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Yeah, it's a very good idea. MLB last night, the good, the bad, the ugly. Yankees ranked out 17 times for the second game in a row. Otani, it's his 300th career home run. Didn't let that 299 linger too long.
Ryan O'Hearn, three homers, 10 ribbies, and a Pirates written, and Tyler Tolbert. Ties of Mage League record, hits in 12 straight plate appearances. I don't think anybody out there on any of these polymarkets thought that Tyler Pulper would be the answer of who would be the next to tie the record for. Hits in 12 straight plate appearances, but he is congratulations to Tyler Tobard of the Royals. He is the answer to that question that people are probably dying to find out who it would be.
But I want to get back to Otani here, what we're watching, because. You can sit here and say it's been a down offensive year for Otani, and that's because. The standards we have placed on Otani offensively are ridiculous, and rightfully so. Guy can't pitch because he had Tommy John. He goes, I think I'm going to do 50-50 this year.
And the. Dude actually does it, right? It's insane. He actually does 50-50, and then he follows it up by 50-some odd homers and less stolen bases, whatever. The guy is the greatest we've ever seen because he can do whatever he wants.
Like, you know, those, remember the late Chuck Norris, you had those great memes about Chuck Norris, like Death Fears Chuck Norris, things like that. When it comes to baseball in Otani, that's exactly what it is. Like Otani can do whatever he wants. Baseball fears Otani. Like, he is at this point bigger than the game because of the fact he is the greatest.
And a down here for Otani offensively right now is what, 294, 20 homers, 55 ribbies. By the way, he's hitting a leadoff, let's not forget. He's a leadoff hitter. And then throw him on the mound. He's got nine wins, a sub-two ERA.
A sub one whip? The only thing keeping him off the statistical leaderboard is the fact he hasn't pitched enough innings. You gotta pitch one inning for every game your team has played, and that is what qualifies you. And he's not reached that yet, and may not, by the way.
So, when you have like Kyle Schwarber with 31 home runs, and he's had a phenomenal season, and Schwarber is. An unbelievable home run hitter. And I love these conversations people have about, well, who's the MVP? Blah, blah, blah. You can have a legit discussion in the American League as to who the true MVP is.
Is it Bobby Witt Jr.? Judges out of that conversation. Is it Jordan Alvarez with Houston? I mean, there's a bunch of good names that you can throw into a conversation in the American League as to who is the legit MVP. But right now in the National League, is there really a conversation?
Are we looking at Schwerber's home runs versus Otani's entire. Wor work of art, right? Like Forget the hitting, throwing the pitching, and clearly far in the way, he's probably the unanimous MVP again. I think to a point we manufacture a conversation just to have it. Because there's no conversation to be had.
There's literally no conversation right now to be had as to who is the MVP in the National League. It is a foregone conclusion. The only thing that can stop Otani from winning another unanimous MVP, which would be what, number five in six years, would. would be injuries. Can Shoheiotani stay healthy for the remaining 70 games of the year?
And that's the only thing that would stop him from being MVP. You know, Aaron Judge was having a Judge-esque season, maybe a couple of too many strikeouts, and the average was a little down, but. When he went down with the injury at seventeen homers and was number two in baseball, I think, for home runs. behind Schwarber.
So, injuries kind of ended Judge's quest for another MVP. And that's the only thing that would stop Otani. And my colleague across the glass, James Steele, brought up Barry Bonds. And but Aarry Bonds has the most MVPs in history. What, seven MVPs he won?
I think it was like seven or something, something crazy like that, right? Six, seven. What was it? Yeah, seven. Yeah, seven.
I had to count real quick. I'm bad at counting. Seven, yep. That's why we're in radio, my friend. We're not here to count.
But seven MVPs. Otani is already number two. With four. And Otani probably wins a fifth.
Now, I don't know what Otani does behind closed doors. I don't believe he's out there shooting stuff into his body that would be considered illegal to the game, the way Barry Bonds obviously was. to a point chemically enhanced, let's put it that way. like the rest of baseball was back then. But Otani is going to win probably his fifth MVP this year, and really the only things that's going to stop him from continuously winning MVPs is going to be age.
