8.1.23 - JR SportBrief Hour 4

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That's BetterHelpHELP.com slash positive. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. And I'm JR and I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Shout outs everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America, East Coast, West Coast, over an ocean, over another ocean, over a couple of oceans.

Appreciate you. Thank you to super producer and host Dave Shepherd holding it down on the boards in New York City. This portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial. Stuck in a timeshare and want out? Contact the Wesley Financial Group now and get a free timeshare exit information kit at wesleyfinancialgroup.com.

I'm going to be hanging out with you for one more hour. If you missed any portion of the show, you can hit rewind on the free Audacy app. A-U-D-A-C-Y.

Get it, it's free. Thank you to everybody on your local affiliate. People tuned in on Sirius XM channel 158. Everybody on a smart speaker. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Been a busy night. Nathaniel Hackett responds to Sean Payton. We talked about Justin Verlander going from the Mets to the Astros. Franberg Valdez goes out and he throws a no-hitter on the same night. We talked about Michael Thomas.

He doesn't know what 100% means. Hall of Fame game. No Aaron Rodgers. No Deshaun Watson. Tiger Woods. He joins the PGA Tour's policy board to try to make sure no funny business happens between the PGA and Saudi Arabia or live golf.

And then the Mets are a disaster. But is is that is that breaking news? Oh yeah, by the way, how about this?

I didn't even mention this. Hunter Decker from Iowa State to QB charged in gambling investigations saying that he gambled on Iowa State games when he was a backup and then he tried to interfere and and screw up the investigation. People need to be careful with this betting stuff, man.

Getting crazy. If you want to bet on anything, bet on yourself, not on the team. 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. I gotta get into this drama though. I have to talk about the New York Mets. Today is the most New York Mets thing ever.

Today, tonight, I don't know where you're at or what you've been through. There is not a professional sports team in North America that had a worse day than the New York Mets or their fans. Let's just say their fans. I would venture to say and not having a clear idea about what's going on in every nook and cranny on planet earth, I'm going to say that there's not a sports fan base on earth over the past 24 hours that's had it worse than the New York Mets.

Let's start here. The New York Mets have spent an ungodly amount of money to try to compete for World Series this year. I am talking a $344 million dollar payroll to start the season.

For the New York Mets to, after tonight, be 50 and 56. And so what did they do last week? They said, damn it, we got two 40-year-old-ish pitchers. We're paying them more than anybody in the bigs.

$43 million each. We ain't going anywhere. Our offense can't hit.

We suck. And so the New York Mets say, what good is it just to make the playoffs if we ain't going to win the World Series? And so they send Dave Robertson to a rival. They send him to the Marlins. Max Scherzer is like, what the hell are we getting rid of our closer for?

One of the best in the bigs. What's going on? Max Scherzer is then presented with an opportunity after he gets his explanation. They basically tell him, well, listen, man, you could be next. You want to go to Texas? Max Scherzer is then traded to the Texas Rangers.

Today, another shoe drops. Justin Verlander traded back to the Houston Astros. The New York Mets are paying $153 million for players on their team. They are also now paying $151 million for players that they traded away, released, or bought out. You know Steve Cohen got like, F you money. You're paying about the same amount of money for folks who are not even on your team. He's basically buying prospects.

That's what he's done. But New York Mets fans, they got to feel screwed by this. Because Max Scherzer basically wanted to talk to Billy Epler. He wanted to talk to the GM. He wanted to talk to Steve Cohen, the owner. He wanted to get an understanding for what was going on. And after Dave Robertson was traded, Billy Epler said, last week, the end of last week, over the weekend, he said, hey, hey, hey, hey, we are not having a fire sale. This is before today.

Listen to Billy Epler. I do want to be clear that it's not a, it's not a rebuild. It's not a fire sale.

It's not a liquidation. This is just a repurposing of, you know, Steve's investment in the club. And kind of shifting that investment from the team into the organization. Oh, in fancy terms, we're taking money from the big leagues and we're going to try to, you know, repurpose it into the minor league system.

And so prepare for us to suck for the next few years. And the next thing you know, boom, Scherzer traded. The next thing you know, Verlander traded.

