Adam talks to Elliot Johnson to talk Mets vs Braves and what this crazy race looks like so far.

This is the best of the Adam Gold Show Podcast brought to you by Coach Pete at Capital Financial Advisory Group.

Visit us at capitalfinancialusa.com. This is the Adam Gold Show. The wall of sound is a function of this studio. There's no doubt about it. There's going to be a lot of football. There's pretty much two areas we are going to go to.

The first one is last night. We're going to get some people's opinions of just the way Nathaniel Hackett kind of botched the end of the game. So Seattle is down one.

They have been a red zone disaster. The two fumbles, the second of which was by Javonte Williams, former North Carolina running back, was less his fault because the offensive line. Remember the butt fumble that the Jets have been famous for?

How could you forget? Like I know Mark Sanchez fumbled the ball, but he was sort of backed into by his own offensive lineman. Like there are people who blame Sanchez for that.

Yeah, not really. It's just the whole circumstance. So Javonte Williams fumbles, but his offensive lineman is driven back into him and part of it was the amount of confusion that Denver played with offensively all night long.

It was an absolute disaster. Anyway, so let's get to other people's opinions of what the Broncos did or did not do. They didn't let Russell Wilson go for it on fourth and five from the 45-ish yard line, like the 47-yard line. You just paid him how much money? Keyshawn Johnson from Keyshawn, J.

Will, and Max on that. Nathaniel Hackett should have let Russell Wilson be selfish in that moment, though, because it's about Russell Wilson. And I said to you, coaches sometimes, especially first-time head coaches, sometimes get caught up in those sort of things instead of understanding the bigger picture.

Caught up in what? And I'm smarter. I'll deal with this. You don't have to. I got it.

I got this handle. You can point to countless very similar situations. You can go to Aaron Rodgers and Matt Leflore. Situation taking a ball out of his hand a couple years ago against Tom Brady. We're going to kick it instead of putting the ball in my superstar's hand.

But I think they'll learn from this. Russell Wilson goes back to Seattle. You give him the football in that moment. Whatever happens happens. We lose. We lose. We win. Great.

Yes. The first part of that is the most true. And that is, why did you pay Russell Wilson all that money again? A lot of these decisions come down to probability. And the probability of kicking, of converting a 64-yard field goal, it's not 50-50. I would think it's significantly less. Versus the probability of Russell Wilson converting on a fourth and five from the 47, the plus 47 yard line. I think it was the line of scrimmage. I think the probability of that is at least the same.

At least the same. I didn't, I didn't get it. I didn't understand what Nathaniel Hackett was doing, but maybe I'm wrong. Marcus Spears, former NFLer from ESPN.

He got heated. Bro, I just don't understand what the hell these coaches be doing. This the NFL, bro. You peewee football coaches would have called the damn time out, man. Like, I'm sitting in the, I'm sitting, I'm sitting there last night watching the game.

All right. And realize this too, fellas. The Denver Broncos were inside the 10 three times in this football game and couldn't get in the end zone. That's damn near the goal line. First, they shouldn't even been in this situation. The second thing is, man, a timeout is there for you to use.

What are you saving it for? In that moment, what are you thinking? What is the coaches around you thinking? Guys, I'm scoring because Mike McCarthy did this a bunch last year. And I don't want to fall in this boat, but this was, this was some of the worst coaching in this moment that I saw 40 seconds is a yo, I'm gonna leave it at this.

The Chiefs in 13 seconds kept their playoff hopes alive. That's exactly right. Yeah. I mean, I don't disagree with any of that.

I, I just didn't understand it. It's just such a low percentage play Russell Wilson, who is never going to criticize his own head coach didn't have a problem with it. I believe in coach, I believe in what we're doing, you know, and believe in everything. And, you know, anytime you can try to find a way to make a play on fourth and five, that's great, too. But also, we, I think we, I don't think it was the wrong decision. You know, I think he can make it obviously in hindsight, you know, we didn't make it, but we're in that situation again. I wouldn't doubt whatever he decided. All right. Russell Wilson is a good teammate.