Because there's nobody in this league, right? Because if Otani has, as James, you put it, a down year. he brings it back up because he's actually pitching better this year than he's ever pitched. That's the crazy thing. He's not going to win Cy Young, most likely.
But you throw in Cy Young numbers and really good offensive numbers, and you mix that all together. In the mixing pot, guess what? You have yourself a unanimous MVB because he does it better than anybody else. You've had novelty acts before, right? Dwight Gooden back in the day was considered a good hitting pitcher.
Cece Sabathy was considered a good hitting pitcher. You had some guys who could throw hard, right? Oh, this guy, you know, Rick Ann Kiel, this and that. But there's nobody who's been a legit ace on the mound and an ace at the plate. The way that Otani is.
Otani hits his 300th home run yesterday. And the question now becomes, what's Otani's future, right? He's got years remaining on that massive contract. He is not going to be able to do this forever. But here's what Shohei Otani can do now that you can DH in the National League.
He can always move to the bullpen and be a closer. Like, oh, Tani doesn't have to give you 150, 160, 180 innings pitched a year, right? He justifies his massive contract by his offence only, but But when there comes a point where he is not going to be able to physically keep doing what he's doing now. Put him in the bullpen. Otani's got this stuff to be a closer.
He's got the mentality, the makeup to be a closer. He doesn't have to completely stop pitching.
Now, Buster Only, who is obviously one of the. the greatest out there. When it comes to being a baseball insider for ESPN, BBTN podcast host Hamburg and Emmett. But Buster only actually addressed this issue when it came to Otani and what his future holds. Take a listener Olney talking about The fact that he can't play two ways his entire career.
Here's Buster Only. What he told reporters after the game was that he dealt with this sort of feeling earlier in the season. And Dave Roberts and Otani both downplayed it. They said, Look, it's not a long-term thing, it's just something that they're managing. But I would say this: he's had a series of these things this year, right?
It was earlier this season when he had some left knee soreness. That, of course, for a right-handed pitcher, is the land knee. And that backed him off a little bit. He's had some blister issues. And I think all of it is just a reminder that doing this two-way thing is really difficult.
And now, as he gets older, he's 32 years old, he's got to sort through these things. They have to make choices. There's constant communication between Shohei and the Dodgers athletic training staff, and they're getting feedback from them.
So they're working it out. But I really, truly don't believe that this is going to be something he can continue to very late in his career because it's just too hard. That's Buster Only, ESPN Baseball Insider, on the BBTN podcast, hosted by Hammer and Emmett.
Now, He's correct. Uh i it it's it puts incredible wear and tear on your body to try to be a two-way player the way that Otani is. But here's the thing, though. Otani's the one that is dictating when he's ready, okay? If Otani shows up at the ballpark on a day where he is not feeling well enough to pitch, he's not going to pitch.
He will dictate that he's not going to pitch. And the team will listen to him and allow him to make those decisions. And rightfully so. No one knows his body better than That actual person. Otani understands his body better than anybody else.
But the problem is athletes have this They have this block where They don't want to be honest with themselves, right? Athletes will try to play through injury. Downplay the severity of it or the pain of it Because they don't want to sit. They're very competitive people by nature. I've worked with, I've known professional athletes, and they have this competitive edge that we just don't have.
Like, I've worked with athletes, and we outside of work have gone and played billiards, whatever it is. And it's not fun for me because They need to win. And if I happen to win we'll have to play again until they win.
So I just let them win a lot of times because I don't have the patience to play two straight games of pool. I don't.
So go ahead and win. I don't really care. I'm not a competitive guy. It's beer league pool at this point, right? But to them, it's like life or death.
I have to win.
So it comes down to where For a guy like Otani being a world-class athlete his entire life, he was a baseball protege at a very young age in Japan. Is he going to be honest with himself knowing what the consequences of what he says is? If Otani is honest with himself in two years or three years. And says, guys, I can't do it anymore. I can't be a starting pitcher every six days, and I can't be a full-time DH/slash outfielder, whatever he wants to play first base.
