JR SportBrief Hour 2

You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. This is the JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio and I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. I'm being joined by super producer and host Dave Shepherd.

He's coming to you live from New York City. We're going to be hanging out here with you for the next three hours. Wherever you're at, I hope you're safe. I hope you're well. I hope you're cool. Hope you're having a good evening, okay? We get started though at 10 pm Eastern, 7 pm Pacific. If you want to listen to the whole show, if you want to hit pause, if you want to hit rewind, you want to go from your car to your house, from your car to your job.

It's very simple, okay? You can listen on the free Odyssey app. Thank you to everybody tuned in on our many CBS Sports Radio affiliates and stations all across the country.

So wherever you're listening at in your local market, thank you so much. You can always listen on Sirius XM Channel 158 and if you have a smart speaker, all you have to do is ask it to play CBS Sports Radio. Busy, busy day in the world of sports. The NBA is trying to drive its way to its NBA playoffs. Today, Major League Baseball opened up its season for the 2023 year. We're still waiting on Aaron Rodgers.

We're still waiting on Lamar Jackson or at least we're waiting on movement from the two of them. We're getting ready for the Final Four and both the men and women's side. We got the Masters taking place next week for my hockey fans. Yes, Stanley Cup playoffs are right around the corner as well.

We got the Frozen Four for all my college hockey fans. That's taking place next week and so it is a crazy, crazy time in the world of sports. I mean even right now this very moment, this very second, Shohei Ohtani is on the mound.

He's taking on the Oakland Athletics in that big old dump of a coliseum that I wish they would replace so the fans in Oakland could still have a team but I won't get into that conversation and Shohei Ohtani is doing Ohtani things. It's the bottom of the fourth. The score is nothing, nothing. Nobody has scored a run.

It's zero all. Shohei Ohtani already has a hit. He struck out but on the mound Shohei Ohtani has already struck out four guys and so it's just just Shohei Ohtani. What else is new and he's currently on the mound in the fourth and God knows he's probably going to strike out somebody else. Meanwhile on the basketball side right at the beginning of the show the Boston Celtics decided to smack the living hell out of the Bucks 140 to 99.

This was a beat now. Abuse. Jason Tatum 40 points. Jalen Brown 30 points. Jason Tatum was out there just knocking down threes. He had eight threes total in the game and then he decided to punctuate his scoring tonight with a dunk. I want you to listen to this from Jason Tatum. Had a dunk late in the third quarter where the game was already out of hand. Uh-oh again. Tatum looking for a 40-piece drive.

Flushes hard with two hands. Joe Ingles is like who put me on this guy. 112-69. 40 for Tatum after a slow start.

Yeah slow start. He ended up with 40 points after a slow start and the Celtics smacked the Bucks 140 to 99 potentially an Eastern Conference Finals preview and so we know the NBA season is coming to an end. Teams are trying to jockey for whatever final position that they'll have here to conclude the year for the playoffs the seedings and that stupid plan and uh baseball is getting started. And how about the first man to start the baseball season off with a home run happened to be Aaron Judge.

He wasted absolutely no time. The New York Yankees they bested the San Francisco Giants at home. The Yankees come out on top five to nothing and of course the MVP from last year got things going. I want you to take a listen to this. This is uh Mr. John Sterling from WFAN. This is uh this is a Judge-ian blast. Listen. Pitch is swung on and hit in the air to center field indeed.

Back goes just enough to get on the track at the wall. She is gone. Unbelievable. Aaron Judge in his first at bat of the year hits a home run to dead center. It is a Judge-ian blast.

All rise. Here comes the Judge. There is a John Sterling with his baseball theater and uh if Aaron Judge does what he did last year we may have to hear that I don't know about 60 plus times but we will hear it a whole hell of a lot. Right here. Well not right here.

Actually down the road from New York by about four hours down the road depending how fast you want to drive maybe five. In Washington D.C. the Braves from Atlanta Georgia where I'm at the Braves took care of the Nationals that score seven to two. No big shock when Patrick Corbin happens to be on the mound. This man had an ERA of six last year and it's a wonder that he's even still playing baseball.