And that will just leave it at that. By the way, sharp suit that Russell was wearing last night. Did you see the haters though with the memes? No, that's golden girls. What was her name?

What was he wrong? They compared it to her one of the golden girls because she had a very similar like a really noisy blue. I thought that was nice. I thought that was good. I do think that like it was, I don't know, it was like a boy band, but that's fine. All right.

So the other issue we didn't get to yet, but let's just dump it right here. Robert Sala, the head coach of the New York Jets. The Jets are the Jets. And as long as you're going to start Joe Flacco. Adam golden studio with my man, coach Pete DeRuta with the Capitol financial advisory group.

We're talking retirement and coach. I'm a simple guy, but I like colors. Tell me how I can color code money and get ready for retirement. I like colors too. I like pictures. I like graphs.

I don't like just a bunch of words. And so what we try to do is we try to break down all those words on your statement, all those numbers into three colors, red, green, yellow. People are amazed when they come in and most of their money is in the red category.

I don't want that. Red means high horsepower potential. It also means higher horsepower. It also means high loss potential. So you have to, it's a give and take. You can be willing to do that or that. Yellow means liquid money. You can get it anytime.

It's not going to earn anything. Green gives you safe growth, but also gives you a lifetime income. As we get closer to retirement, we need some green accounts. We need the green zone, we call it. And Baghdad green zone was important. Green zone is important for you too. The next 10 people, Adam, it's a thousand dollar value golden ticket. We're going to put together for you, your very own total plan that has a green zone. It's a traffic light. I hope it's green for you.

800-661-7383 or text Adam to 21000 for coach Pete DeRuta. Every year, every game, when you lose in this league, it's the apocalypse. It's Armageddon. And people just want to jump off a bridge for some reason. We're in the instant coffee age and it's, and it's, that's, that's part of the, part of the generation we've grown up in. That's, that's part of what comes with the job. And especially in this market where there's 8 million people crammed in the one corner of the United States, it's going to get people are angry. There's no space, no space to breathe, but, uh, at the same time, you know, we, we ignore it.

We do our best to ignore the noise and keep the main thing, the main thing, which is finding ways to produce. And, uh, and for all those people, just like I told our beat here about 15 minutes ago, for all those people who continue to talk and to continue to doubt, we're taking receipts and I can't wait. And I'll speak for the entire organization to shove it down everyone's throat when it comes around.

I love your face right now. What are you going to do? Are you going to go to all of the reporters and all of the, are you going to say, eat it, your name, who writes for that paper? What? You sent this tweet out on this day. Are you out of your mind?

Yes, he is. Well, I don't even understand just like, yeah, we got beat by a team that might win the Superbowl. I, we, we, we thought we could, no, we're taking receipts. Stop.

I want Robert Salah to be successful. I don't care. You may know this or not. I grew up a Jets fan. I went to, I've probably been to more than a hundred Jets games. I go all the way back to Shea stadium.

I went to when they played a giant stadium. So I used to be a Jets fan. I don't really care anymore. It's just, you get, you move away from fandom. I'm fine. I'm not a Jets fan.

I want Salah to succeed because he seems like a good dude and a good football coach, but that ain't the way to do it. That ain't the way to do it in New York or any place really, but especially New York. We're taking receipts. Get out of here. Get out of here on that. Keyshawn Johnson played in New York. Let's just be as the Keyshawn Johnson segment. Here's Keyshawn on the current jets coach as a coach. Why are you paying attention in listening to people that are paid fans that pay to go to games and people that are paid to talk about the games. If you go back a year ago, he was worried about what Rex Ryan said. Coach the damn team.

There's a certain adding up of information. Worried about what Rex Ryan is talking about. You're not him. Okay. I'm not you.

I'm going to do it my way. Stop worrying about Max Kellerman. Jay will Keyshawn talking about how the team doesn't look inspired.

Look, I used it all. I used it against the the Jets all last year. We do a top five and bottom five one day every week during the NFL season, and I never let the Jets out of my bottom five because they started Joe Flacco when they had other options. Joe Flacco is a loss. It's a loss. I don't understand why the Jets are wasting time. Yeah.