Is he going to be honest with himself and say that knowing that that's going to take him off the mound as a starter? Or is he gonna try to keep doing this as long as he feels he can do it? Which in essence could actually ruin him because it could lead to Different injuries. Long-term injuries. diminishing injuries where he's never going to be the same player due to an injury.
Is he going to be honest with himself and take himself off the mount?
Now, the great thing about a guy like Shohei Otani is. Whatever he decides to do, if he just Ends up being a DH for the last three, four years of his career, he is a Hall of Fame hitter. If he says, screw it, I just want to be a relief pitcher and I don't want to hit anymore. He'll be an all-star relief pitcher as he's an all-star starter. Doesn't matter.
Because he's great at everything. The guy just, you know, when God was going to build a baseball player, he built Shohei Otani.
Okay, that's what he did. The body type The athleticism The Twitch, you know, his his his His twitch muscles are just more fine-tuned than the regular human being. Whatever you want to say, he's not. He is the ultimate perfect baseball player. He was created in a laboratory.
He's like the terminator of baseball.
So my whole point is, when you break it down and showy Otani's there, and yes, we know he's the greatest and he's going to win a couple more MVPs, there's no question about it. Will he be honest with himself and take himself off the mound? Rather than the Dodgers having to tell him he's off the mound, which might kind of develop into bad blood between Otani and the team. That could definitely be an issue. But there's nothing like it we've ever seen.
And I've you know I'm forty-seven years old. And in my lifetime I got to see You know, Michael Jordan play in person. I got to see LeBron James play in person. I've got to see some of the NFL greats play in person. I saw Tom Brady play in person, okay?
These are things you tell the grandkids about one day. I got to see this person, I got to see that person. I got to see O'Tani when he was with the Angels. I was out in California for work. And we went to Chavez Ravine one day, saw the Dodgers play, and we went to the Big A and we saw the Angels play, and Otani was playing, and he had a home run.
So, I can actually say to my grandkids one day when I'm old and gray, I got to see Shohei Otani in person and he had a home run. Because that's how legendary he is. My point is, make sure because he's what 31 years old? He's obviously getting older, he's not getting any younger. He's actually just turned 32 a couple of days ago, July 5th.
Happy birthday, Shohei. But he's thirty two. Make sure if you're a baseball fan. You find a way to go watch Shohei Otani play in person because then you can one day say to your kids or grandkids, hey, I got to see the greatest player in the history of a sport play. in person.
Because that is exactly what you're witnessing. When I get a chance, and I live on the East Coast, and the worst thing about West Coast baseball is start times are 10:05 or 10:35, right? Or 10:30. And sometimes I have to be up early for work, whatever it might be. There's not always the opportunity to watch, but if I have the opportunity to watch, A Dodger game.
I hate to say I'm not watching Freddie Freeman or Mookie Betts, great players like that. I'm not watching the starting rotation that the Dodgers have. I'm watching one guy specifically. I'm watching for Shoei Otani. I used to watch for Ichiro.
I would stay up, watch a Mariners game because I wanted to see Ichiro play.
Now, I'll stay up to watch a Dodgers game because it's the Dodgers, and I want to see Shoe Otani to say that I have witnessed Otani in person. All right, well, more baseball talk. The second half of this: look, the all-star break is pretty much upon us. Don't forget that the first half, in terms of the number of games, has come and gone. 81 games is a halfway point.
But there's a lot to get into with baseball. Johnny Flores, senior MLB editor at the Athletic, he is going to join us next to go over a little baseball stories out there. Big day, good, the bad, and the ugly last night. Dan Schwartzmann on a Wednesday in for Rich. It's the Rich Eisen Show on ESPN Radio, the ESPN app, and SiriusXM, Channel 80.
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Thritz Eisen's show on ESPN Radio, the SPN app, and SeriousXM Channel 80. Baseball season, we are past that halfway point in terms of number of games. The ulster break is coming up. A lot of good Lot of ugly too in this first half, and a lot of question marks as to where some big names may go as the trade market continues to develop. Johnny Flores, Senior MLB Editor at The Athletic, joining us.
