December 22, 2025 • 18 mins
Jeff McNeil went to the Athletics in what was more or less a salary dump. We talk about what it means for the Mets moving forward and reminisce about Jeff's career.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Jeff McNeil has finally been traded to the Athletics for
a seventeen year old kid from Cuba who played in
the DSL. Crazy Mets are sending money. Jeff McNeil's no
longer on this team. We're gonna talk about it just
as a player, as burst a lot of things. There's
connections to this podcast for Jeff McNeil. I'm sure some
of you at home watching this are jumping for joy.
I'm sure some of you are pulling your hair out.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Going what is this team doing? How can we get
rid of Jeff McNeil. There's a lot to talk about here.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Before we do, make sure you do subscribe. Classic us
drop an episode on Monday. David Stern selfish, couldn't wait
till Tuesday to give us the news.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Had to make sure we double upload today. But that's
what we're doing for you guys. James, when you saw
the trade, when you saw the news, what did you think?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
It's like you said, finally, it felt like the mess
have been trying to trade Jeff McNeil this all off season.
It felt like everybody in the Mets community was kind
of collectively waiting for the Messa trade.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Jeff McNeil. It was kind of like, if you're going
to trade all.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
These other guys, like, what's Jeff McNeil still doing here?
Like it's and based on the way this trade going down,
receiving a seventeen year old DSL pitcher and kicking in
almost six million dollars and then agreeing to pay the
two million dollar buyout if Jeff's option is not exercise
next year, this was a where we are getting rid
of this guy by any means necessary. And this was
this was truthfully just a team that was willing to
take him.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yeah, it's not.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
A bad deal now for the A's if you think
about from their perspective from the Mets, they did pay
the A's to take him away again for a seventeen
year old cuban who signed last year and just started
playing professional baseball. He was born in two thousand and eight.
Believe that's like the same year that Brandon Knew was drafted.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I think the year before Brandon was drafted by them.
As also two minutes ago from Francis Romero. With Jeff
McNeil gone, the Mets are believed to be exploring to
tell Marte or at least discussing him in trade talks.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I don't think those two are related because Marcus sime
is still the second baseman. I mean, listen, I'll have
to tell Marte.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Not important, right, non point, not important, just just it
just happened on Twitter. So it's fine, but it's u
This is a continuation of what this offseason has been,
which was everything changing. We're getting rid of every single
player from the stench of the old world. I'm not
even saying the old world. Like the twenty twenty five Mets,
Jeff McNeil was the second guy left on this active
roster with any connection to the Wolpond owned Mets. Now
(02:16):
the last one is David Peterson, who debuted in twenty
twenty still didn't get a foothold in the league for
years after that. I think it was just a cast
that year. But this was We've now had the four
longest tenured Mets all just gotten rid of whether by
free edge of year trade in a month.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah, and there's a very good chance that David Peterson
might not be on this team either, come opening guy.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
It's one of those moves where Jeff McNeil's.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Valuable, but on this team along with what possibly could
be the problems with him and Francisco Indoor that they've
now had multiple altercations with each other.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
We remember the rat versus raccoon.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
We heard after the Philly game that they got at
it probably just wasn't a good fit. And on a
team now that has Marcus Simeon, who is gonna play
better defensive second base, and while I think McNeil's a
better hitter, there's a world where they could end up
being the same hitter in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I don't think anyone would be surprised.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Along with bringing Jorge Polanco, who is gonna be first
base DH but could play second base.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
If you need him to.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Jeff just kind of didn't have a spot on this team,
and something that has been talked about it seems like
every offseason since David Surtas has been here is possibly
moving off Jeff McNeil. In that contract you mentioned, it's
the old garb of a Will Pond guy too with McNeil. Also,
it's a it's a Billy Eppler guy too. Billy Eppler
gave him that contract and he's gone.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
It's funny to think about that.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Billy Eppler offseason, where again.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Almost nobody from Billy Eppler stuff is still here because
even the prospects that some of that Billy Eppler.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Trade for some of them are gone. It also doesn't
look like many of them are gonna get big time
chances to do. I think scept Bryan cliffor Ran Cliff
is going to be the jewel from the Billy Eppler era.