All right. Speaking of business, the Mets and Braves are separated by one game in the lost column as we really enter the third to last week of the Major League Baseball season. They are scheduled to play a three game set in Atlanta coming up the final week of the year.

That should be an absolute blast. Elliot Johnson knows about playing in Atlanta. Durham Bulls legend, former Guardian.

You really weren't a former Guardian. Ray Royal and of course, Atlanta Brave. Nice to see you in front of us here on the Adam Gold Show.

Again, if you're watching on TV, there's Elliot. All right, handicap Mets Braves. Braves have been playing better than the Mets have. They took I believe it was three out of four in their last series. They beat the Grom in that series as well.

They did lose those two games in Seattle, though, that took him from a head to behind as we had hit the last three weeks. So handicap that race real quick. I think shares are getting hurt is interesting.

Um, you know, I mean, I don't like being this guy with an aging, you know, starting staff or, you know, roster. I mean, it's something that's gonna come up, but I think the Mets have plenty of depth. But the Braves, I think, underperformed really expectations. So there's surge, you know, similar to what they did last year. Seems like they know how to do that. Seems like Snicker knows how to make sure that the guys are.

And obviously, Anthopolis knows what he's doing. Um, I think that hanging breaking ball to Julio Rodriguez in Seattle apart and it might have broken down a barrier. It was hit so hard.

Holy cow. One of the most exciting eyes to watch. I was rooting for him in the home run derby like you have no idea, Adam, because he was so much. It was just so much fun to watch. And then, you know, I hate to pivot on you real quick, but watching what who holds is doing in Saint Louis has been absolutely fantastic.

Okay, I wanted to talk about that. We are going to get to what Albert pools is doing because he is chasing down potentially 700 home runs just a handful away. So we are going to get the polls before we get out of here. Um, is it is it fair to say that part of what the Mets problem has been over the last, we'll just say the last two weeks or so, where they struggle with the Nationals lose that first game in Pittsburgh. And I saw the headline, the reeling Mets after losing three in a row and playing 500 ball over their previous 10 games, but getting beat five to to the cut by the Cubs last night. Is it fair to say that last year and previous years are just kind of creeping into the periphery with this team, even with Buck Showalter, because they've been in positions before and have faltered when they have gotten to September.

No, I wouldn't be too worried about it. You know, just because you're you're expected to win on paper doesn't mean that you do. It would be nice for them instead of playing down to the opponent's level that they played up to their own potential, though, not like I'm sitting here being Buck Showalter, but that's basically the message that I would have for the team.

So just because it's not a big game doesn't mean it doesn't mean anything in the standing. So every game is a game that you want to win. And just because it's the, you know, the Pirates or it's the Nationals and they stink on paper doesn't mean that you're not prepared, you know, to get your butt kicked every day. Because I can promise you, when you're on one of those bad teams, your goal is to, you know, the way that you motivate the guys in that clubhouse is let's let's make this hurt.

Let's stick it to these guys every day. And obviously, these guys individually are playing for their own goals that they have set for themselves in their own careers. Just because they're losing to these teams doesn't mean that you can't run into somebody that has a really good day and you struggle offensively or maybe one of your starters has a bad day pitching.

So, you know, I think it's part of the ebb and flow of the season. I think they got plenty of talent, Adam. I think they're going to be fine.

Oh, I think they'll be fine, too. But catching the Braves or staying ahead of the Braves is going to be a challenge. And that last series is in Atlanta. How do those two teams, I assume we're going to see the Mets and the Braves meet at some point in the playoffs. It would matter to win the division because you don't have that first series to deal with because the winner of this division is going to be the second seed in the National League. The Dodgers have, I believe, already clinched next year's National League West. How do those two pitching staffs match up? Not so we don't really know how they match up for a three-game series, but when we get to the playoffs, how do they match up in terms of starting pitching? Well, they both have the horses. So, you know, I think it is obviously the important part, you know, because good pitching always beats good hitting.

