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Well, his nickname is Showtime. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Neither of those count as a tip. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. We should have they dunk however they wish.
Wembanyama must dunk flat-footed. Earlier on the show, NFL Network Insider Ian Rappaport. Coming up. ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passon. ESPN NBA Insider Ramona Shelburne.
And now, it's Rich Eisen. Our number two of the Rich Eisen show on the air here on Disney Plus, ESPN the app, and our radio audience, ESPN Radio and SiriusXM Channel 80. Those are our usual day-to-day, every single day locations where you can listen to us or watch us. There's also our podcast, all three hours, the Rich Eisen Podcast Network, all three hours of this program. Also, featuring no contest wrestling with TJ Jefferson and O.
Shay Jackson Jr. When this is over, they're recording their latest episode with John Cena. In studio.
So you could check that also on our YouTube channel, youtube.com/slash RichEison Show. We're also here on ESPN Cable. And if you told me years ago, hey, Rich, you're going to take phone calls on ESPN, I'd be like, wow, that's pretty cool. And then if you told me that back in 2003, when I got handed a cardboard box, I'd be there, you're like, that's never happening. But here it is.
844-204-Rich is the number to dial. Let's go. Adante in Modesto, California. First in, first up. What's up, Adante?
Hey, Rich, how you doing? How are you, sir? What's going on? Um, not much. Uh, I was at your uh Your podcast with Bullimer a couple of weeks ago, that was really cool.
I liked it. I appreciate you saying that. You're referring to the live chat I had with Chris Berman in San Francisco a few days before the Super Bowl for an upcoming Podcast series called This Was Sports Center. I'm chatting with OGs of the show.
So it was a lot of fun. I'm glad you made it. Except for the drunk couple that was heckling. Yeah, there was. They weren't heckling.
They were just loud. They were into it. They were into it and loud and tanky. I thought we came to see them. Or they were having a, it was a live chat between me, Chris, and occasionally them.
They thought it was a sing-along. It's all good. And it wasn't. It's all good. But it was fun.
They're also fans of the show. They might be hearing themselves be name-checked right now. Right.
Okay. Go for it. You know, to get the draft picks. Yes. I I I um have kind of have a solution.
I was thinking about it. How can we fix it?
So I I would eliminate The play in And just the top eight teams make the playoffs.
Okay. And then the remaining teams that don't make the playoffs. Let them have a a round robin tournament. Just like in like in the NBA, Whoever wins the tournament Gets the top pick, Lurfin the second. and trickle it down.
I'm hearing that that's a possibility as well, right? That Adam Silver, at one point, I guess a report was floating the idea of no draft. at all, making everybody a free agent. And I think obviously tanking is a problem. In the NBA, certainly since teams have been well, certainly since teams have been fined for it.
Before the all-star break, these I mean, it's happened sooner and earlier and earlier, Adante. And I I think it, you know, when a fan like you calling up and being frustrated by it, is definitely a metric that the NBA should take note of. But at the end of the day, would you really want to sit down and watch teams that didn't make the playoffs play more basketball while we're watching teams that made the playoffs play basketball? I don't think that's going to happen. I wouldn't.
I'd be have no interest in it. You know, to be honest with you, I understand that you're trying to create competition. My lord, you're trying to create competition in the same way that the commissioner did. In the all-star game, but I I don't know, and I appreciate the call. Call back.
Will you please, sir? That's Adante in Modesto, California. I heard this, and I thought, like, if Adam Silver is really threatening to take the draft away and saying, I'm just going to let the highest. Bidders win the rights for Cooper. Let's make Cooper flag a free agent, and there'll be a bidding war for him.
I don't think that's an answer either. Do you want Cooper Flag paid the most money, get a Super Max contract straight out of college? Because that's what would happen. You could put a cap on it. That's what would happen.
I think the other leagues would not allow that to happen as well. You think the NFL wants to see that? No. I just don't think it's realistic. To me, that sounded like Adam Silver telling all the governors of the NBA, I will pull this car over and we are going to we are going to end we are not going on vacation.
This trip to Disney World that we've talked about for the last few months, we're not going if you don't knock it off. Like, that's what it sounded like to me. And you you as a parent better come through on that threat. Otherwise, the kids will basically say, Yeah, we'll just keep doing what we're doing. I'll keep hitting my brother in the back seat.
