4-19-24 Hour 3

Zach Wilson skipping workouts Monica McNutt Justin Lada

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The Capitol Region sports Fan, FoxSports ninety five to nine and nine eighty.
This is a sick and twisted punishmentI'm going through right now because Levak
has taken off here in the fiveo'clock hour. He's decided to go off
for the Albany Firebirds events coming up. They're less than now nine days away
from kickoffs, so he decided toleave me here in the five o'clock hour

(00:20):
with one of my good friends,one of my true favorite people in this
broadcasting business, my pal all theway out in Ohio, Justin Lanta.
But if you don't know, there'sa certain thing that justin Lanna, all
the way in Albany, New York, has been the leader of on social
media. Justin, would you liketo remind people in the Capitol region what
you're leading on X and Twitter againstme. He's a certain leader of what

(00:41):
I call the Arizona Fall League cult. I don't even want to hear it,
Justin. I know I'm not gonnahang out, Bunny. You're a
good friend of mine, But aslong as you know, not here for
that Arizona Fall League nonsense today onlyon social media. Someone's gotta do it.
Someone's got to keep you on yourtoes. You go. The Lovak
would have done another five minutes onthat is this Guardian tea. We're looking
across the American League. The Centralhas always been an interesting division, but

(01:03):
the Twins having a lot more recentsuccess. But the Guardian's doing pretty good
to start off the season. We'lldo an old school sports talk radio question
contender or pretender for the Guardians forthe rest of the season as a playoff
can as a playoff team from theAL Central. Yes, once they get
October, your guests is as goodas mine. They know, as you

(01:26):
said, the AL Central is nota great division, and they lost their
ace for the year to Tommy John. But you know everybody else also has
lost their race books. The Schreinerwent down. Everybody Garrett Cole, we
don't know what's going to happen withhim. Everyone's losing their arms. So
you know you might be pitching forsomeone by the time Longest rolls around.

(01:46):
So get warmed up, go gogo find our coaches from Syracuse and get
yourself a bullpen before they call you. Coach Martinez and the Syracuse Sulcats are
far better off finding pitchers in theNew York Collegiate Baseball League, then you
and I trying to throw again andseeing if this wing works anymore. Yeah,
that's that's the issues going on withthose teams for sure, you know,
from like the whole perspective of MajorLeague Baseball too. Still early in

(02:08):
the season, of course we're talkingAmerican League, but like one national storyline
that's caught your attention, surprised youand the early started baseball. What does
surprised you the most about twenty twentyfour so far? Ooh? I mean
the pitching for sure, has beendefinitely an issue so far. I mean,
hey, Yokland Athletics, It's beena weird year in the Royals.

(02:28):
I hate to say it because ifanybody, it's been a weird year in
the Royals. I hate to sayit because if anybody, anybody who knows
me knows, I've always been antiRoyals, just as an inside joke for
baseball these years. But the Royalsare off so good start. It's been
a very strange year. But everydivision besides, like I know, the
NL West is pretty winnable, Iwould say, but man, there's been

(02:51):
some bad teams. The Marlins arebad, the Ashers are off to a
bad start. The White Socks.The White Socks are the worst team in
baseball, and I just I continueto be very confused what they're doing over
there. Now we're three and ahalf minutes into this, and I realized
they even give your actual credentials Lockedon Guardian's podcast News Harald Justin Landa Jenna
is here major League Baseball Inside onFox Sports ninety five nine and ninet eighty.

(03:13):
Let's talk about the Angels for asecond here, because this is the
team we talked about. You mentionedsome surprises there. Then I look at
what Mike Trout's been able to do, still an all time great player,
trying to stay healthy for a season, which hasn't happened in a long time.
The Angels are just a game belowfive hundred, but they are finding
ways to win. Maybe I justassume because Otani was gone and they haven't
won, that they were going tobe awful. What do you make of

(03:35):
this Angel's team out in the West. Is this gonna be one of these
anomalies where a star player like Otanileaves and a team can still win.
Probably not. No, I mean, I've really liked Reid Detmrse for a
couple of years now, so he'spitching really well, I think so far.
Griffin Canning yesterday randomly had a goodstart. I don't know how long