But like you, you had him season where you it
was an objective failure, like you won a bunch of games,
you choke, you collapse against the Braves, and you fell
apart against the Padres, and like every single guy get
a big extension. Now every single one of those extensions
is off this team to three being edwind Ds, Jeff McNeil,
(03:56):
and Brandon Emo.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
It's a oh, it's a lot to take in, but
we can't. The second the Mark.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Send me a trade happen, there was a five percent
chance Jeff McNeil was going to be on the team
opening day.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
It would have been weird because the role would have
been starting left fielder. And as much as I love
Jeff as a player and a dude like, I don't
feel the greatest with viz mess roster. Having Jeff McNeil
playing every single day in left field especially.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Easy to forget Jeff McNeil's coming off the race of
outlet surgery. So I don't know how that affects hitters,
but I'm sure, but we know how the effects pitchers,
so I'm sure with effect a guy like Jeff than
neil's arm in the outfield that wasn't the best arm
ever to begin with anyway. But this is now, like
this is a clear indication there is a lot of
additions that again keep saying it, but like now, especially
even without Jeff, like we now have kind of six
(04:38):
position players, guaranteed position players that are going to be
on this team in this line up opening day, truthfully,
like six is six is also that's a that's with
Polanco that sent me in a soloist, Lindor, that's Alvarez,
that's baby.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That's about Vanto's Right.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Now, this Mets bench with Carson benjen lineup and Tyson
Tyrone Taylor in the lineup, has Ronnie Mariusio Luis and
Helicunya and Jared you On on the young on the
bench mark.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Viento's is the line up in this one every single day.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Like there there's a lot of holes to fill, and
as weird as it sounds for a team that had
a lot already, they kind of had to make another
one here with Jeff.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Yeah, it's just it was it felt like it was
kind of that time. And I don't know, I still
like Jeff. I still think Jeff can be a good
baseball player.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
I think he will be. I think he's gonna be
great out there.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
He'll probably have a near eight hundred ops, probably twenty. Yeah,
I mean in his Met's career, when it's all said
and done, there were huge peaks and huge valleys, but
you had almost eight hundred ops. Like this was a
guy who was objectively a good hitter and a good
player for a long time ago Jeff and was playing
center field last year. Yeah, Like I think about think
about that for a second, but I do think that
there was a bit of this war probably did run
its course. Like there's probably we're trying to change the
(05:43):
culture of the attitudes in this clubhouse. I understand a
guy like Jeff maybe, which is sometimes it didn't really
fit with some of the other guys that much as
I was gonna say that diplomatically.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I mean, when you have like Lindor, who's I don't
want to say happy go lucky, but like is a
little bit looser of a player, We're like, Okay, there's
gonna be ups and downs in the season.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
There's gonna be times where things go right and go well.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I think at times for teammates, it probably does get
a little bit old when Jeff lines out to the
second basement for the second time in a game and
comes in and smashes his helmet and freaks out.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Like we've always talked about that.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
We love that McNeil is so fucking crazy when he
plays and is insane, but like the little bit of
the red ass that he does have every once in
a while probably runs old over a one sixty two
when your team's not winning, especially when things are going
bad like they were, and it's just like, over and
over again, this happens. It's kind of sad that the
best ball that Jeff McNeil's played in the last few
years was down the second half of twenty twenty four,
(06:38):
and then he got hurt. He wasn't able to be
a part of that run, which is kind of funny too,
Like that was the best he was hitting.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And I think you and I also have just.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
A different relationship Jeff McNeil, because you're literally like friendly
with him, Like during the pandemic, you guys became friends.
I met him a FaceTime. Then we got the job
with the Mets. He hugged us on the field like
the first day we were out there with our press passes.
So it's like there's probably a little softpar in our
soft spot in our hearts, more so for Jeff McNeil,
because it seems like the overwhelming reactions for Mets fans
is jubilation on the internet.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, from a team building perspective, I get it, like
I can, I can understand it. I'm not upset any
of that, but like I would be lying if I
didn't say, like it sucks. Like Jeff was extremely nice
to me. He wanted to stream on Twitch during COVID
because everybody did. I like replied to a tweet of
his being like, hey, I can help you set things up.
Did And then like you mentioned James, like me and
James used to be roommates. We used to live together
(07:24):
in Astoria. I'm sitting on the couch or watching TV,
like watching whatever, we are all of a sudden, Jeff
McNeil's face timing mate and I like answered, I'm like hey,
He's like what do you doing, like sitting on the couch, man,
what are you up to?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Or like I was like, what's up, Jeff? Yeah, show
James like we're at a bar.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
He would like shoot me a text, like, man, like
I hate this shit, Like whatever's going on in the game.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
He's like the COVID rules, it sucks. Is so hard.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
It's different playing baseball, played MLB the show with him
genuinely just one of the nicest guys. And James even
mentioned it, like when we got Mets up with the Mets,
like when they took us on. We walked onto the field,
I go to Jeff and James goes to Jeff to
go congratulate him for having a baby. He comes up
to us first, gives us a hug. He's like, so
happy for you guys, like the podcast, that's so cool.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
What a nice fucking guy.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Even when we interviewed him in the batting cages, here's
like a it was a point of contention because I
always told the people like I'm friends with this guy.