You know what I mean? Like, that's what it sounded like to me. Because at the end of the day, Yeah. What what I just said in the end of the last hour, we as fans just want it to feel like you care as much about winning as we do. And governors and owners, and whatever you want to call them, who are in the NBA, are basically saying, we want to win as much as you.
We just can't win with this group. And the best way for us to win is to get us a Cooper flag. You know? That's the way the best way to win. And the best way to do that is to not win.
So hang with us. You know, in the same way the Jets. Are telling their friends, hey, listen, hang with us. We're going to rebuild. We're going to retool all these draft picks that we got for all the kids that you thought we could win a Super Bowl by building around.
We got rid of them to get these draft picks. Don't worry, we're going to nail these draft picks this time. You know, like it's the same thing. And fans keep saying, you keep telling me it's raining, but I know why I'm feeling a mist. You know, that's the issue here.
And I don't know, like maybe you just got to really hit these governors in the pocketbook, even though some of that can find it in a couch cushion. I don't know what the answer to it is, but you can't tell me that banning a draft or saying, let's have a tournament of losers. And the winner of the tournament of losers gets to be the biggest loser? Is that what it is? Like, I don't know.
I don't see how that's over. I think you take away the weightedness to the top of the draft. Like, the lottery teams, one through 14, equal. They equal, have an equal chance to get the top pick. And right now it's the top four have the same percentage.
To get the top pick.
So then, if you're right around there at 16, why would you want to try and make the. The you know, play in tournament just to get the to have the right win a couple games and then you get absolutely pole axed by the Oklahoma City Thunder. And now you don't have a shot at the same thing as the top pick does. As the team with the worst record. Like, you'd see teams tanking even worse.
I would think. With something like that. How about there's just something that happens here? Where If you start sitting people and we could see it and we know it. You get hit so hard.
It's going to be You don't want to spend that much money. Like hit him harder. In the wallet. And fans hit him harder in the wallet too by by walking. You know?
Pull a sports version of Scott Galloway right now. That's how you can vote. But I'm sure, again, teams or Uh Run by by You know, I believe, you know, the owner of the Utah Jazz really wants to win. But the best way for them to win is they got to get the best kid out of the college right now. Possible.
Someone from Michigan. Are you just doing it on? Number one in the name. That's correct. Yeah.
That's correct. Taking on Purdue tonight. That'll be a lot of fun. It's a Tuesday, Overreaction Monday, on a Tuesday. Hit it.
That was terrible. That was crap. That was garbage. This place sucks. Overreaction Mondays.
Mondays. On a Tuesday.
Alright, we're gonna do this now without having done an overreaction Monday pod. We didn't do the Overreaction Monday pod because we were too busy. showing our James K. Polk spirit. Yeah.
President's Day. I know all about showing that. What? That's my old Sports Center commercial. Yeah, I know.
Yeah, yeah.
Okay, because that's why I said it. That's why I said it. Yeah, yeah.
We're on ESPN now. I get it.
Okay, let's go. We're on the same page. All right. You know, might be on the same page.
Okay, great. No, I don't. With each other?
Okay. Stone Cold Jones wants him back, TJ. The Chiefs should bring back Tyreek Hill. Let's go. Man.
It's right there. I know.
So we could run it back with him and Mahomes, what? Both rehabbing knee injuries? Is that what they're going to do? Second half of the year. Is that what we're going to do?
Second half of the year. These guys come back. Can we call that a Cybex machine in October? They're going to run it back. Am I reading the chart?
Would they be able to do this? Stone Cold wants them. Chiefs should bring back Tyreek Hill. You imagine that happens, and he's just as good, and Mahomes is just as good, and they're taking the top of the defense off. Second half of the year, November on.
Kelsey comes back. Kelsey comes back. All right, I will ask you this. I don't know who starts the season. I will ask you this.
Who starts the year? As a man who roots for the team that just won the American Football Conference. Oh, the Patriots. That's correct. That's all right, we're back.
That's right.
Well, we're back being discussed. Would you be concerned about that? Or would you be like, yeah, run it back like it's. You know, 2020 all over again. Like it's what?
2021? Great. It's now 2026. They're both coming off of knee injuries. Good luck.
You'd like to see it, wouldn't you? I think Chiefs fans are expecting. Are you trying to speak this into existence? I think Chiefs fans would be excited about it. Would they?
Most Chiefs fans were like, yeah, we went back to back after he left, so we don't need him. And he was a headache frequently. Yeah, well their offense has gotten pretty boring.