And Johnny, we are nearing the All-Star Game break, and that kind of makes us reflect back to the first half of the season. I'm going to kind of put you on the spot here. And I enjoy doing this because I know you love baseball, but What's something that stood out to you in a positive manner in this first half and what's been kind of a disappointing slash negative for you in this first half? Positive definitely has to be the Chicago White Sox coming back from multiple hundred lost seasons to be the Leaders in the AL Central. It's what an incredible season they've had.
Pitching, hitting, and They signed Munateka Murakami in the offseason out of Nippon Professional Baseball, Japan's equivalent to MLB. He went on its hair before hurting his hamstring of twenty plus home runs. Miguel Vargas, who's their all-star this year. He's been great after getting traded from the Dodgers. It's just been a really fun team to watch.
They also have a wizard in the form of Mike Masselle. who's casting spells mid-game.
So if you've not watched the White Sock, please do. What's been kind of the big negative or disappointment for you? You know, I think I got to go with the crowd here and say the New York Mets. There's just so much potential on that roster, and to see them. Just kind of slip out of the gate and continue to slip.
It's just been really something really disappointing to see. Roster construction did not end up the way. Um, Mike Stearns had hoped, or David Stearns, excuse me, had hoped, uh, just Lots of different injuries.
Some trades didn't work out in their favor, like going through Freddy Peralta from the brewers. I think last night was kind of emblematic of all these problems. You know, they lose 12 to 16 against the Royals. They begin the game with a little league home run that. The bat is going to Cooperstown, but they still ended up losing the game.
So that just tells you how bad things are in the Queens. Johnny, Mendoza got fired, and probably rightfully so. The team seemed to have stopped playing any sort of fundamental baseball for him, but. Every move that was made in the offseason, I believe there's like nine moves that Stearns made as GM, and not a single one has panned out. I understand teams want stability, and Steve Cohen, the owner of the Mets, kind of alluded to that when he kept Stearns and talked about it, but.
When the roster is lacking of talent and there's overpriced players that are kind of taking up slots here, and you don't have a ton that you can sell, even though you're going to be a seller at the trade deadline. How does he keep his job and should he get should he have kept his job at this point? That's a really great question. I I think it's fair to stick with him through the season. I think his ideas like on paper are good, right?
They obviously didn't see a future with Pete Alonzo at first base given his defense. They didn't believe that his back could age well into his thirties. uh whether that you know ends up happening is you know up to fate itself. But, you know, they said, Okay, well, let's get you know, Polanco here, let's Trade for Luis Robert, who's been an oft-injured player for the White Sox and someone that didn't really fulfill his potential. But it wasn't too long ago that he was leading a silver slugger in twenty twenty three.
So it's these big kind of big brain moves that when they hit, you know, this you know, he looks like a genius. And when they fail like they did this year, obviously there's calls for his head. But I think in a vacuum, You know, these are the type of moves that savvy GMs make to improve the fringes of the roster and see. you know, what how they can get better without you know, devoting money just to just one player and how they can get better all around. Obviously, it didn't work out.
And perhaps there is an argument that, you know, if they just stuck with Pete Alonzo, if they would have just left Brandon Immo on the roster, if they would have just stuck with Jeff McNeil, they'd be in a better spot. Um But I think that i like I said in a vacuum, I think those are really unique moves and they just obviously haven't panned out. And now you look at the trade deadline and yeah, they are lining up potentially to be major sellers. Chatting with Johnny Flores, senior MLB editor at the Athletic here on the Rich Eisen Show. Dan Schwartzmann in for rich on this Wednesday on ESPN Radio, ESPN app, and SiriusXM Channel 80.
Johnny, let's go across the river to the Yankees, and they're in the midst of a slump. But you know what? The last three or four years, they seem to always have this type of slump that lasts three weeks or so, and then they snap out of it and make the playoffs. But You know, this is a roster that also seems to be a bit thin. Aaron Judge goes down, and you know, outside of Ben Rice, they're not getting a ton of production from, frankly, anybody offensively.
Golchman had a couple of nice weeks, but overall, they just haven't hit much. Starting pitching has been pretty good for the most part. Bullpen's been awful. Cashman's been there 30-plus years. He's actually never worked for another team than the Yankees.