Can go up and talk to him, They're like, let
us go through the proper channels to get him on
the podcast.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
He sees like, oh, he's excited to come on, Fellas. Yeah,
what's up? Fellas? Really just a very good dude.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
The ups and downs, like you mentioned, were tough, and
people had gotten tired of Jeff McNeil. But I also like,
remember the good times where people love Jeff McNeil. If
you would have told people in like twenty twenty one,
twenty twenty two that you wanted Jeff McNeil for trade
from this team, they would have been, what are you
an idiot?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Are you stupid?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I mean, we're we're gonna be paying him to play
against us. He let got play thirty four games center
field last year, but he's a I don't know, like
you think back at that year and he won the
batting title in twenty twenty two, and then we interviewed
Buck show Walter after that and he was like, I'm
really worried how Jeff's gonna prepare and we have to
cut it out because the best cut out of our podcast.
They were like, I'm really worried about Jeff McNeil playing
against without the shift this year. That was really something
he relied upon. We were like, why are you telling
(09:02):
us this right now?
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And then what's so funny is when we talked to Jeff,
he was like, I like pulling the ball.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Like I like pulling the baseball. That's what I'm at
my best.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
So if you ever heard us talk about Jeff McNeil's
guy to get back to pulling the ball, that's why
we would say it.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
And I think again, like we'll talk about the return
for the Mets in this, which again is it's a
young DSL pitcher, Jeff mcnil a good fit for this
A's team right now, Like for the A is a
team that probably wanted the second basement but didn't really
want to pay for one, wanted the veteran hitter but
didn't want to pay for one. The fact that the
Mets are going to pay down Jeff McNeil, you're you
get to pay in less than ten million dollars a year.
Bench players, like bench veterans don't even make that much money.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Well, looking at like how the Mets could fill in
this Jeff mcfeialld role, because that role is valuable to
this Mets team. It would be nice to have a
guy who could play infield positions along with the outfield
in a pinch if you needed it.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
And that's what Jeff did, who.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Was a league average to ten percent league average better
than a hitter. You could pencil him in for that.
Finding that on the open market on the trade thing
not gonna be the easiest. Like, there aren't a lot
of players that fit that role, and that sucks truly.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I just don't think you get someone to fill that role,
like I think I can't. I think unless Luis and
Helaicunya gets better and can fill that role, or unless
you want to give Jet Williams a shot to fill
that role.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Yeah, I think no one.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
I don't think there's an external player that fills that role,
unless like.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Zach Kinstry, but I don't think the Tigers are trading him.
Like that's like comp kind.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Of like the Francis Romero report, Like total Marte theoretically
could play second base in outfield like Katl Marte could
give you some left field. Again, that's that's a pipe
dream right now. It's just it's where there's I mean,
good for us, it's gonna be a fun January. Usually
January it's a pretty dead month for baseball concept, I
think we're going to have a lot of player movement
because again right now, Lindor so though Sime and Polanco,
Bay the Alvarez, every single other spot in the lineup
(10:40):
on the team is pretty up for grabs at the moment,
and you're not.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Really sure where Polanco's actually gonna even play.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
And I don't think we're anywhere close to done with
any of the stuff. There's still has to be the
expectation of a trade, like I.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
At least one trade.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Probably as different as this team looks right now compared
to the end of the season, we're going to have
similar amounts of differences between the way this team looks
right now and looks on opening Day.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Well, it's the funny thing that me and you have
kind of always said about this team. As much as
people want to talk about like pitching, pitching, pitching, there's
no ace. The pitching stinks, blah blah blah blah, and
pitching did let us down towards the end of the year.
I look at this roster still in the off season,
I go the offense is by far a bigger the
biggest concern right now.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
This entire team Francisco Lindor just putting up his first
like training video doing like doing, doing field work somewhere.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Three minutes after the trade gets announced.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
It seems like he might seems like those guys might
have hated each other the second the second happened.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
The semi and traiders, all right, there's no ways guy's
going to be of course, and then they signed Polanco
and then you just hear about you.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
But in the in the planco press conference today, despite
some crazy lines of question from some of the Mets report,
there's the Polanco revealed that the Mets told him the
plan was first dh and then the last auxiliar position
will be third base. Okay, all right, so don't I
don't think he's a guy to play second base, But
I still think that that means there is room for
other second base options on the roster.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
I mean, I guess I give you another second base
option on the roster. Oh name rhymes with met Madi.
Brett Batty played second base last year. They probably just
go if we need Simeon to have a day off,
Brett Baty goes to second, Polanco to third.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
That's gotta be what they're thinking. I think.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
So yeah, or again just keeping the door open for
anything that's a that's our blessed right now. You could
basically add a player that plays any position on the field,
it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Are you a warm
body and you're better than movies on Helicuna or Jered Young?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Guess what you're on the major league roster?