(03:58):
that's gonna last, because I don'tthink anyone's ever really believed in him.
Their bullpen is really weird, butthey just got the news their biggest bullpen
edition of the off season. RobertStevenson is going to be out for the
season, so that's a bummer.But Taylor Ward's back to hitting. Their
catcher, Logan A Hoppy is reallygood. I think. I think the
bottom of their order will kind ofturn things around there. Their offense isn't

(04:18):
actually that bad, like Rendon,who knows what to do with Anthony Rendoin,
But Ward I still believe in brandDreury Hohapi, I think is an
All Star I like Shannall and NitaNato. So their offense is okay.
I don't think their pitching can holdup, so probably not. I mean,
but then again, that division isnot great right now. The Astros,

(04:38):
I don't know what to make ofthem. The Mariners have good pitching,
but everything's kind of weird there,and you know, the Rangers are
the defending world champs, and it'spossible. So I don't know. I
don't really like their farm system.But then again, when they draft this
year, whoever they end up draftingwill probably be on the major league team
in comme August, So maybe they'llfind somebody good in the draft and promote
him within sixty days they draft.League Baseball insider justin Land of Lockdown,

(05:01):
Guardian's podcast, News Herald and more. Jones here Fox Sports ninety five in
nine eighty. Let's move it overto the AL East. I would consider
it the best division in baseball,so many competitors. About a month ago,
if we had jo on, wewould have had you predictive finish one
through five of where these teams wouldrank when it's all done. Now the
season's gotten started, and now you'reallowed to change your picks if you want,
because we didn't ask you a monthago. So power rank this one

(05:24):
through five? How you think theAmerican League East will finish in? Why?
Orioles for sure? I mean,I know that's the popular pick,
but I can't pick against the Oriolsright now. And Jackson, howa,
they haven't even started hitting yet,So once he starts hitting and they have
the Amo to acquire another pitcher.Their farm system is just ridiculous. If

(05:46):
the Yankees get Garrett coleback and he'sfine easily second place, raising third,
Blue Jay's fourth, and Red Soxin last. Oh, the Red Sox
pitching has been better than I thought. But I also think, I this
is this is gonna excit you,or maybe we should scare you guys.
But I do have the Orioles goingto the World Series in my official pick.
Yeah, I always said Justin Lanawas the best. I'll cut all

(06:08):
that stuff out of the podcast.Side about the Arisontal faulty, I've never
criticized the great mind that is JustinLtta. I hope Levak hears this as
he's driving around the Capital region.I hope his phone rings in a few
minutes so he can battle with youabout his Yankees. Look, Yankee fans
are optimistic, though I know theywent through a small losing streak here just
a few days ago. But Soto'shitting, Garret Cole is gonna come back.

(06:30):
The Yankees on a national scale,of course, they're a brand,
one of the most popular brands inAmerica. But I think some Yankee fans
were really either going to be greatand win the World Series or going to
be terrible and fire everybody. They'veexceeded expectations. And I know that line
out loud about the Yankees doesn't makesense, but from your perspective, it
seems like this Yankee team is doingbetter than most would have thought on a
national scale. Yeah, I meanone Soto is really really good. I

(06:55):
think that the Yankees need to goout and just sign him to an open
check. Just give him a check, let them fill it out and be
done with it. Don't don't letthat guy get away, because what he's
done for that offense is incredible.They've gotten a lot out of Alex Verdugo,
Judge has been fine. I thinkthey'll be even better. And I've
been a believer in Austin Wells's battoo, and he hasn't even started hitting

(07:15):
yet, So I believe in Wells. I know people aren't gonna want to
hear that vault. He's not goingto keep this up, but I think
at some point he'll probably come backto Earth a little bit, and I
think it can still be good.And it's done a good job of finding
guys out of that bullpen too.I mean, Ian Hamilton has been really
good. I still probably think ClarkSchmich would be a reliever personally, but
you know, they do need himto start right now. But Nick Birdie's
been awesome. I would like tosee Clayton Pieter back up, and I

(07:40):
don't know how fancy about him,but I've really been a believer in Quyton
Deida. They're gonna need to probablyadd a reliever at some point. They'll
probably need to add a starting pitcher, and the farm systems okay, it's
pretty good. They're gonna have todo somebody. Anthony Rizzo at first base.
I don't know if you want tospot Austin Wells over there when he
starts hitting, that's going to bea hard conversation to have out. But