So I think they probably kind of need him.
Okay. I don't think this is an overreaction. I just don't know if it's going to happen or if it's necessary. But if Stone Cold says let's do it. You get them on the cheap.
Okay. I don't know. Is it fine to call him Stone Cold? I mean, it's the same way. What he calls himself Stolen.
Yeah, I've heard him. I understand that. I mean, Latanian Tomlinson, when his nickname was being used nonstop about LT, Giants fans were like, what? Yeah. Don't forget that.
Fair point. Thank you. What else you got? A lot of talk about the quarterbacks. Like you said, number one storyline for you in the next couple of weeks.
Is how fast will the quarterback carousel spin?
Someone from Boston is calling me. That's weird.
Okay. Both Tua and Kyler guys are going to be cut before the new league year. They're going to be out there. I don't think that's an overreaction at all. I think that's a given.
I think that's both happening. I do. I don't think there's going to be a trademark. Why would anybody trade for their contracts when you know? Although.
I You know, listen to my guests. Um not saying that you don't. But Ian Rappaport, zooming in from his beautiful Mount Airy Lodge, wherever he was. You got that one. I remember that guy.
Have a fine winter time in the Poconos? Yes. All right. Um. He made it sound like Mike LaFleur might be like the...
We're going to get better than Kyler. Right.
Let me let me Help me help you. And you might as well keep them. For one more year and see what it works with how it looks with Mike LaFleur and let's go. Unless, I'm telling you guys. Malik Willis is going to have a market.
And I just I I like the kid. Got a chance to just have a quick conversation with him at the Kanban a few years ago when he was coming out of Liberty. And um, good dude, good person, good stock, good. Arm, good legs, apparently, good. He can be coached up.
Why wouldn't you want to hook up with him, right? Remember, someone recorded him giving homeless people clothes out of his out of the gear that he got for free at the Combine. Yes. He had me at hello. Um So, I don't think this is an overaction at all.
What else you got over there, Chris? You know, there's all the quarterback talk, there is a guy out there. Didn't play last year. Very well rested. Only 34 years old.
Good player, too. Derek Carr is going to be a starting quarterback for somebody in 2026. Um Bia? Why wouldn't somebody call him? I don't know.
Because he's retired. He wants to be a dad. I don't know. Does he? His shoulder.
On a podcast with his brother.
Sounds like he'd be up to playing it.
Okay. Yeah. This is not a bad idea. Why not, right? Listen, if Philip Rivers are going to do it at 44, Derek Carr could do it right now at his age.
Not a bad idea. Who would do it? Jets won him. Didn't the Jets? Didn't Robert Salina tell him he could be in the Hall of Fame?
He could be in the Hall of Fame if he played for the Jets. How'd that work? I mean, you know, he went to the Saints instead, but I. This was the most explosive offense in the NFL at one point. The reason why he went to the Saints, it was the worst-kept secret that Aaron Rodgers was going to the Jets.
And that was just a that was a a nice um I guess security blanket at the time. Yeah, I won't push back on this one. That's not an overreaction. Come on, get hotter. What do you got over there?
Speaking of Derek Carr, his former team, has the number one pick in the draft. It is all presumed. That Fernando Mendoza is going number one to the Raiders. Yes. The Raiders should at least think about trading out of number one for a haul of picks.
They need a full-class rebuild across the board. They have three good players. Yeah. Right? Three good players?
Yeah. Max Crosby, Ash and Genti, Brock Bowers. Bill Cole. They need a whole? Yeah, sure.
Great. They need a whole lot of people. For Quint Kubiak and Tom Brady and Company. Trade down. There's teams behind them in the draft who would love to be at number one.
You could really take advantage of what they need and want. Boom, boom. Trade picks. I like it. Let's go.
Again, what Ian Rappaport said in our number one. Um where he said that the Raiders Uh might do something like this because they he said what the raiders Could possibly do is just fill their roster with a bunch of good players. Um in free agency. Because they need to spend all that money to just get good players. Which is an interesting take on the just win baby.
Just get good play. It doesn't. Doesn't fit on a bumper sticker. You know what I mean? Spend flority.
Well, just spend, baby. Just spend, baby. But on the right players, though. No, we don't do that. Why do people not view Fernando Mendoza as a Surefire first overall.
I'd be wondering, maybe we can talk to DJ or somebody else. He's on Friday.