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Yeah, you could get any feather right now who's playing
anywhere but short stops. There's no short stops available. See,
the world is our oyster still, but we keep going
in the wrong direction to have of accumulated players and
not the right direction. We're how many more players can
get added to this active roster before opening day?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Woo Okay, let me see.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
So you mentioned that there's six legitimate I think the
guys that are hitting.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I'm just gonna count through the roster. That's how'm gonna know.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
So we got Lindor Simeon, Sodo, Polanco, Batty Alvarez. Those
guys are not going anywhere. I think those six are guarantees.
Then McLain Holmes, two of the Manaya, Peterson, Sanga, knnglomb
So let's put us at ten and then in the bullpen,
Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Mintor Raley's fourteen, Wasscar brose Bond's fifteen.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Just about the option. He does have the option.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
There's about ten open spots that are gonna be pretty
fluid on this roster. I think the Bets have to
bring in at least seven guys minimum, and.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Aj Minter will be on the IL on opening day.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Okay, so yeah, there's there's so many guys.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
So we still have about half of an active roster.
We played this We played this game in the podcast.
Came out to you guys this morning about we can
make four moves.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I don't know. I still you still out the field.
It's still outfield.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
These are famous last words, but it does feel like
there's going to be some way, shape or form that
one of these there's a big outfielder on this team.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
On opening day.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
It has to be somebody kind of like there has
to be, especially when you had this Steve Collen Tyrant
Tyrade the other day being like, people are talking about
payroll they don't really know, so it seems like an
indication that the payroll will be on par with's where
it's been, which is one of the highest payrolls in
the league north of three hundred and twenty five million.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Got an extra ten million to spend, So yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
I mean, we're paying jeffmcneil play against us again, like
don't don't want to leave this without talking about the
return or Don Rodriguez.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
But there's also just not that much out there on him.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
He's a seventeen year old with a good frame, so
I think just you want to get him into our
pitching lab and see if you can turn him into
a potential future starter. I got a report from a
prospect guy I know in a discord that he's got
a low nineties fastball, but I think they can add more.
There's a respectable change up and a curve like it.
Just yeah, it looks like a picture. He's again, it's
give us anything for this amount of money if you
want us to kick in this much money. This is
a group of prospects that we want. That was kind
(14:30):
of the way the haggling probably goes down for a
move like this.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Do you want to hear something crazy m about how
young this prospect is? M hm. He was born after
the first.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
iPhone was invented two thousand and seven, was the first iPhone,
the Amazon Kindle, the iPod, Touch, Twitter, and Facebook I
think launched in two thousand and seven.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
The final book of the.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Harry Potter series came out in two thousand and seven,
And we just traded Jeff, but you away for a
prospect that that age, they're one of the best case
scenarios is that we don't see what was his nam
Jurdon Rodriguez in the majors for six years.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Yeah, it's probably a real realistic outcome.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Least there's a good chance twenty thirty might be the fastest.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
He could make it to the majors.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Actually, I mean again, that's not really the point that
The point of this is that the Mets wanted Jeff
McNeil off their team basically by any means necessary. Seems
like they were waiting around for the last few months saying,
if someone's willing to take Jeff McNeil.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
You could have him.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Yeah, and this was the first team that was willing
to take him that we know of.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Will Uh, you're don Rodriguez real quick. I think he
throws like low nineties. Again, it's hard to tell because
again he's a junior in high school, so he probably
can throw harder as he becomes an actual adult.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
That's good. Yeah, puberty, We'll be kind to him. Can't
buy cigarettes, right, you gotta be eighteen to do that.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Per Baseball America, he was a part of their top
twenty pitching prospects in the last IFA class.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Cool. Yeah, why not? I think he got a signing
bonus of four hundred.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
K yeah, four hundred ky. Yeah, this is not This
trade was not about the return. This trade was about
getting rid of Jeff McNeil. And again, I think that
of a similar ilk we've had this icond the same
feeling about Koda I Sanga. Yes, he seems like he
might also get traded. Maybe there's some way to do
a need for need with Koda Sanga to get a
major league player back and get an outfielder not a
(16:13):
teenager that could be.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
The Sanga Fermon Loreano.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Maybe maybe I would do that, But I just this
is uh, there's so much work left to be done
with this roster.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Yeah, if me and James don't have the reaction you
guys were hoping for, sorry, we just were not going
to be like, yeah, I got rid of a player.
There's there's just no way we were reacting to that,
to news that we knew was gonna happen at any
point this offseason.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Yeah, it's just I mean, it's just this. This, it's first.