No he's getting paid a lot of money that's why he's still playing baseball and he still sucks. Three innings pitched gave up seven hits and for the Braves it's like well damn the starter had to go down. Max Reed was out there for three strong before he had the exit with a leg injury. I'm like damn it man the season just started you're already pulling on your back leg.

Here take a listen courtesy of Bally Sports. He's right back to the left leg there after covering first. Rick Kranitz just looked at the bullpen for someone to toss. We'll give him a couple warm-up throws. You could tell right when he threw I don't think he could push off or whether it was landing he was not going to be able to do that.

But unfortunate the Braves ace Max Freed is going to have to leave here at the bottom of the fourth. Yeah right there after covering first you saw him just kind of grimace and reach for the back of that leg. Man come on come on really like guys are getting hurt already. Are they not warmed up? Are they not stretched out?

Are they pushing it to the limit? Playing in Florida and then going up north to the freezing cold. I know in Boston where the the Red Sox lost to the Orioles it was like 38 degrees at the first pitch.

I get it it's cold. But I mean damn good luck to Max Freed. Man hammies ain't nothing to mess with. And speaking of of hammies or just just injuries in general the Mets got another pitcher who's hurt another one. And this time this guy didn't even pitch. The New York Mets were able to hold on and beat the Marlins under air conditioning in Miami Florida. The Mets beat the Marlins five to three. Scherzer started the game and the Mets were able to win in that gigantic metallic monstrosity.

Down in Miami. But before the game everybody learned that Justin Verlander is dealing with some type of muscle strain in his armpit. If this was like World Series playoffs Justin Verlander would try to go through there. He said he's been dealing with the feeling of it in his arm for the past couple of days and he said in his warm-up yesterday that he's been dealing with the feeling of it in his arm. He just realized it's better not to play. Justin Verlander is making the same amount of money as Max Scherzer approximately 40 million dollars.

They're making more money this season than any other person. Justin Verlander just just won a damn Cy Young. Justin Verlander won a World Series. Justin Verlander is also 40 years old. Justin Verlander spoke to the media and he said yeah yeah I got an injury and this is my reaction to going on the injured list. I think the fact that I'm going to be able to continue to throw is showing how minor of an injury it is.

You know but still there is something there. If this was a different point in the season particularly late in the year I think pitching is definitely on the table. Okay all right this is the the New York Mets. Max Scherzer ends the season and he's seemingly always tired now or there's an ailment there with with him somehow some way you think about Max Scherzer. He's basically pushing 40 himself. You think about Justin Verlander it was only a couple of seasons ago he had to have Tommy John surgery. He old as hell. We saw a couple of weeks ago.

Let's think about this. Edwin Diaz. This man blew out a ligament in his knee celebrating at the World Baseball Classic. They got Jose Quintana. They added him to the rotation. Quintana is out for half the year.

You got Kodai Sanga. They just they just brought this guy over from Japan. A few weeks ago he was dealing with tendonitis in his finger. Pitching is so ridiculously fragile and you already got guys here in Major League Baseball who are hurt already.

And how about this. The New York Mets didn't tender this guy a contract because of his injury history. But the Texas Rangers them stupid dumbasses they are. They decided to give him a deal and I'm talking about Jacob deGrom. The Texans said hey here's 185 million dollars over five years.

We know that you're already now in your mid-30s but and we know you've also been hurt but let's just give you the money anyway. And to the shock of I don't want to say anybody. The Rangers were able to beat the Phillies 11 to 7 but Jacob deGrom had one of the worst starts in his damn career. Absolutely horrific start for Jacob deGrom. Three and two-thirds innings pitched. He gave up six hits. He gave up five earned runs earned runs and if you want to feel better about anything he struck out seven guys. His ERA 12.27. Is this just the first game?

Oh hell yeah it is. Am I gonna expect deGrom to give up five runs every game? Oh hell no I don't expect that. But I do expect Jacob deGrom to kind of fall apart at some point.