Don't you have to look at that team, the construction of this roster, as flawed as it is, and say to yourself, It's a roster issue more so than in, say, X's and O's issues with Boo, night in and night out. I think there I think that's fair. I think that it definitely there is some Or roster issues. I mean, obviously, catcher has been an issue for them for some time. Third base, they really haven't had anybody reliable.
Last year, they swung and traded for Ryan McMahon, hoping that, you know, away from Coors, he could do better and go back to that level that he had several years ago. But that obviously hasn't been the case. Bullpen, you know, I'd say they made some major swings and it just You know, that's just kind of the nature of bullpens in general. Like, I mean, I'm sure if you told someone, you know, way back when Camilla DeBall was leading the league in saves for the Giants, that he'd be one of the worst relievers in the league. People would find it pretty hard to believe.
The roster is what it is. I think that. They definitely have a lane to improve at the deadline. Which, you know, the Yankees are always active in in July, well, now August because of the later deadline, but they're always active under Cashman. Yes.
It really is one of those things that when Aaron Judges goes down, it really shows the holes in the lineup because there it is a home run driven team. And if you're missing the guy that matches the most home runs and is the biggest threat at the plate, then everyone else kind of just falters behind him. Johnny, I want to kind of move on from the Yankees and get to MLB as a whole here. And people talk about the American League, and there is a legit conversation as to who really is the MVP. It's a fun conversation through the first half.
The Nash League, though, Schwarber's hitting a bunch of home runs, but Otani may be having a quote-unquote down year offensively, even though he's on pace for 35 homers and 100 Ribbies as a leadoff hitter, but he's been pitching exceptionally well. Is this even a conversation at this point, or is Otani so far ahead of the game? We're not talking polymarkets here, but is Otani so far ahead of the game right now for that NL MVP race? I don't necessarily think so. I think Picro Armstrong had a really strong June.
He was up to, I think, 5.5 F war on the season, so wins above replacement. Otani's crossed the sixth threshold.
So obviously, Otani is going to generate war at a pretty high pace just because of his two-way status. But Picro Armstrong has really come out the gate this year, showing obviously his really good defense, but also with the bat. He's walking more this year, striking out at the same rate, but walking more. He's already up to 19 home runs. He hit 31 last year.
He got the speed. Um so I think that there's just definitely a legitimate case. Um to argue for someone other than Otani, but you know, if he continues to pitch, you know, at the way he's done and he continues the back continues, I just it's really hard to see How someone can pass him. Um but if there was ever a good chance, I think this is the year for the NL. Yeah.
American League, right now you have three players who have been exceptional: Bobby Witt Jr., you have Jordan Alvarez Jr. Camaneros had an incredible last month or so. What name am I missing in terms of potentially getting into that conversation as right now the best in the American League? I think Kevin McGonagall, Tigers rookie. He has been very, very good.
He's going to be in Philadelphia for the All-Star Game. He's. Obviously, you know, it's really just like the hit tool that he has and the ability to get on base. walking higher at a higher rate than he is striking out, which is you know, obviously, you know, massive, uh, let alone from a rookie. Um I think he's someone that with the late season push coming out of that all start break could insert himself into the race.
And all of a sudden, you're looking at a Bobby Wood Jr., Jordan Alvarez and Kevin McGonagall three way ahead to see who would be the ALMBP this year in a non judge year since he's been hurt. Joined by Johnny Flores, Senior MLB editor at the Athletic here on The Rich Eisen Show. Dan Schwartzmann in For Rich today. Tarek Skubel most likely is going to be dealt by the Tigers before the trade deadline. I still, and I have a buddy here at work who is a huge Tigers fan, and we sit here going, why?
Like, sign him. You know, I mean, you're not really that small market of a team. You're Detroit, but it seems they don't want to pay him. Uh is he as good as God, and if so, who's the favorite to Land Tarek School right now? I think he is.