Okay. Where would Mendoza fit in the 2024 draft class? I gotcha? I hear you. But he even beat out Cam Ward in last year's travel.
Exactly. I understand. Did Mendoza win in this theory? Is he a national champion quarterback? Yes, I'll check that box.
Keep going. Keep going. Keep going right now. Keep now. Keep going right now.
Keep going. Save the 2024. Did he go undefeated? Check the box. Yes.
And then what else did he do? What else did he do? Did he win the national championship? Oh, yeah. Oh, wait a minute.
Did he win the national championship while getting his ass beat? every single time because he just constantly got pounded. Did he do that? Did he run the ball in on fourth down? Did he do all that?
Has he shown everything he needs to show? Has he moved from one team to another? Has he done that? Will he go home, or will the rhino have a spearmint taste to it in Las Vegas? Is he better than Bo Nix?
Got it. You picked up what I'm putting down there, Jay. I got three. I don't know. Onward, I say this is this is not this is not an overreaction.
But I don't like it. What else you got? You got one more because Jeff Passins is about to zoom in.
Okay, come on, basketball. The NBA All-Star game, home run. But it's time to retire the dunk contest for good, Rich Island. What did I say? You probably heard me what I said before.
You're like, damn it, I had that thing for overaction money. All right, but I want to end on a hot one.
Okay. I guess we're sort of tuned into the Olympics, but the Winter Olympics lacks the buzz that the summer does.
Okay. For sure. Does it? Oh, yeah, come on. Oh, for sure.
All the big events, all the big athletes that you know are in the summer.
Okay. Okay. But there is a sport that's played during the winter that is oddly in the summer games.
Okay. Basketball should be in the Winter Olympics. Oh, I like it.
Now.
Well done. Wow, you're safe.
Well done. The NHL does it. They take a nice break for so hockey can go into the Winter Olympics. Why can't the NBA do this? Every four years, every four years, you get rid of the all-star game because you have the best stars play on the world stage Winter Olympics.
It's perfect. Great idea. Never gonna happen. Never gonna happen. Why?
Why not? Because the NBA doesn't want it to do it. NBA's happy to do it in the summer when they don't have to take a break. This would be perfect. Yeah, I mean, you could eliminate all of these, you know, DNP coaches' decisions, give these guys a little.
I like it even better. I like that, bro. Have NBA stars do curling.
Now you're talking. See, that's silly. How about Victor Wembanyama and Muggsy Bogues in a two-man luge? Right? You could put Muggsy in a onesie.
That would be in a onesie. I mean, that would be Mugsy in a onesie or a baby bjorn. goes losing down.
Okay. Okay. Now you're safe. This is a good idea. Victor Wimbunyama could put his finger on the stone from 15 feet away.
Right? That would be cheap. All right. We take that, Brock. Good stuff.
Over Extra Money on a Tuesday. Jeff Passen, kind enough during breaking news all over his sport to join us next live on ESPN and Disney Plus. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Save money and get a better view of the road when you replace your worn-out wiper blades at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Right now, save $10 on a pair of Rainex Latitude Wiper Blades.
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Rich Eisen here, the tax deadline will be here before you know it. And you just want to know your taxes are actually being handled. But the old way, you hand everything off and then silence. Days pass, weeks pass. You start wondering, should I send another follow-up email?
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So this tax season, get your best possible outcome and every dollar you deserve without the guesswork. Visit TurboTax.com today to learn more. Real-time updates only an iOS mobile app, only available with TurboTax full-service experts. I'll give you the floor on the story of the day, Jeff, and what's going on with that. Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLB Players Association, is resigning today.
And this is something, Rich, that I think a lot of people in the game have been expecting for some time. After Don Van Ada and I broke the story back in May of last year, that the federal government and the Eastern District of New York, which has been in the news plenty, whether it's for the NBA gambling or for Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, they are looking into both financial improprieties that have been alleged as well as potential obstruction as well. And I think it just got to the point now that this is a seminal year for Major League Baseball and especially for the Players Association. You've got owners who want to implement a salary cap. And what you need, if you are the players and you're opposed to the salary cap, is strong leadership.
And with this hanging over Tony Clark as long as it has, the feeling was it was just going to be a matter of time until he got forced out or resigned. There is no succession plan at this point. Players are meeting at 4:30 on a Zoom call from the various camps, and the player leaders, the 30 for each team, as well as the eight-man executive subcommittee, are going to talk about what the future looks like. And they might elect an interim executive director today. They may punt that for a couple of days down the road.