Whether it's this season or next season it's probably coming. Jacob deGrom talked about getting his ass whooped today. This is what he had to say about his first performance with the Texas Rangers. I didn't make some pitches when I needed to. Obviously you know I'm not thrilled with how I threw the ball but you know the guys did a good job there in the bottom of the fourth to put up what nine runs and then continue to add on.

So you know my outing I'm not thrilled with. Didn't make pitches when I needed to but the most important thing is we got to win. Okay it's the same Jacob deGrom who said yeah yeah yeah yeah I'm going to the Texas Rangers because they uh they give me a great chance to win. Okay sure Jacob deGrom has just taken all of that money. Said he expected to you know still be a New York Mets. New York Mets wasn't giving you that much money ain't stupid.

They looked at your injury history over the past several seasons so sayonara. Jacob deGrom is about to be 35 years old in two months and I don't care how late in life he started to throw a baseball. The wear and tear is already there for a guy who wants to throw 103 every time he gets the ball. But baseball is back. Aaron Judge is hitting home runs. Otani right now is striking guys out. The Braves got guys hurt. The Mets have guys hurt. Otani is already right in front of me striking dudes out.

Baseball is back and we should enjoy it. It's the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. I'll give you an update on Otani as the night moves on. 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. A matter of fact speaking of throwing a ball Anthony Richardson had his pro day down in Gainesville. Everybody talks about all these other QBs. Nobody talks about Anthony Richardson. I'm going to get to the phone calls. I'm going to tell you about Anthony Richardson.

We got a lot to do. It's the JR Sport Brief Show CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. Rob Manfred reminds me of my buddy in college that when the professor says you got 20 days to do this essay he'll wait till the last possible minute and stay up till 6 a.m trying to get this essay done in half acid. The fact, and I was about to say that point till you brought it up, the fact that he could get up there on the dark one of the darkest days in his sport and laugh and smirk and craft jokes and practice his golf swing is sickening.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. Wow yeah that was that was a year ago. I know Tom flies. Tom flies. We had no baseball this time last year. They were trying to figure out their new collective bargaining agreement and so the season was delayed. It was pushed back by almost a month.

Tom flies doesn't it? You can go from talking about how greedy the players are, how greedy the owners are and then once they got to playing baseball nobody cared anymore. And then here they are. They started the season. Thank God on time with the new CBA and they still got issues. Now we got to worry about the pitch clock. By the way, Rafael Devers of the Boston Red Sox he was the first batter penalized or struck out in major league baseball history due to a pitch clock violation. He wasn't in the batter's box when the pitcher was ready to throw the ball. Devers was knocking dirt out of his cleats and he automatically struck out.

That was his last strike and so he was he was done. Congratulations Devers. You made history. Anyway 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. I'm going to get to your calls and then I do since we were talking about individuals throwing a baseball. I'm going to talk about somebody different. Let's go ahead and talk about Anthony Richardson.

I'll get to that momentarily. He's throwing around a football today. Ralph is here from Miami.

You're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up Ralph? Good afternoon Jared. How you doing?

I'm excellent. What's on your mind? Quick question I want to ask you too. When are you going to start the Jared wisdom?

Because I really need some wisdom from you. Like right now I'm thinking about my Miami Heat right now. They're really going down the road. Do you think it's because the coach's emphasis is too much on defense or is it because like right now I feel like they're a great team but it's just like they're missing too many points. They can't score no point. Like he's like you could they could win a lot of the games. All the games comes down to the final wire but because they're not putting they're not they're missing a lot of points. Is it because coach first to focus on defense or just playing the wrong players? They're an interesting group of talent.

This is what I think it boils down to for me. The Miami Heat and and even when they went into the NBA Finals a couple of seasons ago inside the bubble I I think it was because they were in the bubble. And and we can make the same argument that one of the reasons that the Lakers had that success is because they also benefited from being in the bubble in regards to less travel and it was just a unique situation. So even then I wasn't all the way sold on the Miami Heat.