That's just me personally speaking, not like with any type of inside information or anything like that. Seeing where the Tigers have been this year, you know, 41 and 50, they're still within it for the wild card, but I just think that you. Your probably best bet is to trade him and get a massive haul since there hasn't been an ace like this available at the deadline in some time. Far as Favorite to get him. I mean, obviously, you have to think about the Los Angeles Dodgers, even with all the pitching.
surplus that they have on paper. This is still a roster that has injured players all the time in your Blake Snells and Tyler Glassnows. I think you have to think about the Yankees. The type of route they could take, whether they want to double down on their strength, which is starting pitching. Eliminate any kind of need to rely on the bullpen even more.
And then I think, as far as a sleeper goes, Tampa Bay Rays, they've always been a type of team that has tried to swing these massive deals on their own terms. They obviously tried going for Freddie Freeman at one point when he was a free agent. The athletics Ken Rosenthal reported them trying to go for. Um Chohe Otani when he was on the Angels and giving up Junior Camanero, who we just spoke about.
So they've always had this inclination to swing a big deal when the terms suit them. And I think the fact that they are such a great team this year makes perfect sense for them to try and go for it. And who better than to lead your topic rotation than Terex Google? Last question, Johnny. The word coming down today, Justin Verlander's only had one start this year at the age of forty-three for the Tigers, announcing this will be it for him, announcing it on social media.
You look at the entirety of his career, the length, and except for one year with the Mets and one year with San Francisco, he's a tiger/slash astro. The legacy of Verlander when you look back at this incredible career. While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent, future stars who are already turning heads at age 14. Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation, and neither do we. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach.
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He's, you know, Two times in the World Series. Cy Young's, he is really best in class when it comes to pitching and longevity, being able to pitch all the way into his early 40s. And if it weren't for injuries, I imagine that we'd be seeing Berlander pitch until he's 50 because that desire is still there. The work ethic is so strong. It's just Father time comes for us all, but you know, you look at Burlander in some of the best pitching seasons of all time.
Um you know, I've been with him on the mound. Uh, you think about, you know, Houston in twenty twenty two. uh leading that team uh think about his early years with the Tigers, twenty eleven when he won the MVP and the Cy Young. Just what a fantastic career it is. And I'll be there in Philadelphia for the All Star Game.
I'm excited to see what they have in store for him there at the Legend Pick. That's what they announced earlier today. Uh He's not going to be playing, obviously, so I'm very curious to see if there's any type of... in-game tribute to him so he gets that last uh Ovation from the crowd. And in five years he'll get another ovation when he makes his way to Cooperstown.
On the first absolutely no question. Johnny Flores, senior MLB editor at the Athletic. Johnny, appreciate the time. As always, my friend, talk soon. Awesome stuff.
That's right, I mean Verlander. And he locked up Kate Upton. Forget just what he did on the mount The guy locked up Kate Upton. That's like the cherry on top. What a career!
Forty-three years old. 300 strikeouts season, 20 plus wins, ERA titles, over 3,500 strikeouts. You know what I loved about Verlander? The workhorse, right? Like in today's finesse day and age, where guys Can barely pitch 200 innings a year, right?
It's like, oh my goodness, he's going to throw 180 innings this year. Man, for a long time Verlander just 240 innings, 224, 251, 238, 227. 223. I mean, Verlander was out there. He was giving you innings.
Man, what a career! Two hundred and sixty-six wins. He's one of those guys you don't have to get the 300 to be a Hall of Famer. It's not like, well, you know, he gets the 300, he's in, he doesn't get there, he's out. Like, you know, Mike Mucina, who I.
Should be Hall of Famer, but like I think you look at a guy like Justin Verlander Dominance Absolute dominance. Not crazy that he's kind of held on the last couple of years, you know.
Sometimes guys just need to know when it's time to hang up the spikes and call it a career. And just ride off into the sunset. And, you know, a lot of times these guys don't know what life after sports is. And like Steve Carlton, you know, Steve Carlton left, he's one of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball. But you look at his last three or four years he's pitching for teams like the White Sox, and the numbers are ridiculously terrible 'cause he's so old.
He clearly has nothing left in the gas tank, but he's like hanging on, right? You see guys just at the end of that career and putting up terrible numbers. You're like, what happened to the guy that we used to know? And when you're a young sports fan and you see a guy struggle at the end, that's the lasting image you have of him. Rather than a guy that goes out on top, and the last thing you see is massive numbers, a championship, an MVP, whatever it may be.
