly wide eyed
and it takes on some other meeting and maybe this
is just the weird year that even for the kids,
it doesn't happen. Yeah, Frostberg just posted to Twitter we're
laughing with a picture of Ron Burgundy responding to years. Look, look, look,
(39:19):
I understand that. Look I understand that nobody really thinks
of the Padres or knows they're good young players that
are coming. This is what they've done for the past
five years. They've done the seventy sixers. They have built
up a lot of good young players, and here they are.
They're on the way up. And in a normal season,
maybe the Padres are a team, you know, but we're
(39:40):
talking about sixty games and you're talking about getting out
of the gate fast and matching at the young pictures,
not having to throw a lot, and being able to
go all out for the entire season into the playoffs. Yeah, surprise, teams.
Now surprise teams. Look sleep on the padres at your own,
at your own risk. I got you, and that's why
I went at so crazy Town with my hundred and
(40:01):
one shoot of the Texas Rangers, looking at the three
veteran starters at the front of your rotation. Once we
get to the playoffs, you know in theory, that's that's
what you need, right is is just guys that can
eat some innings for you. Uh, make it interesting and
give your lineup that is so replete with power all
the way through. Santana is going to be your everyday
(40:23):
center fielder. He's got popped. The Todd Father is still
getting some at bats. Oh door can can launch gallo,
et cetera. Go through their entire lineup. I mean they're
gonna put up runs and now it's just may and
make them count. And Texas said, think could surprise because
I in Houston's far and away favorite for the division.
(40:43):
And then we've talked a lot about why not us
when it comes to the the the Angels and into
the Mariners, which will get into as the show goes on.
And Oakland, just like Tampa Bay, they win games. You're
always left wondering how did they do it? You've never
heard of these guys. But again, a young rotation will
keep them in it. But I say, for Texas, seventy
(41:05):
eight wins kind of surprising, uh, last year, giving all
the considerations coming in. So we'll throw that on the board. Here,
look at you throwing the Texas Rangers out. They're awesome.
Not the Jason Spends Show with Mike Carmen Live from
the Geico Studios. I'm gonna give you another team, uh,
(41:25):
that can win it all for another different reason, being
able to take advantage of the shortened season, and this
one is more about hitting than pitching. But you know,
we mentioned them really briefly last night because we talked
about you know, if if you're any bottom feeder team,
you have to be able to go into the season
and say, hey, why not us this year? Right? It's
only sixty games. Right, it's not hard to sixty games.
It's sixty games? Why not us? Watch out for the
(41:48):
Angels A right, Joe Madden taking over? Right? They paid
all that money for Anthony ren Don Their lineup is deep.
I mean they they are gonna hit the baseball and
Otani at some point's gonna come back and pitch. They
have a lot of pitching questions, and I understand that,
but in a sixty games season, not a hundred and
sixty two games, they can hit their way by teams
(42:10):
over that amount of time. Now, they don't need their
pitching to be great. They just needed to be okay.
And look, they don't have good pitch. I'm gonna tell
you they don't. But Mickey Callaway as bad a manager
as he was with the New York Mets, and he
was terrible, just completely out of his death. As a
pitching coach, he's been fantastic. He was great with the Indians,
he was great with the Mets starters. Zach Wheeler is
(42:30):
making all kinds of millions of dollars with the Philadelphia
Phillies now because of Mickey Mickey Callaway. Stephen Mats is
now staying healthy and and part of the Mets future
because of Mickey Callaway. Jacob Degram won the Cy Young
again last year. Well, I mean that was just but
you've seen what what he can do and the effect
he can have on a pitching staff, And all you
do is get these guys to pitch. Okay, I'm not saying,
(42:52):
Mickey callawy's gonna show up and suddenly, hey, guys, yeah,
we we go one through three with anybody else in
Major League Baseball. But you can make the slight improvements
in a division that isn't as strong top to bottom
as you think it is, and they mash and you
can mash over sixty games. Watch out. I mean, the
Angels could be that team with a new leadership they got,
(43:14):
they got a new lease on life in Major League
Baseball and suddenly, bang, here go the Angels and win
the World Series. I like the way you're thinking. And
Albert Polhost won't fall apart sixty games Mike Trout meaningful
at bats because there's only sixty games. Uh, that would
be the most meaningful at bats he's had in a
while outside of opening games. That scam. Right, we're winning
(43:36):
a truck in the All Star Game. I mean, I
mean it because this is a team that forever has
had the mashers to be able to win games nine
eight all the time. But the problem is you can't
do that all the time. You know, you have to
be able to have some nights where right, we don't
we don't need to have the offense, go out and
(43:57):
score seven runs to win. And look, I said, it's
about the shortened season and about what you can do
over sixty games in the playoffs and stay out. Now,
once you get to the playoffs, you need some kind
of pitching because there's always less hitting in the playoffs
and there is in the regular season. But this line
up the way it is, he had a big bounce
back season from Mandelson Simmons. You got a lot of
mashes in this lineup, and now you're adding Anthony Rendn't,
(44:19):
oh my goodness, and Joe Madden. Certainly. You know, if
you're gonna listen to anybody, suddenly here comes Joe Madne.
It's okay, guys, this is how we're gonna do things,
all right, got it, got it, got it, got it,
got it. I mean that the Angels are a team
that people can really sleep on. But like I said,
it's that short schedule that you gotta take advantage of.
He'll be crazy, but it's fresh and new to them
as he lives out of his RV waiting for the
(44:40):
season to start. It's like, you're like my uncle used
to say that to me all the time whenever he
would give me something. I would go, I would go, hey,
what is is like? He said, hey, I got a
T shirt for you. Oh great, And I would get
it and I would go like, I feel like he's
worn it, Washington, give it to me. I go, oh,
is this new? He goes, it's new to you. What
do you care? I'm like, no, you're right. Thanks, I
appreciate the T shirt. Jim, thanks, and I got it.
It was the old line for reruns in the spring
(45:02):
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