I'm not sold on them or I haven't. We can look at Jimmy Butler and his ability to to turn it up and be clutch but Jimmy Butler himself is not a dynamic scorer. He can certainly go on his stretches. He's not a dynamic scorer.

Bam Adebayo is not a dynamic scorer. Kyle Lowry has basically been cooked even before he got over to the Miami Heat and then you have Tali Hiro who I wouldn't necessarily consider even at this point of his career to be someone who's going to be an efficient scorer. Do you think you should basically sit this year? I mean do you think you should go back to the second unit? Do you think Tyler Hiro should go back to the second unit? I think that's that's that's irrelevant man.

This is what I think and this is what I've thought for years. I have been I'm not surprised that the Heat can hang in there because they have a good coach. They do emphasize defense and they have talent. What the Miami Heat do not have they do not have a slaughterer out there on the court that can just go and get it any single minute and second that they're there. That guy doesn't exist on the roster and until they have that guy on the roster the Miami Heat will be what they are right now which is good good enough to compete good enough to frustrate but not good enough to win anything. That's it.

It's not a matter of oh is Hiro on the bench or is he off the bench. They don't they don't have nothing man. They don't they don't have that star. Who's the star? Okay I get you Joel. You're right because I see your point now.

This is why I like your your wisdom because you actually hit all the points in the nail and I totally agree with you. Hey you ready let's do a quiz. You ready?

Go ahead. Would you rather have Joel and would you say would you say would you say Jimmy Butler is the best player on the Heat? Who's the best player on the Heat? At the at the moment they don't have one JR. No no no who is the best player on the Heat? Right now it's considered Jimmy Butler.

Okay. No no pick one pick one. Jimmy Butler. Okay would you rather have Giannis or Jimmy Butler? That's a easy that's a easy answer JR. Okay would you rather have Jason Tatum or Jimmy Butler?

Another easy answer. Would you rather have Joel Embiid or Jimmy Butler? Nah that is where I actually would consider due to the Joel Embiid injury and that's where I would consider. All right well look at where the Sixers are. Look at where the Heat are okay.

I got you. Well good good luck to the Heat man. They're another team and thank you Ralph for calling from Miami.

The Miami Heat are another team that they're just they're just wandering around man. You know last night I had to clarify what parity means in the NFL. A guy called I said oh the great thing about the NFL is that there's this parity that if you can go ahead and draft a decent quarterback and you're not a complete loser when it comes to a draft you can go from being an also ran in the NFL and you can quote unquote flip the switch. The Kansas City Chiefs have hit the jackpot now with Patrick Mahomes.

They don't got a damn worry in the world when it comes to at least having stability at the most important position. The New York Jets they've been able to turn things around. All they need is a QB. The Detroit Lions were able to turn things around in a singular season. It boils down to the draft and if you're a good NFL franchise if you actually run in a decent manner you can go on a roller coaster. You can have four bad years.

You can have four great years. You gonna go up and down. In the NBA oh my god it's tough. In the NBA you absolutely need a star and even the stars nowadays they move around so much like Steph Curry is is maybe the last anomaly here where he's gonna spend his whole career with the Golden State Warriors. You look at some of the other stars in the league since Curry has won his championship there's so many folks moving. Kevin Durant gone already from OKC to Golden State to Brooklyn.

Now he's in Phoenix. You think about James Harden and his movement. Think about Westbrook. We know about LeBron James and he moves around intentionally. It's tough man.

You don't have a star. You are going nowhere and to be a team and and sit around in basketball purgatory that is the worst. Let's think about the Sacramento Kings okay. The Sacramento Kings are going back to the playoffs for the first time since 2006. 2006. Who has been the leader?

Who has been running? Who's been the most important player for and to that organization between 2006 here and 2023? You gonna find me a star in there somewhere? You want to find me a superstar that that's made a difference for the Sacramento Kings?