But here's the difference. Verlander, he's in Houston, and now Scherzer is in Texas. Scherzer spoke to the media today. Scherzer was asked about his conversations with Billy Epler, the GM, and the owner, Steve Cohen. And his response was a little clearer as to what the New York Mets were doing.

Listen to this messy nonsense. The team is now kind of shifting vision and that they're looking to compete now for 2025 and 2026. And that, you know, 2024, it was not going to be a reload situation in New York. And that it was going to be more of a transition in 2024. And that they're, you know, we're looking to, you know, make decisions, you know, to compete outside my contract window. I said, okay, you know, that's a brand new brand news to me, different than what I'd ever heard out of Steve's mouth.

I was like, all right, I got to hear this directly from Steve. So I had a phone call with Steve, and he basically articulated the same vantage point, that that was the new vision for the Mets. That was the new timeline that they were identifying and that, you know, players that were under contract for next year, that they could be potentially sold off at the deadline right now. And that the team could be really flipped around at the deadline, you know, as we speak. And so once it became, you know, official, that's the vision for the Mets. Then I said, yes, I will waive my no trade clause underneath those, underneath those pretenses. New York Mets as an organization, they can't say that, right?

Nope. Can't go in front of the fan base and have a press conference, do Zoom calls and say, ah, yeah, well, we are rebuilding for the future. So we're getting rid of the future hall of famers. We are lowering our World Series expectations and taking a crap on this year and next year. You can't say that publicly. You have to say what Billy Epler said.

We are reallocating resources throughout the organization. Just, just say we punting, man. We don't think we're good enough. An organization can't say we're not good enough to win the World Series.

And so we're, we're starting over. Can't say that, but I think the fans are even more upset. And so Billy Epler was asked about that. Billy Epler was, he was asked, hey, Max Scherzer just said, you are quitting one this year and next year. Billy Epler, do you have any response to Max Scherzer?

What do you got to say, Billy? So I'm not going to go into details. I think I, you know, said this after we, after we ended up moving Max, that, you know, any of the conversations that I'd had with him, you know, leading into the, leading into his last start as a Met, and then any conversations that I'd had after. I, I just, you know, want to, you know, want to kind of honor the, you know, those conversations that we had, and I don't really want to talk about them publicly.

Okay. Well, what, what reason does Max Scherzer have to lie? He didn't have to spill the beans. He did. Being a little messy there. He could have just said, well, you know, I had a conversation with them.

I want to keep it private. I'm happy to be a Texas Ranger. Nope. Basically, took the uh, took his bus. He backed it up onto the Mets and he said, yeah, they, they, they switched things up. And so the New York Mets are punting on this season.

They are. You got Francisco Lindor still on the team. Pete Alonso, he might get the boot. He might be traded into the future. And so before tonight's game, Lindor was asked about how he feels about being a New York man.

He's just like, uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We, I'm gonna be here a long time. We going to still try to win.

Listen to this. We got to go out there and just compete and give it our best. And I signed up here to, um, to be in a winning franchise and they're trying to do whatever it takes to be a sustainable winning franchise.

And I'm, I'm on board. Uh, that was before tonight's game. Tonight's game for the New York Mets was an absolute disaster. The New York Mets played one of the worst teams in baseball, just kind of right there with the Oakland Athletics. The New York Mets took on the Kansas City Royals. The Mets were losing the game. The Mets were winning the game. Kansas City ended up tying the game. The game went into extra innings in Kansas City at six all. They were in the sixth inning, or excuse me, the tie was six all. They were in the 10th inning and the New York Mets lost in one of the worst possible ways. To a balk.

Yes. Josh Walker, New York Met reliever, was on the mound. His pitchcom, he had an issue with it. A matter of fact, he didn't have it. He forgot it. And so he's standing there on a mound.

He makes a move. The umpire says, balk. The winning run comes in from third base. The New York Mets lose. This man didn't even throw a pitch.

The New York Mets are curse. They are screwed. This, can it be any worse?

I'm going to tell you it can be. How about this? Let me tell you it.

How about this? Let's listen to this. This is the final call here. And Shep, is this from the Royals or for the Mets? This is from the Mets.

This is the long version, so you'll get everything you need and more. Yeah, let's listen to how cursed the Mets are. Yeah, Mets radio network. Walker, the tall left-hander. The infield plays back. Massey walked in his only plate appearance tonight.