(08:00):
no, they've got some pieces inthat lineup, so it makes everything better.
And they're they're a very patient team. Uh, They're going to take
their walks and of course taking ita home run up and down the lineup.
So if you walk a couple timesin front of one of those guys,
it's gonna be dangerous. But there, I wouldn't guarantee anything with Kart
Cole, like the way We've seenpitching in this this year in Major League
Baseball and elbow scares like I wouldnot count on that. I would say

(08:24):
great if he comes back and looksgreat, but I would also be trying
to add a starter too. Let'smove it from one New York team to
another New York team. That's theNew York Mets. Levac and I have
been battling back and forth about whatMets fan should hope for in twenty twenty
four, and everything keeps landing onPete Alonso, whether Alonso can come back,
whether Alonso is going to get traded, whether Alonzo's future is with another

(08:45):
team. There's so many questions aboutwhere this met team could become July and
come the trade in line where it'susually a pitcher, but it could be
a hitter as the most talked aboutname. As you evaluate this New York
met team in the rest of thenext few months for the Mets, what
are things Mets fans should hope foras this season approaches the summer and especially
July. If I'm a Mets fan, I'm actually I mean, I know

(09:07):
they're in it right now. It'searly, and you know, things go
a lot of ways with these divisions. It's only April, but if I
was a Mets fan, I wouldbe looking to see who on this team
they could actually trade for future pitching. They've They've got some guys in the
miners. I'm trying to think ofa pitcher in Double Ed that I really
like. Christian Scott has been reallygood for them and the miners. They

(09:31):
really just need to add more pitching, though. I feel like it's just
not a good rotation right now.It's a bunch of guys that are around
our age almost that are trying tohold this rotation together, which which tells
you a whole lot. I mean, the average age of their bullpen,
I think is also older than youand I are. So this team should
really be hoping for Jadie Martinez tobe really good and they can flip him

(09:52):
at the deadline for prospects. Maybethey should consider Jeff McNeil. I don't
think they want to trade Pete AlarmsoI do think Steve Cohen is probably going
to do everything he can to keepPete Alonzo. But he's the first basement
and he's approaching thirty. Those areguy, and he's a big guy.
Those are guys that do not agewell. And if you're I'm probably talking

(10:15):
about this from a small market mindset, and I probably shouldn't be. But
if you want to go out andbuild the best team, someone's going to
go out and trade trade a lotfor Pete Alonzo if he keeps sitting like
this, and if they're looking towardsthe future, which is kind of what
they did last year by trading Scherzerand Gerlander and they did a great job
in the prospects they got back,I would be looking at that, honestly,

(10:35):
because that seems to be the waythey were looking in the off season
too. They were trying to findstop gap guys. I know they want
to keep Pee Alonso and maybe theywill, but that's a profile that's also
super risky to sign to, likea six year deal. So I would
say buyer beware. As much asI like Pete Alonzo personally. So you
thought it was a small market mindset, I don't think that's it. I'm
with you if Alonzo gets to thatpoint, because there could be some serious

(10:58):
contenders of TEA teams who maybe thoughtthere were a year or two away,
who do have a really good pharmsystem that all of a sudden, they
could be in the mix, likeBaltimore's got to make a move. You
mentioned the potential World Series, likeeventually they're going to run out of space
for prospects. Arizona's probably had aschedule, but they won the National League
last year. Like there are goingto be teams that has some prospects that
the Mets look like and say likeit's either now, we're never to get

(11:18):
these guys because someone else is goingto get him at some point. And
also this made me feel old.I'm sure it did for you as well.
I'm like, when you mentioned howold some of the Mets pitchers are,
I'm like, oh, there areage and I've known you since college,
so I'm like, oh, they'reunder twenty. Oh no, we've
known each other for now ten plusyears and they're no longer college pitchers.
So that's that's hurtful. If anything, we're married now and I know you