But I think either one of the offenses is going to have to step up because they all got horses. Max Reed, nobody wants to face Max Reed. I mean, which one are you going to choose?

Because I think everybody's going to choose that they would rather. The easiest way to make this differentiation, Adam, is who would you rather face as a hitter? OK, and if you'd rather face Max Reed, then you obviously want DeGrom. And I think everyone that has a bat in their hand would say, I'd rather face Max Reed. Not to say that that's an easy at bat, but to clearly, clearly a different world, man.

He's in a different level. He's going to opt out of that deal, by the way, and he might get three for 150 in this offseason. So hopefully strong, strong playoff push because that's only going to make it more attractive and make the bidding go up. I mean, I think he might be I think there's a conversation to be had between him and Judge as the number one most sought after free agent in in twenty twenty three.

Oh, I don't think there's any question. Again, the only the only trepidation that anybody would have with DeGrom is he missed the first half of this season. He missed the last half of last season. So there's a fragility about him.

But I think you put up with it. You take that risk because like he's five and one with a one sixty six era. I mean, he just doesn't give up hits or if you don't give up runs, it's it's hard to lose. I know that's a that's a hot take.

But if you give up no runs, it's really, really hard to lose a game real quick to Aaron Judge. Real quick on that. Did you see the beat that came out from an opposing player that said that DeGrom is so good that even when he pitches his team doesn't hit. I did.

I did see that. That has been the case. It hasn't been as bad this year. The Mets have scored a few runs for him this year. Is there a debate over who the MVP is? I know Shohei Ohtani is great and he's great in two different, you know, disciplines, if you will, in baseball.

So that gives him such an edge in terms of war and things like that. But is there really a debate over who the American League MVP is? I mean, how does anybody compare to Aaron Judge?

Well, why don't you phrase it this way out? Because the pinstripes matter in so many ways, right? Yeah. So imagine if Shohei Ohtani is doing in that uniform, OK, with for the Yankees and then imagine what Judge is doing for the Yankees in Anaheim. You know, so I think there's something to be said for that. I'm personally I'm a judge fan. I've got to I love what he's done. I love that he's shoved in Cashman's face and said thanks, but no thanks for Steinbrenner, whomever is making that decision.

Levine, I thought that was wonderful. I love what he's doing. I like everything about what he's doing this year. Shohei Ohtani is on a different planet altogether. He's you know, he's setting records. It seems like he's number one in every pitching category.

It's pretty impressive to watch what he does on every. So I think there's definitely a conversation to be had. It makes the game fun. I just think that there's always going to be that that pinstripe bias.

But so I'm definitely in judge camp, but I don't have any I don't see any fault in being in the Shohei Ohtani camp either. Well, here's the reason I phrased it that way is because and I'm not saying it's easier. In some ways, it might be harder to still play at this level when your team is out of it. But I've always thought that there should be a winning component to the most valuable player. This is why I believe we should have a player of the year and an MVP. To me, you can be the best player and not be the MVP.

Go to the song dot com to learn more about Galaxy Z fold for. They're all the reason why the Yankees are still in front of the race is because Aaron Judge has just been on a different planet in terms of hitting all year long. I mean, they have they've had injuries. Their pitching has gone away.

But Judge has not. He has been great all year long. And he was playing center field for a lot of it. Not a bad center fielder.

Might be the Yankees best center fielder right now, at least in terms of everyday players. So is it fair or unfair to say that winning is part of this? I like that. I mean, I generally speaking, that's just that that starts on the camp of the people that are already on that side anyway. And they try to use it to make their case a lot stronger. So much of that is out of these guys control.

You know, again, you have to think of my upbringing to its fault that's fostered this. You know, my dad's favorite player was Ernie Banks. And I have more hits in the playoffs and got five hundred twelve months career. Right. Well, you're better than Ernie Banks. Think about it.

No, not even close. You think about that. And I've never been a big fan of that argument because so much of what Judge is doing is special. Sure. But the fact that the team around him is supporting him, you know, you give credit to Cashman.