Walker stepped off. And now Alvarez is going out to the mound. They're saying it's a mound visit.

Yeah, here comes the manager, Cattuero. The entire Royals dugout was pointing. And they wanted Walker to be charged with a step off or a pitch clock violation. And therefore, ball one. Oh my goodness, they've called a block and the game is over. Josh Walker, before he calls a single pitch is called for a ball. And the game ends seven to six.

And Pat McCarthy with the pleasure of having to call that nonsense. And so what happened? Why, why, why didn't he throw a pitch? He didn't throw one damn pitch and he got called for a balk and the game ended. After the game, he forgot to put the stupid thing in his hat. Listen to Josh Walker explain it. Different game with the pitch comm now and trying to and going in without it just like I uh kind of forgot to relay relay that to Alvy so you know that's on me and uh you know getting lost in the moment flow of the zone just trying to think about the hitter and attacking him and you know just a mistake was made. It's plain simple. He forgot the pitch comm in his hat.

He forgot to put it in his hat. This is the most New York Mets thing ever. Like if you're a Mets fan you you're just used to pain. The past 24 hours have been ridiculously painful. The past 48 hours, the past three days, four days, awful. You went from thinking you could win a World Series and having the largest payroll and baseball ever to the owner who's ridiculously wealthy saying all right screw it we're done we ain't winning just blow it up.

Sucks. Meanwhile for the Houston Astros, the team that got Justin Verlander back, think about this this is how bad it is for the Met fans. Franbervoldez goes out for the the Houston Astros and he basically welcomes Verlander back to the team by throwing a no hitter.

Listen to this. Here's the 0-2 to Gallagher. Broken bat, soft liner, Pena catches it and a no hitter from Vervoldez.

First one to greet him is Maldonado and the rest of his teammates pile on. Franbervoldez throws the 16th no-hitter in Houston Astros history. That's from the Astros radio network there and the Houston Astros they went tonight over Cleveland two to nothing. His only blemish, the only thing that kept this from being a perfect game was one walk.

That's it. He walked the batter and he missed out on the perfect game with the no hitter not too shabby. A tale of two teams, a tale of two cities. Justin Verlander leaves the Mets he leaves a disaster. He goes back to a team where he just won a Cy Young and damn it also just won a World Series and the New York Mets well they just burn in the background. Just life for the New York Mets isn't it?

I even found a photo you can look on my social media at JR Sport Brief on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Mrs. Met was hanging out with the Kansas City Royals mascot. Even Mr. Met can't even get love. His own his own lady Mrs. Met I guess is his wife.

Mrs. Met is hanging out with the competition. You can't make this stuff up. I feel bad for the New York Mets. I feel bad for their fans. It's like even when you think you're getting close, even when you have a new owner, one of the most wealthy human beings on earth, you're still getting kicked in the teeth. Maybe it'll be good for the long run. He's still spending a lot of money.

He doesn't care about the bread. But the New York Mets and their fans, oh I know they're feeling pain. They're gonna feel pain for maybe a couple of years.

This is gonna be a while. Meanwhile the Braves, man we might see another Braves Astros World Series. New York Mets can watch from home. Steve Cohen can watch from his uh, hey Shep, how big do you think his television is? Do you think he has a TV? Probably bigger than the studio you and I are in combined.

Yeah. Probably a movie theater. He probably has a television set that I don't know, I've never seen in my life before. New York Mets feeling the pain. 855-212-4CBS. That's 855-212-4CBS. I don't know a sadder professional sports team.

I don't know a sadder fan base than Met fans tonight. I'm gonna take your calls on the other side. It's the JR Sport Brief Show, 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. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

I've been listening to you maybe 10-11 months and I always appreciate you being poignant, intelligent, and exactly when you have to be. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. We've been talking about the New York Mets and just how terrible, terrible today has been. Just the past few days, no Scherzer, no Verlander. They're on a bit of a reset here. General manager Billy Eppler's like, hey, don't have the same expectations next year as we did this year.

Don't count on it. And I don't blame the New York Mets. I'm like, hey, if you ain't winning the World Series, then just why can't it sort of just hang around? There's no guarantee that Max Scherzer was going to make it through a whole season that you know, he wasn't going to suffer from a dead arm. I don't blame him.