(11:39):
just celebrated your engagement anniversary. Lifehas changed for the both of us.
My goodness, wor old, Yeah, the other things that's happened in the
last ten years, and unfortunately thatalso includes our age going up. So
now that you look at Adam Monavinowho's thirty eight and other guys in that
both time they'll move bit older thanI am, which is great, but
it took not far off. Soyeah, yeah, that's that is a
reality check you should You should seenwhen I talk to minor leaguers because you

(12:03):
know, I cover a lot offarm systems, and when I when I
talk to prospects and They're like talkingabout their walk up songs and I'm like,
I don't know who that is,I don't know what song that is.
So I feel very old that thatputs me out of place very quickly.
Where do you start, Shela rightwhen you start reading the bios and
the birthdayas in the two thousands oowtwo thousands. Uh. For those who

(12:24):
may not follow you in the Capitolregion, you're making a mistake. But
we've got the newsletter, we've gotall the content on social media. Make
sure to plug your stuff. Wewant to make sure we continue to get
those five winning numbers up for justinLena, Justic, go ahead and plug
all the things where people can findyou across the Capital region. Yeah,
if you're still one of those peopleon X, I'm still there and If
you like a lot of baseball tweets, then that's good. If you'll if

(12:45):
you don't like a lot of baseballtweets, you know, beware. But
it's a jail under Baseball on Xand we do lockdown Guardians five days a
week. It's your team every day. And hey, if anybody out there
is interested too, we got podcastseverywhere else too that covers a lot of
team so you can also check outprospect stuff on Prospects Live and if you're
in the Guardian's Prospects I got thenewsletter next year in Clee, so maybe

(13:07):
the acher stands will be interested inwhat hitter they can pick off in Cleveland
in the future. I don't knowif it would make my weekend, but
I'm sure it would make the vaxtweekend and your weekend. If you follow
Justin today on this Friday and youjust tweet him I'm here for the airson
a Fall League content, he willautomatically retweet that. He will. He
will definitely engage with that type oftweet to him. I promise you that

(13:30):
there he goes our pal Justin Lenna. We appreciate his time. As always,
we had to dive out quick.I'm sure he had more airs than
a fall Ley content for you.But before we ended the weekend, I
want to tell about our friends overat Lillian David Fine Jewelers. The shops
at Wilton is the place for you. I love talking about Lillian David Fine
Jewelers on a Friday because that iswhen I got engaged. I bought my
ring on a Friday, and Ifeel that like guys, you know,

(13:52):
if you got engaged and you've hadthat process happen once the ring is in
your possession, there are certain guyswho are mature enough to handle it in
others who can't. I lasted afew days, but once the ring was
bought, I felt like, okay, the big moments on the way.
Now, if you don't quite knowwhat she wants, you're not sure how
this whole process happens. Stopping aLily and David Fine Jelers, by the

(14:13):
way, doing a great job ontheir Facebook page. Hours and things are
a little bit different today. Checkabout Lily David find Jeweler's Facebook a little
different facebook name there for them,but follow them there to find out all
the updates going on. Stop inthis weekend and engagement ring a wedding band
if you're prepping for the you knowwhat, another shot out. I'm about
to hit the road here. Shoutout to Darren and Tess who recently got
engaged. Hopefully they took advice asthey're heading up north to grab a wedding

(14:35):
band over at Lily and David FineJelers, whatever it might be. Leavac
mentioned his daughters stopping over to Lillyand David Fine Juliers. This is the
place you want right there at theShops of Wilton, family owned and operated
business. Shout out to a listain the entire crew at Lilli and David
Fine Juelers, the Shops of Wilton. You stop and tell me you heard
about my story, Gossa's story fromFox Sports ninety five to nine in nine
eighty. Whether it's mine, whetherit's Darren's, whether it's Lavak's daughter,

(14:56):
whether it's Justin Ladda, whether Monicamcdall, whoever you want to mention,
we got love for Lilly and DavidFindelers. Again. Levac is off to
a fantastic event supporting the Albany Firebirds. I'm sure there'll be more information across
their platforms a little programming reminder.The Knicks will be airing here this weekend.
The Knicks start their series against thePhiladelphia seventy six ers and the Albany

(15:16):
Firebirds coaches show Flock University makes adebut. It's all coming up this weekend.
Before we go there, Cavino andRich up after this, wash your
hands, don't touch your faces.Fox Sports twenty five, nine and nine
eighty. Gos Wait, that's me. Hit the button the Capitol Regions Sports
fan Fox Sports ninety five to nineand nine eighty. This is a sick