Doesn't exist. That's why they've been in basketball purgatory. There's no time machine to give us back Chris Webber and Peja Stoyakovic and Vlade Divac and Bibby and White Chocolate and and Scott Pollack. There's nothing for that. Brent Barry. I mean damn.

There ain't nothing for that. It's a star driven league. NBA is not like the NFL. So the Miami Heat can be good.

They can be okay. They can be competitive for as long as they want. Who the hell wants to just be competitive? And this is where you get a give and take in all sports.

How much are you willing to just win and be competitive so you can put butts in the seats? So you can sell your fan base on winning? But a lot of these teams know we ain't competing for a championship. Most teams know that. Which makes these tear downs unbearable because it's a business. The teams are gonna make money in the long run. You gotta be a complete jackass. You gotta beat Daniel Snyder in the NFL with the Washington commanders to screw a team up.

And even in that regard, he's winning at the end because he's looking six billion dollars in the face. It's a hard knock life in the NBA, man. You either competing for a championship or you're the Houston Rockets rebuilding with young dudes. Or maybe, I'm sorry? No, I didn't mean to cut you off, but I have a quick question for you. Yeah, one second. Or you can even be the Oklahoma City Thunder where they're building with young guys and they're competing better than the Rockets.

Go ahead, Shep. What happened? Well, when you mentioned the notion of a superstar, and you know this and anyone that filed for the Sacramento Kings for the last decade and a half knows this as well. They had an individual that had more superstar talent than any big man to come into the NBA in the last 15 years.

You know exactly who I'm talking about. Yeah, why don't you just say his name? His name is DeMarcus Cousins. But it goes to show you, you need the right head coach. You need the right GM.

You need the right executive, whether that's an owner or the president of basketball operations. It is so much more these days in the NBA to be successful than just having a quote unquote superstar. DeMarcus Cousins, talent wise, is the biggest superstar we've had in the last 15 years in terms of a big man coming from college or the G League into the NBA. But mentally, emotionally, he never had those goods coming into the NBA and it backfired once he had the ACL and all of a sudden that superior physical talent couldn't come to its fruition when he injured himself and he was just a regular guy. I have, yeah, that's why I never put him in that category. Right. There's a lot of folks, there's a lot of folks who have talent.

Can you execute that talent? DeMarcus Cousins just being a hot head in a head case and fighting with the officials, it was never going to allow him, even as you mentioned prior to the injury, he wasn't, he wasn't going to grow. He was always for the most part going to be an albatross. And then you take a look at his body, no real shock that he eventually broke down. The most success that they looked to have, or he was looking to have, was when he was gone from that damn team. And he was actually in New Orleans for a brief spell with Anthony Davis.

And that was just two big men that were still able to play basketball and they went straight into the toilet. And so congratulations to the Sacramento Kings for being able to at least turn things around right now. We've seen the improvement of De'Aaron Fox, the efficiency. They've been able to bring in some bonus from the Pacers. You can still look at a rookie that they drafted fourth.

You got Keegan Murray, who out, who's out there set a record for threes, 188 knocking off Donovan Mitchell. And they did this last night. They beat the Blazers. They're going back into the playoffs. Good for them. Think about the squad Kings. The drought is done.

They can run around. They can talk about lighting a beam and you would hope for even their sake that they're not in basketball purgatory. You know, I don't, I don't want to be the Debbie Downer for the Sacramento Kings. There's going to be some more growth there. They're going to be good. What are they going to do to go to the next level?

And that's not something I think will take place this season. It's the JR sport brief show here with you on CBS sports radio, the Kings they're back in the playoffs. You want to know who's who now has the longest drought. It's the New York Jets. It's the team looking for QB. We'll talk about the Jets. Talk about Anthony Richardson and his pro day down in Gainesville. We'll give you an update on Shohei Ohtani and baseball, Brandon Miller and basketball. He's gone from Alabama to the NBA.

There's a lot to do, a lot to get into. It's the JR sport brief show on CBS sports radio. You're listening to the JR sport brief on CBS sports radio.

You're listening to the JR sport brief on CBS sports radio. Hey, JR. Thanks for having me on.