It's just painful when you think about what the expectations were and where they're at. 855-212-4CBS. Tim is calling from California.

You're on the JR Sport Brief Show. Go ahead, Tim. Hey, JR. How you doing tonight? Good, man. Good, good. Life-long Mets fan. Currently live in California. Been out here 30 years.

Born and raised in New York. I think they did absolutely the right thing. In fact, I'm totally excited for what they did. I mean, you're talking about Max. He's 39. Verlander's 40. I mean, the Scherzer was losing it to begin when he gave up 20 home runs this year. I mean, they got a lot, eight to 10 really good prospects. I mean, maybe two or three pan out, but they got Francisco Alvarez as the catcher. They got Daddy at third.

They're young and they still got Nemo. They still got Alfonso. They still got Lindor. I mean, you know, had a couple of pitchers next year.

I still have Cope. I'm not giving up on him. Maybe this year. I mean, here's the thing, man.

I had a couple of pitchers. That's easier said than done for next season. I'm not sure about that. I don't know who's a free agent.

That's my point. You don't know who a free agent is. And I'm telling you, there are no marquee free agents available. Those type of dudes who you would put at a number one at the top of your rotation, those guys are in contracts.

Like the New York Mets are paying, even though they're older, they're paying two of them or were $43 million and they're paying them to pitch elsewhere. And so you can certainly be optimistic about the New York Mets and their future by going to a youth movement. But this season is a massive disappointment. And it came, but what you're telling me about next year, I'll allow you to hear this. I'm excited for next year.

Well, Tim, you can be excited. I want you to listen to this. This is from the New York Mets.

Not for me. This is from their own GM, Billy Epler. He said, don't have the same expectations this year or next year as well.

Thank you for calling from California. Let's take a listen to Billy Epler. Just talk about the odds of them being competitive for next year. Listen to this. Going into 2024, you know, we don't see ourselves that will have the same odds that we did in 2022, 2023, but we will feel the competitive team in 2024.

And so now is a time where we start to think about what opportunities can exist in the winter time, what kind of resources that we'll have at our disposal and put our best foot forward. That's from him, not from me. You can be optimistic, but the team had World Series expectations this year. I mean, was it bound to be kind of teetering on the line?

Yeah. When you got to pay a 40-year-old, 39-year-old pitcher, yeah, yeah, it's going to teeter. And it didn't work. And the offense was pathetic. And so now you got to go back down before you get up.

You could be excited, but man, if they surpass what they've done this year, then God bless them. Good luck. 855-212-4CBS. Mike is calling from British Columbia. You're on the JR Sport Reshow. Go ahead, Mike.

Hey, thanks so much for taking my call from Vancouver, BC here, actually. So we get the Blue Jays stuff down our throats, but I want to make two quick comments on the stuff you talked about before. One thing, I really think that Sean Payton made those comments to cover up for Russell Wilson, so he doesn't have to take the brunt of it. As a big Seahawks fan, he was a major disappointment for the Broncos.

Got some friends that are Broncos fans up here, and they were super disappointed. So I think Sean Payton just can take some heat off him. Definitely agree with you that it was inappropriate, for sure.

Like, you can't go out and call somebody out like that. I haven't heard that in many, many, many years, besides, like, some hockey coaches back in the day. And then as to the Mets, yeah, they're a tragedy, but since I'm a bitter old man up here in Canada, I've got no sympathy for any New York sports team after the Marc Messier two-hand chop, my boy Trevor Linden, and stole his family cup from us. But what I really called you about is I would love to hear your opinion on my underachieving Blue Jays, even though they are in a wildcard spot, and what your thoughts are on Vlad. And I'm still a little disappointed that they didn't back the truck up for Marcus Simeon, even though we got Chapman, who's a Gold Glove third baseman.

But I just don't—his bat, and then we lost to the Marshall trade so poorly, I really think, in a good prospect. Mike, Mike, Mike, I am not thinking about no damn Blue Jays. No, just come on, man. We got some Canadian content up here that loves listening to you. No, I'm sure, but I'm being—listen, it doesn't matter if you're in Canada. You might as well have called me and asked me about the, let's see, pick an arbitrary team. Pick one. Oh, like the Diamondbacks or somebody, because nobody cares about anything. Yeah, listen, man, when it comes to— We got a whole country up here with one sports team, we got one basketball team, because they took my Grizzlies away many, many years ago.