(15:39):
and twisted punishment I'm going through rightnow because Levac has taken off here in
the five o'clock hour. He's decidedto go off for the Albany Firebirds events
coming up. They're less than nownine days away from kickoffs, so he
decided to leave me here in thefive o'clock hour with one of my good
friends, one of my true favoritepeople in this broadcasting business, my pal
all the way out Justin Lanta.But if you don't know, there's a

(16:03):
certain thing that Justin Lanta, allthe way in all but in New York,
has been the leader of on socialmedia. Justin would you like to
remind people in the Capitol region whatyou're leading on X and Twitter against me.
He's a certain leader of what Icall the Arizona Fall League cult.
I don't even want to hear itjustin I know, I'm not going to
hang up on you. You're agood friend of mine. But as long
as you know, not here forthat Arizona Fall League nonsense today only on

(16:25):
social media. Someone's got to doit. Someone's got to keep you on
your toes. Though LOVEK would havedone another five minutes on that is this
Guardian team, and we're looking acrossthe American League. The Central has always
been an interesting division, but theTwins having a lot more recent success.
But the Guardian's doing pretty good.To start off the season, we'll do
an old school sports talk radio questioncontender or pretender for the Guardians for the

(16:47):
rest of the season as a playoffcan as a playoff team. Uh,
it's from the AL Central. Yes, once they get October, your guests
is as good as mine. Theyknow, as you said, the Central
is not a great division, andthey lost their ace for the year to
Tommy John. But you know everybodyelse also has lost their race book Sozer

(17:08):
Schreiner went down. Everybody, GarrettCole, we don't know what's going to
happen with him. Everyone's losing theirarms, so you know, you might
be pitching for someone by by thetailgat rolls around. So get warmed up,
go go go find our coaches fromSyracuse and get yourself a bullpen before
before they call you. Coach Martinezand the Syracuse Saltcats are far better off

(17:29):
finding pitchers in the New York CollegiateBaseball League then you and I trying to
throw again and seeing if this wingworks anymore. Yeah, that's that's the
issues going on with those teams forsure, you know, from like the
whole perspective of Major League Baseball too. Still early in the season, of
course we're talking American League, butlike one national storyline that's caught your attention,
surprised you and the early started baseball. What does surprised you the most

(17:51):
about twenty twenty four so far?Oh, I mean the pitching, for
sure, has been definitely an issueso far. I mean, hey,
the Oakland Athletics are it's been aweird year in the Royals. I hate
to say it because if anybody it'sbeen a weird year in the Royals.
I hate to say it because ifanybody, anybody who knows me knows,
I've always been anti Royals, justas an inside joke for baseball these years.

(18:14):
But the Royals are off so goodstart. It's been a very strange
year. But every division besides,like I know, the ANL West is
pretty winnable, I would say,but man, there's been some bad teams.
The Marlins are bad, the Ashersare off to a bad start.
The White Socks, the White Socksare the worst team in baseball, and
I just I continue to be verycontinuous about what they're doing over there.
NW. We're three and a halfminutes into this and I realized they even

(18:37):
give your actual credentials. Locked onGuardian's podcast News Harald justin Lanta. Jonan
is here major League Baseball Inside onFox Sports ninety five, nine and nine
eighty. Let's talk about the Angelsfor a second here, because this is
the team we talked about. Youmentioned some surprises there. Then I look
at what Mike Trout's been able todo, still an all time great player,
trying to stay healthy for a season, which hasn't happened in a long

(18:57):
time. The Angels are just abelow five hundred, but they are finding
ways to win. Maybe I justassumed because Otani was gone and they haven't
won, that they were going tobe awful. What do you make of
this Angels team out in the WestAnd is this gonna be one of these
anomalies where a star player like Otanileaves and a team can still win.
Probably not. No. I mean, I've really liked read Dead Mrse for

(19:21):
a couple of years now, sohe's pitching really well I think so far.
Griffin Canning yesterday randomly had a goodstart. I don't know how long
that's gonna last because I don't thinkanyone's ever really believed in him. Their
bullpen is really weird, but theyjust got the news their biggest bullpen edition
of the off season. Robert Stevensonis going to be out for the season,