But I think what the players realize is that. This is a mess. It's a mess that they need to clean up a lot sooner than later because the days are ticking down until December 1st, and that collective bargaining agreement is going to expire. The likelihood is that Major League Baseball is going to lock out players, and once that happens, it's going to become a staring contest. And the question of who blinks first might be a question that comes down to who is strongest and most united.
So, your best guess, because battle stations are, as you just pointed out, Around the corner here. Best guess how baseball writ large is hearing this news. Are they quietly fist pumping? Fist pounding under their desk, or they're like, damn it, we need a partner to talk about or talk to here. Um how do you think it's being received on the other side of the table.
Jeff. I think it depends on who ascends into that role. The favorite at this point is Bruce Meyer. He's the deputy executive director. He's the lead negotiator for collective bargaining.
And he's the guy who it would be easiest to just say, because of his time at the union, because of his history, because of his knowledge on the subject, let's put him in place. There's potential, though, for players to say that we need to clean house. And the fact that this is happening in February, as opposed to June or July, or even later on in the calendar, gives us the time to go out and do a proper search. I don't believe that's going to be the approach that they have. Brett Souter, who's one of the members of the executive subcommittee, said to reporters earlier today that we are going to name an interim executive director.
Everyone presumes that that's going to come from the ranks of those at the Players Association right now. But there's been a number of things over the past year that Don and I have reported on: whether it's One Team Partners, the group licensing firm that the MLBPA started back in 2019 with the NFLPA, and which grew to like a $2 billion business. That's part of the investigation. They're looking into Player's Way, which was a youth baseball initiative that the MLDPA started that they spent at least $4 million on and really didn't hold all that many events. All this goes back, Rich, to a whistleblower complaint that was filed in November of 2024 with the Department of Labor that alleged all sorts of improprieties by Tony Clark.
And the investigation stemmed out of that, and now it ends in his resignation. All right. Since labor talk usually glazes the fans' eyes over, let's just wrap this part of our conversation up this way: why should fans care about this, and how real is this? What's the timeline? Uh, of the clouds forming, what should we look for?
I know I just gave you five questions, but just uh. tell me what fans should know. Jeff. Yeah, maybe your producer should have told you to ask better questions rather than not wear a suit. But that being said, wow.
Rich, here is why this matters. Because collective bargaining is the story of 2026, and it's going to be the thing that either allows for games to be played in 2027 or keeps Major League Baseball off field then. And that's a scary proposition. The game's in a good place right now for the most part, but there are issues with the game. You know, the fact that the Dodgers are spending as much as they are and teams toward the bottom are spending as little as they are.
And there's that giant disparity, it has alienated fans. And collective bargaining is the way to solve that.
Now, is the salary cap the right way? You ask players and they will say definitively no.
So I'm not sure it's necessarily going to lead to that. But for the union, it's pretty simple. Like, can they come out of this projecting strength? Or is this going to be the sort of thing that weakens them to the point where I don't think they're going to capitulate on a cap, but for Major League Baseball, something like this, owners look at it like it's positive for the league side. It'll be interesting to see what the fallout is because as anti-cap as Tony Clark was, Bruce Meyer is even more vehemently so.
And I just I have trouble seeing a scenario where Major League Baseball players agree to that. And if they don't, how far are owners going to be willing to push for it? And how long could this lockout that's likely to start on December first last? Yeah, Mets owner Steve Cohen, who is definitely not Bobby Oxelrod from Billions, Um, said just uh, I think it was yesterday or over the weekend, you know, how the Dodgers have put a great team together. They can spend, and he may sit aside saying, you know, I can spend two.
Which is true. It just seems that everybody's taking the Dodgers' money. Why is that? They're offering the 401k, or it's just like, why wouldn't you want to be teammates with Joey Otani and managed by Dave Roberts and winning two in a row when they could win a third in a row? Is that what it is?
Yeah, how about you get to go play on the best team in baseball and get to play with the best player in history?
Sounds pretty good to me. And what the Dodgers have to offer beyond that, Rich, is the advantage that they have in that they have googobs of cash. And you know they're owned by Guggenheim Partners, which is a money manager that has more than three hundred fifty billion billion dollars under management at this point. And you know, Steve Cohen is one of the richest men in the world. And then you have a bunch of owners who would they like to win?