Yeah, well, this is, well, North America is big, and the majority of the people listening are not in Vancouver or Toronto or Montreal. No, but there is a contingency following Vlad, you know, he's got his dad, you know, he just wants— Mike, oh my god, Mike, Mike, can I not answer your question? You're gonna— Go ahead. You're gonna convince me you're trying to talk me to death. The salesman. You're a salesman? What do you sell? Crap. No, seriously, what do you sell?

No, I don't. What do you sell? Multifamily appliance packages.

So what does that mean? You selling me a dishwasher or you selling me a waffle maker? If you're building a tower, an apartment complex, then you're coming to me for all your kitchens. Oh my god.

Well, you don't need to sell me an oven right now, so let's slow down. I'd love to hear your opinion on our Blue Jays though. I don't, there's nothing exciting. The Blue Jays to me don't have the pitching and they don't have the hitting.

I saw Bashet just went down, they traded for Paul DeYoung. They're a good team, but they're not good enough for me to say I'm gonna dedicate, you know, five to ten minutes on them. They just, I expect them to go through the season, maybe make the playoffs, maybe not, and they don't, nothing's gonna happen, man.

That's it. Yeah, they're gonna choke it away like they did last year. Yeah, so like why? They play in the American League East, right? So, you know, they're very central around New York and Boston. Everybody knows about the Blue Jays and there's that little bit of rivalry. I'll tell you, I'll tell you what's more interesting and you may, you may not like to hear this calling up from Vancouver or being in Canada or being a Jays fan. Saying the Yankees suck is better than saying, hey, well, what's gonna happen to the Blue Jays, okay? I do hate the Yankees, man. I do hate the Yankees and the Red Sox too.

Exactly. So, I mean, it's more interesting than the Blue Jays. It's refreshing and getting to hear your voice over the homers that we have here because we just get fed a lot of sports media from back east.

Like Vancouver doesn't have a, you know, a popular voice because the majority or the the big media conglomerates here have kind of cornered the market and it's all Toronto Maple Leafs. Tell all of them, hey, tell, tell all of them, you see, I'll talk bad about my contemporaries. Tell them JR said do better, okay? Well, hey JR, man, I appreciate you taking my call and I love listening to JR here so you have a great one.

Well, thank you, Mike. Appreciate you for calling from Vancouver. Hey, Marco Belletti, you want, you want to go up there and sell them straight for me, man? Uh, sure, if you'd like me to.

I can do that. Have you, you ever been up in Vancouver? No, I've been to Montreal, never been to Vancouver. Yeah, I've never been to Vancouver either, man. Seattle is far enough, no, they're gonna hate me up there now.

Look at me. I was getting ready to say it's the Seattle is far enough but I've been up, I can't say it. I've been to Alaska so I guess I could go to Vancouver. I'm actually shocked that there's a place that you haven't been. Ah, no, I haven't been to Vancouver. Nope, nope, haven't been.

That's got to be like really down on the list because you've been a lot of places. Yeah, but I'd go to Vancouver. They film a lot of movies up there, films I heard it's beautiful. I was gonna say it looks nice in pictures.

It is, it's gorgeous. I mean the entire Pacific Northwest is gorgeous, man. And so my apologies to Vancouver, I've skipped around you. I've been to Anchorage, Portland, Seattle and not Vancouver so my apologies. I'll get up there sooner than later.

Marco will join me. Shep, you gonna come to Vancouver? Who wouldn't want to go to Vancouver? Yeah, you see we love Vancouver.

I'm all over that. See, you're joking. You want to go to Vancouver, I'm ready to go. I'd rather go before Vancouver.

Bro, I've been nowhere. I'll go to Vancouver, let's go. Shep, you just said you love Vancouver, now you're saying no? Well, you could tell I was saying that, you know, obviously, facetiously. No? No.

See, sometimes. I love in Vancouver. I want to hang with JR, I'm gonna leave my three kids at home. Where are we going?

Vancouver? Sure, let's go. So I would hang with JR because it's JR. I'm also not a dad of three so I have some time to myself. Well, if Marco can go, you can go.