Sure. But, you know, is it Ohtani's fault that the Angels can't seem to put together a winner? I mean, so that's what I don't I don't like about that argument. I think if you're the best player, the best player is the best player and deserves the award.

Not only that, because it helps make their payday later on down the road out of more attractive. And if you're not on a good team, a lot of that's out of your control. I mean, the team owns you and you don't really have a whole lot to get to free agency. Next time we talk, we're going to talk about the potential contract for Shelly Ohtani, which I don't believe we can calculate, actually.

All right. Final thing, as you mentioned, Albert Pujols. I've never been a Cardinals fan, but it's easy to be an Albert Pujols fan because he was he has he stepped into the big leagues as a great hitter.

He's never done anything. He had foot problems and was still being productive with the Angels. And now we're seeing the Albert Pujols swan song.

And this is just legendary. Heck, even Yadier Molina is starting to hit again for the Cardinals. Put what we're seeing from Pujols this year at his age in perspective. So I think I read that it's his lowest weighted runs created that with the Cardinals right in his career. But better than any of his years that he had in Anaheim or in L.A.

Right now. Gosh, that look. Look at the way he's swinging the bat out of him. I mean, he's letting it eat. So he's clearly healthy. He feels good. He's playing good.

He's being aggressive. I mean, when they're making a mistake, he's hammering it. I think everybody was glad that he beat that. He he didn't get tied for a rod. Everybody's glad that he didn't. And I hope he gets to 700. I think his career has been underrated rather than overrated, Adam, because he's been really one of the best players of my generation for sure.

And I think he's deserving of more praise, not less. And I thought like Major League Baseball doesn't do a lot right. But boy, they got the All-Star game right when they had him in home run derby. I don't know if Miguel Cabrera was hurt, but it would have been good to have him there, too, although Cabrera says he's going to continue to play. He's going to bless him.

But the way that especially the Latin players were looking at pools as this. I mean, he is a God to them is just awesome. It's great for the sport. And again, you know me, I don't like the Cardinals, but man, it's hard not to like and appreciate what he's doing. And he's been good like they're dangerous.

And Adam Wainwright. How are these guys still playing? It's a great question.

I mean, I wish I wish I knew the answer. And, you know, and trust me, as a Cubs fan grown up, we were right. Cardinals. So I don't want to give them any credit. OK. You know, and then and claim to be smarter than another fan base is one of the most arrogant, dumb things I've ever heard. If somebody can quantify that for me someday, Adam, I'd love to hear it. But I really don't want to have any of that conversation because it's a fruitless conversation. It's the smartest fans in baseball.

Self-proclaimed the St. Louis Cardinals fans. Elliott Johnson, you are the best. Appreciate your time, sir. We'll talk again very soon. I know. Thanks, Adam. You got it.

Elliott Johnson here on the Adam Gold show. Seemed like he might have been favoring the Braves. Like very close. Right. I'll say this very quickly about just baseball in general.

Yes. When healthy, the Mets have deGrom and Scherzer and the Braves don't have anybody as good as those two guys. The Mets third best pitcher, Tawaun Walker, was a borderline all star this year as well. And they've got depth. But ultimately, the Braves starting pitching is really freakin good. So while the Mets might have the two better pitchers. I think it's a wash.

I think the starting pitching is a wash. The a series between those two teams in the postseason. It's sad that it won't be. Well, I shouldn't say it won't be. Depends on how it all shakes out. Probably won't be a best of seven.

Looks like I'd be a best of five. But a series between those two teams in the postseason is going to come down to whose bullpen pitches better and who gets a key hit. Primarily, it will be it will come down to bullpen. I know the Braves are mad about Kenley Jansen. The Braves bullpen should be OK. Kenley Jansen is is a problem. Not arguing that. But I think the Braves bullpen as a whole, it's not so much about the closer. It's about the guys in front of the closer.

And I think the Braves are pretty solid in that area. But that is I hope those two teams play. It's going to be terrible on my innards. It's going to be awful on my innards. But I hope those two teams play because I think that that is the best series that we can have in Major League Baseball in the playoffs until we get to a World Series. This is the Adam Gold Show.