Sure. But at what cost? Is it a deficit spending? Is it otherwise? How do they do it?
And I think people who are observers of baseball right now feel like the on-field product. Pretty darn good at this point. You've got stars like Otani and like Ark Judge, you know, like legitimately generational guy. But Does the rest of the game feel fair? And if not, what can they do to go and solve that?
And figuring out, I think, if there is a happy medium between what the owners want and a salary cap and what the players want and essentially a status quo system is going to be the rub of this whole thing. Can they do that? Are there going to be creative and open-minded enough people to go out and try and strike a deal rather than run this thing off the cliff? Have we seen all the movement? Preseason, are we done with it?
Or is there just going to be another team to screw it? You know, the Dodgers get Kyle Tucker. We're just going to load up and we're going to make a trade. And we're going to find somebody that's sitting on their current team that makes a gajillion dollars and screw it. We're going to go into luxury tax and we're going to go for it.
Is there anything like that in the ether, Jeff? It could happen, but there's nothing really percolating at this point. There are a few free agents left out there, but all the big names, you know, Lucas Giolito is the biggest.
Now and he's a very good pitcher, and he's going to do well in free agency. But beyond that, there's really not a whole lot. We've got the teams where we are right now. And the greatest hope, Rich, is not going to be out talenting the Dodgers because there's not a team that can outtalent. This is going to be more about The randomness of baseball.
And let's not forget, you know, three years ago, the Arizona Diamondbacks absolutely wood-shedded the Dodgers in the postseason and wound up making a World Series run themselves.
So the nature of baseball makes it possible, but the talent of the Dodgers is so overwhelming that they are the distinct. And I would argue more than any of the, you know, almost 25 years I've been covering this game, they're going to be the overwhelming favorites going into the 2026 season.
Well, not to drag you into the conversations I have with my now 15-year-old son, who's a die-hard baseball fan, plays MLB the show every two seconds he can. And I did imbue him with the, well, he loves Boog Xiambi. And so I know, right? I imbued him with a love of the pinstripes. He's like showing me all sorts of crazy, you know, rumors about, you know, one involved Bryce Harper.
And I basically said the Yanks need somebody like Stephen Kwan at the top of the lineup. You know what I mean? We need to find their Ernie Clement. And the reason why I bring that up is what you just said: that even though we're talking about the Dodgers being some massive juggernaut fueled by gajillions of dollars. They damn near lost the World Series to a bunch of guys who could put the ball in play, catch the ball, pitch it, you know.
Um throw split finger after split finger. And damn near pulled it off, right?
So, so in a World Series that will live for the rest of our lives is one of the best ever, Jeff, you know? Yeah, and I think if you're a Yankees fan, what you can look at is the same way the Dodgers look at things. The Dodgers just signed Evan Phillips for $6.5 million. Evan Phillips is coming off of Tommy John surgery as a one-inning reliever and is not going to be back until about.
So that shows you the Dodgers are planning. Or October. That's what they have their eye on. And if you look at October right now, and if Garrett Cole comes back healthy and Carlos Redon comes back healthy, and Cam Schlittler, you get a full season of him. And of course, Max Freed at the top of the rotation.
That's the kind of rotation that can shut down a team like the Dodgers.
So I think the fear of the Yankees and the Phillies have the same thing going on, frankly, is that this team looks a lot like last year's team. And neither of those teams last year made it to the World Series. And, you know, are they running it back? Yeah, pretty much they are running it back. But those were also two of the winningest teams during the regular season.
So you can rationalize if you're them the reasons behind it. The offseasons didn't necessarily go the way either team was hoping. But I'm not looking at the Yankees in the Phillies right now as dead in the water. It's just the same. And in sports, we've been conditioned to expect something a little bit different when what happened the year before didn't end with champion.
Yeah, because the Dodgers do that every year, right? I mean, they. They do. I mean, the Dodgers have won two in a row, and they went out and gave Kyle Tucker $240 million for four years and Edwin Diaz a three-year $69 million deal.
So. They added the best free agent. In Major League Baseball this winter, and they added the best closer on the market, and probably one of the three best closers in the game right now. And when you factor in all those things, I think it's fair to ask the question of all the teams out there: do you want to win as much as the Dodgers? Like, is this important to you?