There's no excuse, you're right. You know. I heard they got good beer up there, I think.

But Marco's so New York heavy. I mean, do you really want to be affiliated with anything Toronto-based? I mean, let's be real, we don't talk.

If there's any baseball team that's good that never gets talked about, it is the Blue Jays. Shep, I can't stress this enough. Three kids at home, we're going somewhere, let's go. All right. Yeah. Well, listen, somebody from the Vancouver tourism, whatever, whatever. Hit us up, okay? We're not hard to find. Well, wait, wait, you know everybody, though. You know everybody.

That's not true. Pretty much. I don't know nobody. In Vancouver?

Yes. You know someone that knows someone, whether it's NBC-related, whether it's aviator-related, that you could hook us up with tickets. You're JR. Not in Vancouver.

Got it. That's not true. If I had to think about a connection to Vancouver, my first call would be to the NBA. And how long have they been outside of Vancouver? I don't know. Let's ask big country. Where's he at?

On a farm somewhere? Exactly. Yeah, nah. Oh, you know what?

That's not true, see? I'd call Sharif Abdur-Rahim. Good call.

Good call. Yes. He runs the G League now. And he played with your Hawks, you know. You know that. Oh, no, I know him from Atlanta, yeah.

I know him from here, yeah. Easy. See, look at you. You made me realize that I do. How about that?

I knew you did. Yeah, Sharif would be able to look into that. Hell, who knows? Let's go in February.

I heard it's nice and warm. Okay. Yeah, no, Marco doesn't do it. I'm in. Oh, okay.

All right, if it's zero degrees, then okay, all right, fine. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. First time caller and listener, I'm loving the show. Your show is just absolutely outstanding.

I gotta tell you, I've been listening to you and I've been feeling and agreeing with your flow. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio. Get some more of your calls before we have to roll out. It's 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Hey, a big shout out to Sammy Levitt. Sammy Levitt holding it down out in San Diego does the Padres post game show.

Says he listens to the JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio. I come on after the Padres finish up. Shout outs to my main man Sammy and everybody listening on 97.3 The Fan in San Diego of which we always get a lot of callers, a lot of listeners out in San Diego. So maybe it's worth a trip to go to San Diego before heading out to Vancouver.

Most definitely. Thank you, Sammy. Also, by the way, I need to let everybody know the Defensive Player of the Week is sponsored by the Navy Federal Credit Union who proudly serves the Armed Forces DOD veterans and their families. Their members are the mission.

You can learn more at NavyFederal.org. Who is the Defensive Player of the Week? Well, he's not an athlete but he happens to be a baseball executive. He's the general manager of the New York Mets, Billy Epler.

He's defending all these trades. We traded away Scherzer. We traded away Verlander. We traded away Dave Robertson.

We traded away Pham. We got Francisco Andorra standing in the middle of the locker room saying, yeah, yeah, I joined this team to compete and you know, we'll be okay. Congratulations, Billy Epler defending his own ass as Max Scherzer says, oh yeah, nah, he told me they don't plan to compete until 2025, 2026. Ooh, ouch.

Ouch, ouch, ouch. 855-212-4CBS. Johnny is calling from Baltimore. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show. What's up, Johnny? Hey, how you doing? I'm okay, Johnny. How you doing? Oh, I can't complain.

I can't complain at all. Good. I love, there's a German term, it's called schadenfreunde. It means delight at the misery of others. Huh? I had the light of the misery of the New York Yankees and the Mets.

We have one of the, I think the third lowest payroll in the league. You disappointed me. I asked you if you spoke German. You just ignored me.

Oh, oh, ist möst eine Kleine Deutsch. Okay. All right. All right. Now, the Orioles are in the toughest division in baseball.

Would you agree or not based upon winning records? Uh, yeah, yeah. I mean, the Red Sox on a roll right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's tough out there.

Yeah, it is. Where's else? You talk about Atlanta. How many are over 500 in their division? Well, it doesn't have anything to do with the Braves playing in the National League East. The Braves, have you seen their offense? Have you seen them? Have you seen them play? I haven't really seen them play.