First time caller. You got a great show. I really like your show. You're really patient and I think you're really objective. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS.

It's the JR sport brief show on CBS sports radio. Congratulations to the Sacramento Kings. They're going back to the playoffs.

That's a foreign concept to the Kings. They ain't been since 2006 and so now the New York Jets are on the clock. The New York Jets would have totally been out of the category here if they had a quarterback last season, right? And by the way, the latest with the New York Jets is that the Green Bay Packers have decided to kind of take a step back on their trade demands to relinquish the rights to Aaron Rodgers. So the New York Jets have taken the approach of, we're not giving up a first round pick for an Aaron Rodgers who might decide to leave after one season with the damn Jets.

And so they're trying to figure out the parameters of the deal. And okay, if Aaron Rodgers sticks around for two seasons, what is the ultimate compensation? They're going to get the deal done. I don't see a reason the Green Bay Packers want to kind of string this along.

Whether it takes place right before or after the draft, I pretty much believe that's when things will be settled. And so I think about in a month's time, if not sooner, Aaron Rodgers will be in New York Jet and the New York Jets can hopefully end their playoff drought, which now stands at 12 seasons. The last time the New York Jets went to the playoffs, it was in 2010.

And God knows, I didn't even think that they were they were going to do anything then. The New York Jets were able to go to the AFC Championship game and they lost to the Steelers. I didn't think Mark Sanchez.

I wouldn't trust Mark Sanchez with Squat Ditley in my whole damn life. After the New York Jets, the Buffalo Sabres, they haven't seen the playoffs in 11 seasons. The Detroit Tigers, they haven't seen the playoffs since 2014. Congratulations, Miguel Cabrera still out there cashing them checks.

And then how about this? The team also tied with the the last playoff appearance in eight years happens to be the Angels. They also haven't been to the playoffs since 2014. And speaking of those Angels, it's the top of the seventh right now in Oakland, California. I'm going to say that for as long as I can enjoy it because it feels like the Oakland Athletics are pretty much bound to move. And the Los Angeles Angels, they couldn't have to move.

And the Los Angeles Angels, they currently lead one to nothing. If you're thinking about Shohei Ohtani for the evening, he's pitched six innings. He has struck out ten. He has yet to give up a run. He's only given up two hits and he has walked three. From the plate, Shohei Ohtani, he's one for three and he has struck out twice.

He's just a freak. One more time, the Los Angeles Angels, they lead the Oakland A's one to nothing. You know what? Let's stay in Los Angeles for a minute. And I told you about the Sacramento Kings, the fact that they are going back to the playoffs. Congratulations to them and their fans. Let's take a listen to someone who is highly likely to win Coach of the Year.

That happens to be Mike Brown. He said he is thrilled. He is ecstatic for the Sacramento Kings and their fan base.

Take a listen. The fans have been phenomenal. You know, the electricity that they bring, not just to Golden One Center, but even when we're walking around and out in the streets or out in public, the fans have been great. You know, they sure are deserving of this.

Yeah, they are. They're going to keep around with this stupid beam, though. And I kind of, I get it. It's a rallying cry for the fans. They win a game at home in Sacramento. Unfortunately, when they won last night, they were taking on the Blazers. They didn't have a chance to light the beam in Sacramento. Wasn't that kind of campy?

Like they roll a big ass button out onto the court and they light the beam. Shep, is that, is it me or is that kind of corny? A little bit, yeah. I tell you what, the Angels wish they had some self-ar rallying cry. You remember the monkey back 20 years ago? The rally monkey.

Yeah, I'm right, yes. They'd do anything for that. Yeah, but that's, the rally monkey, you know, baseball has its quirks for rally. Like people will, and this is not exclusive to the Oakland A's or the Angels. I'm thinking about the Oakland A's. They used to have the guy banging a drum. Cleveland had a guy banging the drum. Angels had that, that, that rally monkey. They sold it.