We've got fifty minutes out of this. I don't even
know what else say is to.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Say no, that's it. That's it. That's all I got
for you, guys. Thank you so much for watching. Make
sure you subscribe to Mess Up not just on YouTube, but.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
On Apple, podcast, Spotify, and Google. Drops a rating, drops
a review, download and subscribe. You can follow James on
social media at James Ganna. I'm drafting Mark. Thank you
as for watching. We'll catch you all later this week
for another radio.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
So yeah, yeah, see you guys.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Merry Christmas, FO
Jeff McNeil has finally been traded to the Athletics for
a seventeen year old kid from Cuba who played in
the DSL. Crazy Mets are sending money. Jeff McNeil's no
longer on this team. We're gonna talk about it just
as a player, as burst a lot of things. There's
connections to this podcast for Jeff McNeil. I'm sure some
of you at home watching this are jumping for joy.
I'm sure some of you are pulling your hair out.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Going what is this team doing? How can we get
rid of Jeff McNeil. There's a lot to talk about here.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Before we do, make sure you do subscribe. Classic us
drop an episode on Monday. David Stern selfish, couldn't wait
till Tuesday to give us the news.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Had to make sure we double upload today. But that's
what we're doing for you guys. James, when you saw
the trade, when you saw the news, what did you think?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
It's like you said, finally, it felt like the mess
have been trying to trade Jeff McNeil this all off season.
It felt like everybody in the Mets community was kind
of collectively waiting for the Messa trade.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Jeff McNeil. It was kind of like, if you're going
to trade all.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
These other guys, like, what's Jeff McNeil still doing here?
Like it's and based on the way this trade going down,
receiving a seventeen year old DSL pitcher and kicking in
almost six million dollars and then agreeing to pay the
two million dollar buyout if Jeff's option is not exercise
next year, this was a where we are getting rid
of this guy by any means necessary. And this was
this was truthfully just a team that was willing to
take him.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yeah, it's not.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
A bad deal now for the A's if you think
about from their perspective from the Mets, they did pay
the A's to take him away again for a seventeen
year old cuban who signed last year and just started
playing professional baseball. He was born in two thousand and eight.
Believe that's like the same year that Brandon Knew was drafted.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I think the year before Brandon was drafted by them.
As also two minutes ago from Francis Romero. With Jeff
McNeil gone, the Mets are believed to be exploring to
tell Marte or at least discussing him in trade talks.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I don't think those two are related because Marcus sime
is still the second baseman. I mean, listen, I'll have
to tell Marte.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Not important, right, non point, not important, just just it
just happened on Twitter. So it's fine, but it's u
This is a continuation of what this offseason has been,
which was everything changing. We're getting rid of every single
player from the stench of the old world. I'm not
even saying the old world. Like the twenty twenty five Mets,
Jeff McNeil was the second guy left on this active
roster with any connection to the Wolpond owned Mets. Now
(02:16):
the last one is David Peterson, who debuted in twenty
twenty still didn't get a foothold in the league for
years after that. I think it was just a cast
that year. But this was We've now had the four
longest tenured Mets all just gotten rid of whether by
free edge of year trade in a month.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah, and there's a very good chance that David Peterson
might not be on this team either, come opening guy.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
It's one of those moves where Jeff McNeil's.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Valuable, but on this team along with what possibly could
be the problems with him and Francisco Indoor that they've
now had multiple altercations with each other.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
We remember the rat versus raccoon.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
We heard after the Philly game that they got at
it probably just wasn't a good fit. And on a
team now that has Marcus Simeon, who is gonna play
better defensive second base, and while I think McNeil's a
better hitter, there's a world where they could end up
being the same hitter in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I don't think anyone would be surprised.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Along with bringing Jorge Polanco, who is gonna be first
base DH but could play second base.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
If you need him to.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Jeff just kind of didn't have a spot on this team,
and something that has been talked about it seems like
every offseason since David Surtas has been here is possibly
moving off Jeff McNeil. In that contract you mentioned, it's
the old garb of a Will Pond guy too with McNeil. Also,
it's a it's a Billy Eppler guy too. Billy Eppler
gave him that contract and he's gone.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
It's funny to think about that.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Billy Eppler offseason, where again.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Almost nobody from Billy Eppler stuff is still here because
even the prospects that some of that Billy Eppler.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Trade for some of them are gone. It also doesn't
look like many of them are gonna get big time
chances to do. I think scept Bryan cliffor Ran Cliff
is going to be the jewel from the Billy Eppler era.