So take heed to what I'm saying. The Braves playing in the NL East doesn't have anything to do with them whooping ass. Look, you can't take away, and I'm not going to take away, anything that Baltimore has done.

You are 100% correct. They have a third lowest payroll in all of Major League Baseball. They're one of the best teams in baseball and you can't take anything away. They just added flarity as a starting pitcher. Right. And I think that is probably, that might be the bugaboo that kicks them in the ass is they're starting pitching. So if you want to big up Baltimore and the Orioles, then you are certainly well within your right to do so. They deserve credit and accolades for what they've been able to do.

Now here's the thing. These owners, because you don't have a salary cap, they buy players, but they don't make teams. When's the last time the Yankees we've been in the World Series? Well, they won in 2009. That's the last time they went and won. And how many, is it over billions what they paid out?

Oh, well, how many do you want to count? I mean, you got dudes making 250, yes. Right. You have to build a team the Oriole way, farm teams. Orioles had the best farm team system in baseball. Okay. They had the scout.

They went back to the old, I'm 69 years old. It used to be the Oriole way. Right.

Well here, do me a favor. And this is not to take away from what they have done, but you're talking to me like the Orioles just won a World Series. No, I am not saying that.

Did I say anything that they were going? I am talking about the intrinsic failure of owners to think. No, but that's not true. So if we're not going to talk about winning a World Series, I can look at the teams that have spent major money outside of the Mets who just got their new owner two, three years ago. The last time I looked, the Yankees spend a lot of money every year. They win 90 to 100 games. The last time I looked, the Dodgers spend a crap load of money.

They're winning 90 to 100 games. So if we're not going to look at winning a World Series and we're only going to look at a team being competitive, the thought or the fact of not spending money and having the farm system is the Oriole way is not accurate. That's why I said, hey, look, let me know when the Orioles win the World Series.

Set me up. Right. And I'll let you know when that happens.

Because you said earlier in May. Well, I'll see these guys in August. Yeah. And they're winning. So let me know when they keep on winning.

What do you want me to do? No, nothing. But we'll see. You damn right. We'll see.

I don't think they'll win a World Series. Call me when they do. Okay. Okay. And I will. Good. And I'll tell you that. Thank you. Well, thank you, Johnny. Yeah.

What the hell am I supposed to do? I don't go out there and play with them. Yeah. I won a World Series in what, 40 years? If they do it this year, good for them. I just, but to think that this is the, or look, they know one way to win a championship.

Okay. Not one way I can look at the Braves. Braves got a lot of dudes that they brought up. They have a deep farm system, but they've also been able to acquire talent from outside the organization.

So let's, let's slow your roll, man. You want to tell me about the Orioles? They just traded for a dude today in Flaherty who is not a part of the organization. Everybody always want to be so hyped about their own team.

Look, I could care less. I look at all these teams with just, I don't know, normal eyes. I'm not a Braves fan.

I just call a spade a spade, man. None of these teams pay me to sit here and talk about them. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS.

This is going to be terrible. Mack is here from Buffalo. You have to say it very quickly, Mack. Hey, JR.

Thanks for having me on. I agree with a lot of what you've been saying tonight and people seem to be getting pretty upset. But what I was going to say, I have a memory back to the nineties with Derek Jeter and all of that. And I remember a lot of this going on. I used to travel a lot in New York city and I'd go to a lot of the Yankees games and I just don't remember this atmosphere that's going on around baseball right now. Mack, we're up against the break. So what's the atmosphere?

That's my point. I agree with you. Mack, what's the atmosphere?

The atmosphere, I can't figure it out. It just seems to have a lot to do with money and, and the fact that these teams are trying to, I don't know what they're trying to accomplish. So I think they're losing the point of their fans, the attention that their fans need.

Well, I think sometimes I don't want to disagree with you, but I think from a, well, now the show is over, Max. So I got to answer you from a New York Mets perspective for money. I mean, the owner just got there.

He's one of the wealthiest human beings on earth. Hey, it's tough. You can't just throw money at everything immediately and hope it works. Dodgers tried it.

It took a while before their money kicked them, but they were still winning. The JR sport re-show here on CBS Sports Radio is a wrap. I'll be back tomorrow with a top six list and whatever else is going on in the world of sports. Thank you, chef. Don't move here on CBS Sports Radio.

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