And if so, how are you showing it? What are you doing to tell your fan base? And I think a lot of these organizations, and I get why, they say we can't do this. We can't do it like the Dodgers. And they could.
the rules are in place for them to do so. It would just take an enormous amount of spending to do so. And that's just something that team owners have not shown themselves willing to do. And yes, the Dodgers have enormous advantages, Rich, and so do the Mets. But those advantages are really made clear by the system that's in place right now.
And that's ultimately what we're talking about today. What does the system look like? And how are there levers that can be pulled so that the Dodgers and the Mets don't separate themselves into a completely different stratosphere than where the rest of the teams in Major League Baseball are? All right, last one for you: ABS, which is again allowing players in Major League Baseball to challenge a ball in a strike using the Hawkeye system that we've seen for tennis and now for first down yard marks for Uh the NFL, is it true, Jeff? That this system is going to change the way we as fans watch a game with a strike zone box on the screen because baseball doesn't want A live game cast to be utilized in real time by a team whether to challenge.
Or not, is that happening? Jeff? The sense that I've gotten is that there will be some changes to it. I believe that it's just going to be more that the graphic that comes off on the screen is not going to indicate whether it's in the supposed strike zone or the strike zone that's marked on TV. I think SNY, the Mets broadcaster, actually did it this way, where it was just a hollow circle in the area that showed where it was, but it didn't say that's a strike or that's a ball.
The truth is, though, Rich, like this is such a major league baseball response. What happened with the Houston Astros and the cheating scandal there? Like, they want to be above board on absolutely everything that they can. And in this situation, it's pretty simple. Like, players are supposed to challenge within a second or two of that pitch being called.
And you see it right there. All they got to do is tap on their heads. The pitcher can do it, the hitter can do it, and the catcher can do it. And uh could teams theoretically See the thing on the screen and come up with a system to relay it to home plate quickly? I suppose so, but I think over time we're going to see.
from players that you know, they're not even going to bother looking into the dugout, they're going to trust their eyes and what it tells them. And they're going to challenge based on that. And it's been about a 50% correct call rate and 50% overturn in the ABS trials that they've had so far in the minor leagues and in major league spring training as well last year.
So I think it's going to be great. It's not going to be the pitch clock. It's not going to have that demonstrable an effect, but I think it's ultimately going to be a good thing for baseball. And some of those blown calls that we've seen on balls and strikes late in important games, there will be a backstop for them now. Unless the challenge has already been used, right?
Just to inform before I let you go, you're only allowed to use it twice in a game, but if you get one of them right or both of them right, you get a third. What's the rule? Jeff. So you could keep using it. You could keep using it for the rest of the game.
You can keep it going.
Okay. Jeff, thanks for the time, man. I appreciate it. Appreciate you joining me and us on a busy day. You're the best.
You be well. You should wear a suit, Rich. It would look much more dapping than that. No, I understand, man. I do that on NFL Network.
I refer to it as dressed down, Rich. PDR. Where are you going next? What's your schedule? What are we looking for?
I got Phillies, I got Blue Jays, I got Yankees, and then I got home.
Okay, man. Looking forward to all four. I bet. Touch them all before you head home. Thanks again, Jeff.
Really appreciate it. Thanks for having me, Rich. You're the best. That's Jeff Passon, truly the best at it right here on the Rich Eisen show, joining us from. from spring training.
Listen, the ABS stuff, man, I look forward to it. And and I guess Kids, you're going to learn what it was like when we used to watch games where they didn't have a box on the screen and it wasn't immediately letting you know how fast the pitch was and whether it was a ball or a strike by. whether it's lit you know, filled in if it's hit the strike zone or if it's You know, clear and empty if it's a ball. That's the way we used to watch things. I'm used to the other way around, man.
I love knowing how fast it is and whether it was a ball or a strike, but they don't want this. television feed to be used In a way to influence a decision in real time. And as he pointed out, the reason why. This is they're they're skittish about it. The Astros used to use the T V feed To steal signs and then start banging on trash cans.
That is the way it was used. You know, to cheat. And um I guess they don't want it, but I get and if you use if you get a challenge right and you get to keep using it for the rest of the game as long as you keep getting it right. I guess I can understand that baseball wants to change the way we're watching games. You know?
I don't know. I'm worried this is, we think it's a great idea, but this isn't why. I felt the same way about the pitch clock, and now I love it. Love it. Love the pitch clock, think it's great.
Don't even look at it anymore. Same, but we love it because. 99% of the time we're watching games from home, and it makes it as a better TV product. When you are at a game, It goes fast. That's great.
