MLB Trade Deadline time!

So I was gone for a few days and what happened? My favorite baseball team sold all of its players. That's what the Mets did. In a throwback to Charlie Finley of the 1970s, basically the Mets have got rid of everybody and that's okay because frankly they weren't doing a job when they were all there. Mets are, let's see, seven games out in the wild card and six teams between them in the playoffs. They weren't making the playoffs.

Elliott Johnson, my friend. I think I saw this coming last year when Max Scherzer sort of could not hold up in the last month of the season and felt like he had to come back. We knew that the Mets had pitching problems. Then they went and added somebody older in Justin Verlander.

I never understood that but here we are in the Mets are 350 million dollars poorer and out of it. How are you? I'm good. You know the deadline is always exciting. I always look forward to it every single year and it's interesting to see the different ways that people utilize.

You know it's kind of a free-for-all Adam. There's so many different ways to play it. There's so many different strategies. There's teams that buy and sell.

There's some that sell only. You know when you think of the deadline you think of you know making a push to go all in for that season but you know you'll see a conflicting strategies on teams that are building for long-term sustained success. You see teams that are that are potentially getting desperate and really the teams that get desperate Adam are the ones that may get one more winning season maybe two if they're lucky and then they're headed for a really prolonged absence from the playoffs. But one thing I do want to throw out there okay we didn't I want you to think about this the Braves when they won in 21 had a very very small minute chance of winning the World Series.