They monetized it. That's, I think that's different for baseball. Like for basketball, we win a game and we push a button and we got an imaginary light that, that shines purple up into the sky. I don't know. I mean, these are the type of things that, that teams that aren't used to winning, they got to come up with gimmicks.

That's it. It's a, it's a gimmick. And the fans love it, which is fine. But if you guys, if the Sacramento Kings keep winning, scrap the bean. It's like, it's amateurish.

It's like amateur hour. We, we win a game and we hit the button that it was like, let's stop that. I mean, 12 coaches JR in the last, you know, 15 years, like they'll do anything to win. So well, they ain't pushing that button to win.

I mean, the last coach that they had that, that went must've had probably Rick Adelman. It was you're absolutely right. Yes. Yes. That's the last playoffs.

Yeah. So look, enjoy the stupid beam this year, but if the Sacramento Kings can go on a stretch where they're actually successful, scrap the beam, man, scrap it or do something different. Let the fans hit the beam after the game and, and get free chicken sandwiches or something. But to have the players come out in light of beam is just, it's a rallying cry for former losers. And if the Kings are going to be good, do something else with the beam. Just, just don't hit it after every victory.

You're supposed to be accustomed to winning games, enjoy the beam this year, maybe use it next year and then get it the hell out of here. There ain't no other winners with these gimmicks. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. Ezra is here from Atlanta. You're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Ezra?

What's up, JR? I'm just calling because I'm so happy that baseball is back. I got, of course, my Yankees beating the Blue Jays in the ALCS and I got the Mets beating the Padres in the NOCS. So we got a subway series coming, but I'm really calling because it's so sad and such a shame that the baseball gods put Mike Trout and old Tommy on the Anaheim angels, man, because if those two players would have started their career and had their careers in any other organization, you can even put them in with the Texas Rangers.

It would have been just so much sweeter because they're wasting the way out there in Anaheim and it's sad, but baseball's back. I'm glad it's back in JR, chef. Whenever y'all want to come to Hudson Grill Midtown, first round on me.

Oh, thank you, Ezra. You're actually right around the corner from the, oh, that's a, hey, oh, let me, hey, hey, you're going to be around, you're going to be around the next bunch of days. All I do is the sport nights, man. I'll be there final four all night long.

I got UConn beating Miami all day. I may have to stop by and see you, Ezra, okay? JR, first round on me, even McAllen 12, 18, whatever. Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down.

Don Julio. Well, when I walk in, I'll ask for you, okay? Come on through. All right, thank you. Thank you, Ezra. Thank you. Appreciate you.

Stay cool. Hey, chef, how about he's right down the block from the studio, chef? It's meant to be, JR. He's right down the block from the studio. That is meant to be. And he's there with all the sports. Oh man, come on now. I may have to visit Ezra. He's a good dude, man.

Like Ezra. Yeah. He said he's a Yankees fan? Well, you know, I mean, you get beat by the Yankees so many times in a world series, you're bound to, you know, go to the dark side, right?

Well, you know what? He has a point here about the Angels that, but here's the thing. Ain't nobody forced Mike Trout to sign that contract. That's a great point, too. Nobody forced that man to sign that contract.

Nobody, nobody, nobody. He didn't give him a hometown discount, did he? No, he didn't. There was all this talk about, oh my God, Mike Trout is going to go home. He's going to go to the East Coast.

He's going to go to the fair. He's going to go to the Phillies or the Yankees or wherever. Mike Trout decided to stay his ass in Los Angeles where all he has to do is count money. Shohei Ohtani, I'd be shocked if he stays. Shohei Ohtani may go to the Dodgers. He, I can't see him staying with the Angels. And then Mike Trout is just going to rot away maybe faster than his back. I hope his back stays healthy. Poor guy. He's getting paid a lot of money though.

$426 million. I don't feel bad for Mike Trout. He'll be okay.

He can afford yoga too for his back. It's the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. Baseball is back. The NFL Draft is coming up. The NBA is going on. Ohtani is pitching. Mike Trout is going nowhere. We're going plenty of places. More when we come back. CBS Sports Radio.