(19:41):
so that's a bummer. But TaylorWard's back to hitting. Their catcher
Logan A Hoppy is really good.I think. I think the bottom of
their order will kind of turn thingsaround there. Their offense isn't actually that
bad like Rendon, who knows whatto do with Anthony Rendon? But Ward
I still believe in Brandon Drury HohapiI think is an all Are. I
like Shanaal and Nita Nato, sotheir offense is okay. I don't think

(20:04):
their pitching can hold up, soprobably not. I mean, but then
again, that division is not greatright now. The Astros, I don't
know what to make of them.The Mariners, I have good pitching,
but everything's kind of weird there.And you know, the Rangers are the
defending World champs and it's possible,so I don't know. I don't really
like their farm system. But thenagain, when they draft this year,

(20:25):
whoever they end up drafting will probablybe on the major league team come August,
so maybe they'll find somebody good inthe draft and promote him within sixty
days they draft. Major League Baseballinsider justin Land of Lockdown, Guardian's podcast,
News Herald and more. Jones hereFox Sports ninety five, nine eighty.
Let's move it over to the ALEast. I would consider it the
best division in baseball, so manycompetitors. About a month ago, if
we had you on, we wouldhave had you predictive finish one through five

(20:48):
of where these teams would rank whenit's all done. Now this season's got
started, and now you're allowed tochange your picks if you want, because
we didn't ask you a month ago. So power rank this one through five.
How you think the America in LeagueEast will finish in Why? Orioles
for sure? I mean, Iknow that's the popular pick, but I
can't pick against the Oriols right now. And Jackson, how they haven't even

(21:10):
started hitting yet. So once hestarts hitting and they have the AMO to
acquire another pitcher, their farm systemis just ridiculous. If the Yankees get
Garrett coleback and he's fine easily secondplace, raising third, Blue Jay's fourth,
and Red Sox in last. TheRed Sox pitching has been better than
I thought. But I also thinkI this is this is gonna excite you,

(21:33):
or maybe it should scare you,guys. But I do have the
Orioles going to the World Series andmy official pick, yeah I don't.
I always said Justin Leto was thebest. I'll cut all that stuff out
of the podcast. Side about theair's little faulty, I've never criticized the
great mind that is Justin Leta.I hope Levak hears this as he's driving
around the Capital region. I hopehis phone rings in a few minutes so
he can battle with you about asthe Yankees look. Yankee fans are optimistic,

(21:56):
though I know they went through asmall losing streak here just a few
days ago, but so do hittingGarrett Cole is gonna come back. The
Yankees on a national scale, ofcourse, they're a brand, one of
the most popular brands in America.But I think some Yankee fans were really
either going to be great and winthe World Series or going to be terrible
and fire everybody. They've exceeded expectationsthat. I know that line out loud
about the Yankees doesn't make sense,but from your perspective, it seems like

(22:18):
this Yankee team is doing better thanmost would have thought. On a national
scale. Yeah, I mean JanSoto is really, really good. I
think that the Yankees need to goout and just sign him to an open
check. Just give him a check, let him fill it out and be
done with it. Don't let thatguy get away, because what he's done
for that offense is incredible. They'vegotten a lot out of Alex Verdugo.

(22:41):
Judge has been fine. I thinkthey'll be even better, and I've been
a believer in Austin Wells is battoo, and he hasn't even started hitting
yet, So I believe in Wells. I know people aren't gonna want to
hear that vault. He's not goingto keep this up, but I think
at some point he'll probably come backto earth a little bit. I think
it can still be good. Andit's done a good job of finding guy
out of that bullpen too. Imean, Ian Hamilton has been really good.

(23:03):
I still probably think Clark smith Swould be a reliever personally, but
you know, they do need himto start right now. But Nick Birdie's
been awesome. I would like tosee Clayton Beieter back up, and I
don't know how I'm fancy about him, but I've really been a believer in
put Indeed, they're gonna need toprobably add a reliever at some point.
They'll probably need to add a startingpitcher, and the farm systems, okay,
it's pretty good. They're gonna haveto do somebody. Anthony Rizzo at

(23:26):
first base. I don't know,if you want to spot Austin Wells over
there when he starts hitting, that'sgonna be a hard conversation to have,
but no, They've got some piecesin that lineup, so it makes everything
better. And they're they're a verypatient team. They're gonna take their walks
and of course taking it a homerun up and down the lineup. So
if he walked a couple times infront of one of those guys, it's
gonna be dangerous. But there,I wouldn't guarantee anything with Kart Cole.