Went for it and ended up winning. I think you get to the dance and you never know what can happen and so I wouldn't have faulted the Mets if they would have stayed the course and tried to see what would happen but I also don't fault them for seeing the writing on the wall and making some changes either. Oh no they had to on top of the fact that their farm system is not producing super prospects they went out and I think they replenished at least some of the pieces they brought back could be big parts of their future and that's fine. Yeah the Mets are what the Mets are they were I remember at the start of the season going they spent 350 million dollars on this Mike that doesn't seem like they have spent that money wisely because the lineup was still eh not so good but to your first point just give yourself a chance by getting in which the Braves did a couple of years back which the Phillies did they qualified sixth last year got hot and it was probably a team that underachieved during the course of the season but got hot at the right time and made it to the World Series and lost the World Series but at least they got there but I thought it was interesting the American League East and maybe we'll get back to the Mets issues by the way you were a 667 lifetime hitter against Max Scherzer if I'm not mistaken hey Pat you must been you must have been hitting for all the teams in the National League this year against Max but then the American League East has been completely turned upside down the Yankees and Red Sox essentially set out this trade deadline yet the the other the other teams in the division certainly Toronto and Baltimore they kind of dialed it up a little bit I think that's great so a couple of things let me go to the Mets real quick so one of the players they acquired is a local talent that went to Leesville road so hopefully I wish I wish they they marketed minor league players a little bit more so that everybody understood what they were getting in return and I realized that the prospects of them playing meaningful time in the big leagues isn't great another thing to keep in mind Adam the Mets are dead last worst at creating or generating major league talent from the draft dead last right so they do have a significant problem when it comes to either talent acquisition or development scouting whatever it is they're dead last so they're going to have to improve upon that and I think that they will eventually coming to the American League East I think that either Brian Cashman is in denial with the current roster they have or all of his eggs are in the Aaron Judge basket and where he goes they all go and so once his toe is healthy they will be healthy but even looking at last year they they did really well when he was in the lineup and and obviously being MVP as he deserved it changes things but they're gonna have to get more talented Aaron Hicks leading and playing well in Baltimore I know he's injured now but he did really well get nothing but look worse it was almost it's almost embarrassing and somehow they're skating because of all the the attention the Mets are getting they're skating away from any accountability somehow but the Yankees are just not a great roster the Red Sox time is doing what he does all the time and then kind of circling back on one of the things that we see with trade deadlines when GMs or presidents whoever's running the show when they are feeling the pressure from ownership that they need to win and win quickly ultimately it ends up being bad for the organization I mean we see it every single year that that the teams that get policed are the ones that get desperate so it didn't seem like there was a lot of desperation this year I think the interesting play that you saw one of the leaks and hopefully you know we can you know try not to talk about disinformation too much but the Cardinals leaked out that they were potentially going to sign long-term Jordan Hicks and then the next day they traded him to the Blue Jays the games goes on is just hilarious man and so anyway and by the way Max Scherzer I actually batted a thousand against him in the big league so I'm sorry no big deal you're the one that Adam forget to say I had no idea until you told me oh did I did I tell you that I'm sorry I I completely screwed that up your stat of the day Adam there you go I don't know what you were against Justin Verlander you didn't face either of them all that often and I know whether Verlander or Scherzer they were both taken out of the game very strategically before your turn in the lineup came up as a pinch hitter as that's what my research tells me Elliot Johnson is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show real quick I want to go to the Angels who could have easily sold and maybe there wasn't a really good trade out there for a Shohei Ohtani but they decided to dial basically put all their chips in and try to get better and try to make the playoffs this year I hope they can sign Shohei Ohtani in the off season I mean I don't want to see him go to the Yankees I don't think he's going to come to the east coast I think he's going to stay on the west coast but what's your read on the Angels and the future of Ohtani so here's here's a good little trivia question that you can use at the bar with your baseball who was the player taking one pick before Mike Trout yeah they just the the Angels just acquired him yes sir well they made the pick too they made that pick yes so the Angels had two picks they took Gritschick first and then they took second okay so Gritschick he's a good baseball player very physical he hasn't done as well as I think everybody at home but anybody plays in the big leagues is really good obviously and so Crone I think Crone is really underrated he's a great baseball player extremely underrated I think that what they did here though if I'm reading between the lines and reading Shohei's quote was this is the first time since I've been here we've been buyers at the deadline so going into this negotiation they're showing him that they want to win that they aren't just you know constantly behind the eight ball when it comes to the trade deadline right I think they're trying to do things that they can to take advantage of his loyalty to that organization because he is a man that you really really respect Adam he is a man of character he does have loyalties but he wants to win so I think that he's going to give them if Ty goes to the runner so to speak in baseball if there's going to be a tie I think he's going to give it to the Angels but they're going to have to come with their pocketbook or their checkbook wide open because it's going to be an expensive ticket I mean I think it's a it's at least 55 million a year it might be 60 million dollars a year so let me close on this Elliot Johnson how many teams in major league baseball can afford Shohei Ohtani and I'm asking this as a trick question let's see if you get the answer right well so I don't know I don't know the answer to that but I would say all of them thank you no you did know the answer that's the right answer well all of them can it's whether or not they will you know so like teams that you know like even the Rays were floating out but they were potentially require Shohei okay maybe but obviously they were asking for a king's ransom as they should and then I think the word was that that ownership didn't want to be known as the guy that traded potentially one of the greatest ball players of all time you still got a long ways to go before but of course because of what happened with Babe Ruth and the Red Sox being you know for a hundred years just having to wear the fact they traded him to the Yankees I think that that probably has a large bearing on why he's still with the Angels but every team can't afford them whether or not they do it is another story altogether because we I mean look at the Angels you know teams that are top-heavy that don't have supporting cast they just don't win it doesn't look at a team like the Rays that have a lot more depth of guys that are really good but nobody that's like you know a super all-star Shohei you know those teams they seem to sell tickets because everybody's excited to go see him play but they aren't watching them in October and I think that's the problem that we're running into right now there's no question I don't believe Artie Moreno is trying to finance a Broadway show so that's probably a good thing that he's not going to trade Shohei Otani here's the thing is that Otani pays for himself no matter where he goes the web if he went to the Pirates the Pirates would make probably a hundred and fifty million dollars just off of Otani being on the roster he would pay for himself he might pay for himself and three other players so I would think that that would be a great investment in any team whether you want to give up the prospect whether you want to give up the prospect hall to get him I understand why some teams might not want to but when he gets the free agency every team should be interested in sure remember well remember what ownership said when the Phillies went to the World Series last year I mean ownership Middleton was on the field telling Bryce Harper that he was underpaid yeah under that was somehow possible this is a guy that's got a 300 million dollar deal so we're talking about you know if he's willing to be on record whether you know public you know whether he meant it or not it's undeniable how many jerseys that Bryce Harper sold in Philly it's undeniable how many ticket sales and season ticket sales they got out of it and sponsorships and so on and so forth and that none of that gets talked about well the only thing that ownerships want you to focus on is whether or not they get to the playoffs and whether or not they win so I agree with you you're 100 correct even if you went to Pittsburgh they would sell out everyone would want to go watch Shohei Otani play and I can promise you I would too if I lived in Pittsburgh so they if they get part and they can find a way to get them on the team and put a supporting cast around them you know it's not like the Angels aren't smart but it hasn't worked out so far so he can win somewhere I don't know where it's going to be though all right you and I are going to talk more baseball we're in August now the pendant drive is not far away we're actually probably in it there's a lot of teams in races all across baseball the O's are good I love that for my old stomping grounds at Camden Yards and I appreciate your time Elliot Johnson thank you my pleasure out