But guys just don't, you know, they don't understand that Father Time is winning at that point because physically they still think they're good, they still feel good. They don't understand they've slowed down or they're more susceptible to injury, whatever it might be. But it comes to a point like Verlander, the last couple of years, probably, you know. Maybe shouldn't have been out there. But I'm not going to hold it against the guy.
I understand it. You're such a gamer out there. You're a warrior out there. You think every time you take the mound or you take the field, that you have it. You still can give a hundred percent.
And effort-wise, you are, but it's, you know, things are just not the way it used to be. Your body's not bouncing back the way it used to. You just don't have that ability that you once had. And the only way you find out that's the case is you look at the back of your baseball card and you're like, wait a minute. I have a five ERA right now.
I'm a guy with a 2-5 VRA. What happened? Why am I at a 5-ERA? And you realize. Man, that fastball's lost a couple of ticks.
I get to that sixth inning. I'm fatigued. I can't throw more than 80 pitches. And it happens to guys. It really does.
And Verlander calling it quits, this is it. The legacy is there. Five years from now, first ballot hall of famer, no question about it. Ironic, we're talking about it. Hall of Fame festivities in Cooperstown, New York is what, next?
Two weeks from now, I believe. I think two weeks from now. Carlos Beltron and the rest of the crew that got in will be going into the Hall of Fame. NFL talk. That's right.
We're in the dead of summer. But you know what? The NFL is a 365-day a year sport. They do the best job of any sport in terms of getting that calendar to where every month there is something you get excited for leading up to week one of the NFL season. And there is a mind-blowing story.
coming out of Denver.
So mind-blowing, you have to wonder: are we awake or are we asleep? Because it's. The most ridiculous thing you will have ever heard in your life. I will tell you what that is coming up next. Dan Schwartzmann on this Wednesday.
Filling in, sitting in the big boy chair for Rich Eisen, the Rich Eisen Show on ESPN Radio, the SPN app and Sirius XM Channel 80. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Rich Eisen Show, ESPN Radio, ESPN app, and SiriusXM Channel 80. Dan Schwartzmann in French on this Wednesday. The show is presented by Progressive Insurance.
If you want to hit us up on the hotline, 888-say ESPN, that's 888-7293776. You know, the NFL, this would be considered the slow time of year, the calm before the storm, right? We are officially in July. And then the training camps get underway in August, and you start looking ahead to week one of the season. You even get excited for the Hall of Fame game on a Thursday.
Which, by the way, is not that far off. Um, preseason week one is like August seventh or eighth. We're a month away. From the start of preseason football. And then, before you know it, we're week one of the NFL season.
Summer's wrapping up, the fall's wrapping up, we're getting into the winter months, and the NFL season's rolling along, and they are far and away the most popular sport.
So right now it's kind of that slow period, but once in a while a crazy story does come around during the slow period, and this one is emerging from Denver. And it has to do with Sean Payton. Adam Schefter, ESPN senior NFL insider on Unsportsmanlike, brought up this crazy story. Take a listen from Schefter's own mouth, what we're talking about. Sean Payton had an idea after the Patriots fired Bill Belichick.
To convince the Broncos owner, Greg Penner, to hire Belichick as the head coach, with Sean Payton being the assistant head coach, so Belichick could go get the 15 wins that he needed to break Don Schuler's all-time wins record for an NFL head coach.
Now, of course, it did not get done. It was too complicated and, as Seth said, fanciful to get done. But the fact that Sean Payton thought of that and actually considered doing it is not surprising to me, but certainly something that caught my eye. That is insanity. Like you have to ta you have to do a double take on that.
Schefter's info is gold. I mean, this story seems to come out from like an alien.
Source? But it's legit. Sean Payton was willing to step aside? Allow Bill Belichick to take the reins of the Denver Broncos from him? He would be the assistant head coach?
Belichick could pick up fifteen wins and Become the all-time winning coach like it really matters in terms of his legacy? Why would Sean Payton allow somebody else to sit in the king's chair? Sit in the throne? That is the craziest thing I have ever heard. You know, guys are competitive in professional sports.