(23:48):
Like the way we've seen pitching inthis this year in Major League Baseball and
elbow scare is like, I wouldnot count on that. I would say
great if he comes back and looksgreat, but I would also be trying
to add a starter too. Let'smove it from one New York team to
another New York team, that's theNew York Mets. Levak and I have
been battling back and forth about whatMets fan should hope for in twenty twenty

(24:11):
four, and everything keeps landing onPete Alonso, whether Alonso can come back,
whether Alonzo is going to get traded, whether Alonzo's future is with another
team. There's so many questions aboutwhere this Met team could become July and
come the trades inline where it's usuallya pitcher, but it could be a
hitter as the most talked about name. As you evaluate this New York Met
team in the rest of the nextfew months for the Mets, what are
things Mets fans should hope for asthis season approaches the summer and especially July.

(24:37):
If I'm a Mets fan, I'mactually I mean, I know they're
in it right now. It's early, and you know, things go a
lot of ways with these divisions.It's only April, but if I was
a Mets fan, I would belooking to see who on this team they
can actually trade for future pitching.They've got some guys in the miners trying
to think of a picture in doubleed that I really like. Christian Scott

(25:00):
has been really good for them inthe minors. They they really just need
to add more pitching, though,I feel like it's just not a good
rotation right now. It's a bunchof guys that are around our age almost
that are trying to hold this rotationtogether, which which tells you a whole
lot. I mean, the averageage of their bullpen, I think,
is also older than you and Iare. So this team should really be

(25:21):
hoping for Jadie Martinez to be reallygood and they can flip him at the
deadline for prospects. Maybe they shouldconsider Jeff McNeil. I don't think they
want to trade Pete Alarmso. Ido think Steve Cohen is probably going to
do everything he can to keep Petera lmso, but he's the first basement
and he's approaching thirty. Those areguys, and he's a big guy.

(25:42):
Those are guys that do not agewell. And if you're I'm probably talking
about this from a small market mindset, and I probably shouldn't be. But
if you want to go out andbuild the best team, someone's going to
go out and trade trade a lotfor Peter Amso if he keeps sitting like
this, and if they're looking towardsthe few, which is kind of what
they did last year by trading Scherzerand Erlander and they did a great job

(26:03):
in the prospects they got back,I would be looking at that, honestly,
because that seems to be the waythey were looking in the offseason too.
They were trying to find stopgap guys. I know they want to keep
pi Alonso and maybe they will,but that's a profile that's also super risky
to sign to, like a sixyear deal, So I would say buyer
beware. As much as I likePeter Alonzo personally. So you thought it

(26:25):
was a small market mindset, Idon't think that's it. I'm with you
if Alonzo gets to that point,because there could be some serious contenders of
teams who maybe thought they were ayear or two away, who do have
a really good pharm system that allof a sudden they could be in the
mix, like Baltimore's got to makea move. You mentioned the potential World
Series, like eventually they're going torun out of space for prospects. Arizona's
probably had a schedule, but theywon the National League last year. Like,

(26:47):
there are going to be teams thathas some prospects that the Mets look
like and say like it's either nowor never to get these guys because someone
else is going to get him atsome point. And also this made me
feel old. I'm sure it didfor you as well. I'm like,
when you mentioned how old some ofthem pictures are, I'm like, oh,
there are age and I've known yousince college, so I'm like,
oh, they're under twenty. Ohno, we've known each other for now
ten plus years and they're no longercollege pitchers, So that's that's hurtful.