But like you, you had him season where you it
was an objective failure, like you won a bunch of games,
you choke, you collapse against the Braves, and you fell
apart against the Padres, and like every single guy get
a big extension. Now every single one of those extensions
is off this team to three being edwind Ds, Jeff McNeil,
(03:56):
and Brandon Emo.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
It's a oh, it's a lot to take in, but
we can't. The second the Mark.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Send me a trade happen, there was a five percent
chance Jeff McNeil was going to be on the team
opening day.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
It would have been weird because the role would have
been starting left fielder. And as much as I love
Jeff as a player and a dude like, I don't
feel the greatest with viz mess roster. Having Jeff McNeil
playing every single day in left field especially.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Easy to forget Jeff McNeil's coming off the race of
outlet surgery. So I don't know how that affects hitters,
but I'm sure, but we know how the effects pitchers,
so I'm sure with effect a guy like Jeff than
neil's arm in the outfield that wasn't the best arm
ever to begin with anyway. But this is now, like
this is a clear indication there is a lot of
additions that again keep saying it, but like now, especially
even without Jeff, like we now have kind of six
(04:38):
position players, guaranteed position players that are going to be
on this team in this line up opening day, truthfully,
like six is six is also that's a that's with
Polanco that sent me in a soloist, Lindor, that's Alvarez,
that's baby.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That's about Vanto's Right.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Now, this Mets bench with Carson benjen lineup and Tyson
Tyrone Taylor in the lineup, has Ronnie Mariusio Luis and
Helicunya and Jared you On on the young on the
bench mark.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Viento's is the line up in this one every single day.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Like there there's a lot of holes to fill, and
as weird as it sounds for a team that had
a lot already, they kind of had to make another
one here with Jeff.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Yeah, it's just it was it felt like it was
kind of that time. And I don't know, I still
like Jeff. I still think Jeff can be a good
baseball player.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
I think he will be. I think he's gonna be
great out there.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
He'll probably have a near eight hundred ops, probably twenty. Yeah,
I mean in his Met's career, when it's all said
and done, there were huge peaks and huge valleys, but
you had almost eight hundred ops. Like this was a
guy who was objectively a good hitter and a good
player for a long time ago Jeff and was playing
center field last year. Yeah, Like I think about think
about that for a second, but I do think that
there was a bit of this war probably did run
its course. Like there's probably we're trying to change the
(05:43):
culture of the attitudes in this clubhouse. I understand a
guy like Jeff maybe, which is sometimes it didn't really
fit with some of the other guys that much as
I was gonna say that diplomatically.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I mean, when you have like Lindor, who's I don't
want to say happy go lucky, but like is a
little bit looser of a player, We're like, Okay, there's
gonna be ups and downs in the season.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
There's gonna be times where things go right and go well.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I think at times for teammates, it probably does get
a little bit old when Jeff lines out to the
second basement for the second time in a game and
comes in and smashes his helmet and freaks out.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Like we've always talked about that.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
We love that McNeil is so fucking crazy when he
plays and is insane, but like the little bit of
the red ass that he does have every once in
a while probably runs old over a one sixty two
when your team's not winning, especially when things are going
bad like they were, and it's just like, over and
over again, this happens. It's kind of sad that the
best ball that Jeff McNeil's played in the last few
years was down the second half of twenty twenty four,
(06:38):
and then he got hurt. He wasn't able to be
a part of that run, which is kind of funny too,
Like that was the best he was hitting.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And I think you and I also have just.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
A different relationship Jeff McNeil, because you're literally like friendly
with him, Like during the pandemic, you guys became friends.
I met him a FaceTime. Then we got the job
with the Mets. He hugged us on the field like
the first day we were out there with our press passes.
So it's like there's probably a little softpar in our
soft spot in our hearts, more so for Jeff McNeil,
because it seems like the overwhelming reactions for Mets fans
is jubilation on the internet.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, from a team building perspective, I get it, like
I can, I can understand it. I'm not upset any
of that, but like I would be lying if I
didn't say, like it sucks. Like Jeff was extremely nice
to me. He wanted to stream on Twitch during COVID
because everybody did. I like replied to a tweet of
his being like, hey, I can help you set things up.
Did And then like you mentioned James, like me and
James used to be roommates. We used to live together
(07:24):
in Astoria. I'm sitting on the couch or watching TV,
like watching whatever, we are all of a sudden, Jeff
McNeil's face timing mate and I like answered, I'm like hey,
He's like what do you doing, like sitting on the couch, man,
what are you up to?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Or like I was like, what's up, Jeff? Yeah, show
James like we're at a bar.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
He would like shoot me a text, like, man, like
I hate this shit, Like whatever's going on in the game.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
He's like the COVID rules, it sucks. Is so hard.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
It's different playing baseball, played MLB the show with him
genuinely just one of the nicest guys. And James even
mentioned it, like when we got Mets up with the Mets,
like when they took us on. We walked onto the field,
I go to Jeff and James goes to Jeff to
go congratulate him for having a baby. He comes up
to us first, gives us a hug. He's like, so
happy for you guys, like the podcast, that's so cool.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
What a nice fucking guy.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Even when we interviewed him in the batting cages, here's
like a it was a point of contention because I
always told the people like I'm friends with this guy.