It's great if you're up and moving about. You miss a lot of the game. I have no problem with the pitch clock, and I was dead set against it, and now I'm a. I just want to see how it works. You knew I was also get wanting to get rid of the shift.
immediately as soon as I was seeing it. And that's another great rule. That's another one. I'm willing to give this one a try.
Well, I better be willing because it's coming. I just I'm going to miss that square if that's what's going to happen. Yeah. 844-204-RICH, number to dial your phone calls, and we come back right here on ESPN, our final segment on the Big E, if you will, coming up. Uh Yeah.
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This show to give you an idea of what to look forward to in the de facto second half of the NBA season. And is the commissioner really thinking of abolishing the draft to teach everyone a lesson about tanking? Mark Cuban thinks that we should embrace tanking. Similar to debate on first take sort of Corey in Greenwich, New York, 844-204-H is what he dialed. What's up, Corey?
You there, Corey? Greenwich, New York, three, two. Corey, you there? Yes. Hello.
Yeah, I'm here. Where were you, Corey? Where were you? I had to turn my Bluetooth off my tractor to get it on regular activities. All right, Corey, off his Bluetooth and his tractor.
Who do Bluetooth and tractors went together? That's amazing.
Okay, what's going on, Corey? I have a my Michigan point, but I have two NBA questions for you, if you don't mind.
Well, I prefer your Michigan point, whatever it is, although I shouldn't say that. But what do you got? I give you the floor. My two NBA points is number one is beyond this point. Uh I have a bet with my other co-host radio guys, my buddies, and if I win.
He has to come milk my cows, and if I lose, I gotta bring him farm products, like me, pork.
Okay. So I'm on the vote that Giannis is going to be a Nick by the end of 2026. What do you. What do you think? Um wh what do you have to give him?
Yeah. Okay. It's portable.
Okay. It's what we would call trif over dairy. Both are, I don't know if they're, it depends on what day of the week it is to kosher, but I don't know if that's what you're talking about in Greenwich, New York. What's your other point? Yeah.
My other point is, I'm a Laker fan, but I don't believe Next summer, I don't believe my Lakers will I don't think LeBron will be a Laker next year, and I believe he'll Go to the Knicks because it's playing in Madison Square Garden. I don't think LeBron you think LeBron's going to finish with the Knicks? It's been 23 years people have been trying to put them on the Knicks. I don't know. I think the Cavs is where he finishes, you know, full circle, don't you think?
Make the most sense. What's your Michigan point, Corey? This weekend, Michigan versus Duke. Do you think that's a championship preview? Oh, very well.
That's fine.
Okay, Corey. All right. Thank you for the call. That's fine.
I do, I do. I think Lionis could end up as a Nick. I don't particularly care to talk about that right now. Is Michigan versus Duke a national championship game preview? That's what you want to talk about.
Oh, you betcha. In the same way, I told Adam Ray. Seahawk fan. prior to the game against the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional playoff round. I'm like, you could beat the Niners.
Then you beat the Rams. Then you go to the Super Bowl and beat the Patriots. avenge that loss in the house of the forty niners. It's the greatest path. Yeah.
I would love it. if Michigan took care of North Carolina maybe at some point. And then at the end of the day, Avenge the Fab Five lost to Duke. Oh my God You know what, and then hopefully they beat North Carolina at some point, you know? Using no timeouts in the game.
Don't call timeout once because they get the crap out of them. Nice. And this Michigan team has the ability to do it. Oh my gosh. He's talking about the game against Duke.
that's coming up this Saturday in uh Washington, D.C. which I'm already seeing might be the most expensive ticket for basketball in the history of that building. Hmm. Oh gosh. They're two of the three title favorites.
Michigan's now the favorite. Arizona's second, Duke third. Let me tell you this: they got Purdue tonight. which is in Purdue. That is going to require every ounce of their awesomeness to pull off.
Then there's the Big Ten tournament. They also got Illinois coming up. They got Michigan State again just to. Tell little brother what's up one more time before the Big Ten tournament. Oh man.
I cannot wait. I just love this Michigan basketball team. We'll talk about Giannis the next hour with Ramona. I'm sorry I went down that wormhole there.
Well, it's Michigan. We get it. I appreciate you saying that. We understand. Oh, this guy, Dusty May.
Fantastic, baby. Ramona Shelburne's coming up. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