(27:10):
If anything, we're married now andI know you just celebrated your engagement anniversary.
Life has changed for the both ofus. My goodness, world.
Yeah, a lot of other thingsthat has happened in the last ten years.
And unfortunately that also includes our agegoing up. So now that you
look at Adam Anavino, who's thirtyeight and other guys in that both time,
they're a little bit older than Iam, which is great, but
it's not far off. So yeah, yeah, that's that is a reality

(27:33):
check you should You should have seenwhen I talk to minor leaguers, because
you know, I cover a lotof farm systems, and when I when
I talk to prospects and they're liketalking about their walk up songs and I'm
like, I don't know who thatis. I don't know what song that
is, So I feel very old. That puts me out of place very
quickly. Where do you start shelving? Right when you start reading the bios
and the birthdays in the two thousands, ooh wow, two thousands. Uh.

(27:57):
For those who may not follow youin the Capitol reach. You're making
a mistake. But we've got thenewsletter, We've got all the content on
social media. Make sure to plugyour stuff. We want to make sure
we continue to get those five winningnumbers up for justin let it just go
ahead and plug all the things wherepeople can find you across the capital region.
Yeah, if you're still one ofthose people on X, I'm still
there. And if you like alot of baseball tweets, then that's good.

(28:18):
If you'll if you don't like alot of baseball tweets, you know,
beware. But it's a jail onbaseball on X and we do lockdown
Guardians five days a week. It'syour team every day. And hey,
if anybody out there is interested too, we got podcasts everywhere else too that
covers a lot of teams. Soyou can also check out prospect stuff on
Prospects Live and if you're into Guardian'sProspects. I got the newsletter next year

(28:38):
in Clee, so maybe the Yanksfans will be interested in what hitter they
can pick off in Cleveland in thefuture. I don't know if it would
make my weekend, but I'm sureit would make a little vaxt weekend in
your weekend. If you follow Justintoday on this Friday and you just tweet
him I'm here for the airs anda fall League content, he will automatically
retweet that he will. He willI afintely engage with that type of tweet

(29:02):
to him. I promise you thatthere he goes our pal Justin Lenna.
We appreciate his time. As always, we had to dive out quick.
I'm sure he had more errors ona folly content for you. But before
we headed the weekend, I wantto tell about our friends over it.
Lillian David Fine Jewelers. The shopsat Wilton is the place for you.
I love talking about Lillian David FineJewelers on a Friday because that is when
I got engaged. I bought myring on a Friday, and I feel

(29:23):
that like guys, you know,if you got engaged and you've had that
process happen. Once the ring isin your possession, there are certain guys
who are mature enough to handle itand others who can't. I lasted a
few days, but once the ringwas bought, I felt like, okay,
the big moments on the way.Now, if you don't quite know
what she wants. You're not surehow this whole process happens. Stop at

(29:45):
a Lillian David Findelers by the way, doing a great job of their Facebook
page. Hours and things are alittle bit different today. Check ab out
Lily David find Jeweler's Facebook. Littledifferent facebook name there for them, but
follow them there to find out allthe updates going on. Stop in this
weekend an engagement ring, a weddingband. If you're a prep for the
you know what, another shot out. I'm about to hit the road here.
Shout out to Darren and Tessuho recentlygot engaged. Hopefully they took advice

(30:06):
as they're heading up north to graba wedding band over at Lillian David Fine
Jewelers, whatever it might be.Leavac mentioned his daughter stopping over to Lillian
David Fine Juelers. This is theplace you want right there at the Shops
of Wilton, family owned and operatedbusiness. Shout out to a lista in
the entire crew at Lillian David FineJuelers, the Shops of Wilton. You
stop and tell me you heard aboutmy story. Gaza's story from Fox Sports
ninety five to nine in nine eighty, whether it's mine, whether it's Darren's,

(30:29):
whether it's Lavak's daughter, whether it'sJustin Latta, whether Monica mcdad,
whoever you want to mention, wegot love for Lillian David Fine Jelers again.
Levac is off to a fantastic eventsupporting the Albany Firebirds. I'm sure
there will be more information across theirplatforms. A little programming reminder. The
Knicks will be airing here this weekend. The Knicks start their series against the
Philadelphia seventy six ers and the AlbanyFirebirds. Coaches show Flock University makes that

(30:52):
debut. It's all coming up thisweekend. Before we go there, Cavino
and Rich up after this, washyour hands, don't touch your faces.
Fox Sports twenty five, nine tonine eighty. Goswait, that's me.
Hit the button,