Can go up and talk to him, They're like, let
us go through the proper channels to get him on
the podcast.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
He sees like, oh, he's excited to come on, Fellas. Yeah,
what's up? Fellas? Really just a very good dude.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
The ups and downs, like you mentioned, were tough, and
people had gotten tired of Jeff McNeil. But I also like,
remember the good times where people love Jeff McNeil. If
you would have told people in like twenty twenty one,
twenty twenty two that you wanted Jeff McNeil for trade
from this team, they would have been, what are you
an idiot?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Are you stupid?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I mean, we're we're gonna be paying him to play
against us. He let got play thirty four games center
field last year, but he's a I don't know, like
you think back at that year and he won the
batting title in twenty twenty two, and then we interviewed
Buck show Walter after that and he was like, I'm
really worried how Jeff's gonna prepare and we have to
cut it out because the best cut out of our podcast.
They were like, I'm really worried about Jeff McNeil playing
against without the shift this year. That was really something
he relied upon. We were like, why are you telling
(09:02):
us this right now?
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And then what's so funny is when we talked to Jeff,
he was like, I like pulling the ball.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Like I like pulling the baseball. That's what I'm at
my best.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
So if you ever heard us talk about Jeff McNeil's
guy to get back to pulling the ball, that's why
we would say it.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
And I think again, like we'll talk about the return
for the Mets in this, which again is it's a
young DSL pitcher, Jeff mcnil a good fit for this
A's team right now, Like for the A is a
team that probably wanted the second basement but didn't really
want to pay for one, wanted the veteran hitter but
didn't want to pay for one. The fact that the
Mets are going to pay down Jeff McNeil, you're you
get to pay in less than ten million dollars a year.
Bench players, like bench veterans don't even make that much money.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Well, looking at like how the Mets could fill in
this Jeff mcfeialld role, because that role is valuable to
this Mets team. It would be nice to have a
guy who could play infield positions along with the outfield
in a pinch if you needed it.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
And that's what Jeff did, who.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Was a league average to ten percent league average better
than a hitter. You could pencil him in for that.
Finding that on the open market on the trade thing
not gonna be the easiest. Like, there aren't a lot
of players that fit that role, and that sucks truly.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I just don't think you get someone to fill that role,
like I think I can't. I think unless Luis and
Helaicunya gets better and can fill that role, or unless
you want to give Jet Williams a shot to fill
that role.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Yeah, I think no one.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
I don't think there's an external player that fills that role,
unless like.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Zach Kinstry, but I don't think the Tigers are trading him.
Like that's like comp kind.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Of like the Francis Romero report, Like total Marte theoretically
could play second base in outfield like Katl Marte could
give you some left field. Again, that's that's a pipe
dream right now. It's just it's where there's I mean,
good for us, it's gonna be a fun January. Usually
January it's a pretty dead month for baseball concept, I
think we're going to have a lot of player movement
because again right now, Lindor so though Sime and Polanco,
Bay the Alvarez, every single other spot in the lineup
(10:40):
on the team is pretty up for grabs at the moment,
and you're not.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Really sure where Polanco's actually gonna even play.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
And I don't think we're anywhere close to done with
any of the stuff. There's still has to be the
expectation of a trade, like I.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
At least one trade.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Probably as different as this team looks right now compared
to the end of the season, we're going to have
similar amounts of differences between the way this team looks
right now and looks on opening Day.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Well, it's the funny thing that me and you have
kind of always said about this team. As much as
people want to talk about like pitching, pitching, pitching, there's
no ace. The pitching stinks, blah blah blah blah, and
pitching did let us down towards the end of the year.
I look at this roster still in the off season,
I go the offense is by far a bigger the
biggest concern right now.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
This entire team Francisco Lindor just putting up his first
like training video doing like doing, doing field work somewhere.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Three minutes after the trade gets announced.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
It seems like he might seems like those guys might
have hated each other the second the second happened.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
The semi and traiders, all right, there's no ways guy's
going to be of course, and then they signed Polanco
and then you just hear about you.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
But in the in the planco press conference today, despite
some crazy lines of question from some of the Mets report,
there's the Polanco revealed that the Mets told him the
plan was first dh and then the last auxiliar position
will be third base. Okay, all right, so don't I
don't think he's a guy to play second base, But
I still think that that means there is room for
other second base options on the roster.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
I mean, I guess I give you another second base
option on the roster. Oh name rhymes with met Madi.
Brett Batty played second base last year. They probably just
go if we need Simeon to have a day off,
Brett Baty goes to second, Polanco to third.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
That's gotta be what they're thinking. I think.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
So yeah, or again just keeping the door open for
anything that's a that's our blessed right now. You could
basically add a player that plays any position on the field,
it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Are you a warm
body and you're better than movies on Helicuna or Jered Young?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Guess what you're on the major league roster?
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Yeah, you could get any feather right now who's playing
anywhere but short stops. There's no short stops available. See,
the world is our oyster still, but we keep going
in the wrong direction to have of accumulated players and
not the right direction. We're how many more players can
get added to this active roster before opening day?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Woo Okay, let me see.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
So you mentioned that there's six legitimate I think the
guys that are hitting.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I'm just gonna count through the roster. That's how'm gonna know.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
So we got Lindor Simeon, Sodo, Polanco, Batty Alvarez. Those
guys are not going anywhere. I think those six are guarantees.
Then McLain Holmes, two of the Manaya, Peterson, Sanga, knnglomb
So let's put us at ten and then in the bullpen,
Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Mintor Raley's fourteen, Wasscar brose Bond's fifteen.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Just about the option. He does have the option.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
There's about ten open spots that are gonna be pretty
fluid on this roster. I think the Bets have to
bring in at least seven guys minimum, and.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Aj Minter will be on the IL on opening day.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Okay, so yeah, there's there's so many guys.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
So we still have about half of an active roster.
We played this We played this game in the podcast.
Came out to you guys this morning about we can
make four moves.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I don't know. I still you still out the field.
It's still outfield.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
These are famous last words, but it does feel like
there's going to be some way, shape or form that
one of these there's a big outfielder on this team.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
On opening day.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
It has to be somebody kind of like there has
to be, especially when you had this Steve Collen Tyrant
Tyrade the other day being like, people are talking about
payroll they don't really know, so it seems like an
indication that the payroll will be on par with's where
it's been, which is one of the highest payrolls in
the league north of three hundred and twenty five million.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Got an extra ten million to spend, So yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
I mean, we're paying jeffmcneil play against us again, like
don't don't want to leave this without talking about the
return or Don Rodriguez.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
But there's also just not that much out there on him.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
He's a seventeen year old with a good frame, so
I think just you want to get him into our
pitching lab and see if you can turn him into
a potential future starter. I got a report from a
prospect guy I know in a discord that he's got
a low nineties fastball, but I think they can add more.
There's a respectable change up and a curve like it.
Just yeah, it looks like a picture. He's again, it's
give us anything for this amount of money if you
want us to kick in this much money. This is
a group of prospects that we want. That was kind
(14:30):
of the way the haggling probably goes down for a
move like this.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Do you want to hear something crazy m about how
young this prospect is? M hm. He was born after
the first.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
iPhone was invented two thousand and seven, was the first iPhone,
the Amazon Kindle, the iPod, Touch, Twitter, and Facebook I
think launched in two thousand and seven.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
The final book of the.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Harry Potter series came out in two thousand and seven,
And we just traded Jeff, but you away for a
prospect that that age, they're one of the best case
scenarios is that we don't see what was his nam
Jurdon Rodriguez in the majors for six years.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Yeah, it's probably a real realistic outcome.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Least there's a good chance twenty thirty might be the fastest.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
He could make it to the majors.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Actually, I mean again, that's not really the point that
The point of this is that the Mets wanted Jeff
McNeil off their team basically by any means necessary. Seems
like they were waiting around for the last few months saying,
if someone's willing to take Jeff McNeil.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
You could have him.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Yeah, and this was the first team that was willing
to take him that we know of.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Will Uh, you're don Rodriguez real quick. I think he
throws like low nineties. Again, it's hard to tell because
again he's a junior in high school, so he probably
can throw harder as he becomes an actual adult.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
That's good. Yeah, puberty, We'll be kind to him. Can't
buy cigarettes, right, you gotta be eighteen to do that.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Per Baseball America, he was a part of their top
twenty pitching prospects in the last IFA class.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Cool. Yeah, why not? I think he got a signing
bonus of four hundred.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
K yeah, four hundred ky. Yeah, this is not This
trade was not about the return. This trade was about
getting rid of Jeff McNeil. And again, I think that
of a similar ilk we've had this icond the same
feeling about Koda I Sanga. Yes, he seems like he
might also get traded. Maybe there's some way to do
a need for need with Koda Sanga to get a
major league player back and get an outfielder not a
(16:13):
teenager that could be.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
The Sanga Fermon Loreano.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Maybe maybe I would do that, But I just this
is uh, there's so much work left to be done
with this roster.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Yeah, if me and James don't have the reaction you
guys were hoping for, sorry, we just were not going
to be like, yeah, I got rid of a player.
There's there's just no way we were reacting to that,
to news that we knew was gonna happen at any
point this offseason.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Yeah, it's just I mean, it's just this. This, it's first.
We've got fifty minutes out of this. I don't even
know what else say is to.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Say no, that's it. That's it. That's all I got
for you, guys. Thank you so much for watching. Make
sure you subscribe to Mess Up not just on YouTube, but.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
On Apple, podcast, Spotify, and Google. Drops a rating, drops
a review, download and subscribe. You can follow James on
social media at James Ganna. I'm drafting Mark. Thank you
as for watching. We'll catch you all later this week
for another radio.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
So yeah, yeah, see you guys.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Merry Christmas, FO
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