When you're talking about playing at the highest level, This is the NFL. And it's not just the guys on the field as players. It's coaches. Coaches have worked their rear end off to get to where they are. There's 32 teams in the NFL.
There's 32 head coaching jobs. If you ascend to that position, you're not going to want to give that up, right? In terms of Being at the head of your career, right? How many guys can say they're an NFL head coach? The financial ramification of being an NFL head coach are very highly paid.
The ego of being an NFL head coach. The fact that you feel that you can put your own image, right? You can. Imprint on a team, an organization, your thoughts, and that potentially leads them to be a championship team. That's a big deal.
And for Sean Payton to be willing to vacate his seat for Bill Belichick? Give up that power and that control, I have a hard time understanding. What was going through his mind? What if Belichick took over and goes fifteen and two? And they win a Super Bowl.
Was the deal that Belichick would then just step aside? Hey, I got my fifteen wins. Let me win one more and then I'm gonna retire. Sean, here's your team back? Maybe Belichick could be a nice guy and be, yeah, take the reins of this horseback.
Or is Belchek going to say, man, we just won 15 games, we won a Super Bowl. Crap, I want to do this again. I'm not willing to just give this up I'm not just going to give it back to you, Sean. I think I got another three years left. There's a reason why Bill Belichick is at the University of North Carolina.
Because he thinks he can still coach. If there was a NFL job available to Bill Belichick, he would have taken that job. He's not ready to give up power. He's not ready to give up the ego. He's not ready to give up being a somebody in the NFL rather than a guy who's retired or was a great coach.
He still thinks he is a great coach. My whole point is: if Sean Payne was going to allow him to temporarily sit in the throw, how temporary was that job going to be if Belichick won? If you're the owner of the Broncos, A, are you paying two salaries to the head coaching position? Hey, Peyton, you're making what, 15 mil a year, 12 mil a year? Hey, Belichick, let me pay you the same.
I'm going to lock up $30 million in salaries to head coaches. And then when Bill Belichick wins me 15 games and he wins me a Super Bowl, I'm going to be like, all right, Bill. Time to give Sean back the the the reins? No. In the sense of Sean Payton, I think this is one of the craziest things.
I like Sean Payton, I've dealt with Sean Payton. I like the guy. And every indication talking to people that have played for Champagne, be it him as a head coach or him as assistant coach. Everybody seems to have positives to say about Sean Payton. Maybe he's just this nice of a guy that he's like, Hey, Belancheck, I want you to get these 15 wins.
It's that icing on the top for your legacy. Like this is it. You have this amazing, beautiful cake. You just need to have that little bit of frosting on top. And here it is: 15 wins.
You get the all-time record from Shula, and boom, everything's great. I I don't know. You can't make this stuff up. We've never heard of anything like this. Like, why would you allow the fox in the hen house, right?
Like, why would you allow the Trojan horse behind the walls of your castle? Bill Belichick, you really think if Bill Belichick got comfortable in Denver as a head coach? He would just relinquish it back to Sean Payton? You don't think that would have some sort of, you know, some problems behind it where. Sean Payton and him will start battling.
And by the way, they're both both very strong-witted guys. They both probably think their way works. They've both won Super Bowls. What if Bill Belichick makes a move and Sean Payne's like, no, I wouldn't do that. You should do it this way.
And Belichick says, Well, by the way, you're the assistant head coach, I'm the head coach. Pegan to see. You're right. Or is he going to say, Hey, Bill, you're here because of me? Ultimately, it's my decision.
No one's ever said Bill Belichick was a pleasant guy to work with, right? No one's ever said, yeah, he was easy to deal with. People put up with Belichick because of his greatness as a defensive coordinator with the Giants, where he won two Super Bowls, or as a head coach of the Patriots, where he won six. Seven, where six? My whole point is, how would the dynamic have worked?
In the coach's office How would that have worked? How would they have worked out ultimately who had final say on a player personnel decision? Or who starts who's benched? Who gets cut who doesn't? Disciplinary actions.
guy does something bad off the field or on the field, who's ultimately going to decide the discipline? And if Belichick says he should miss one week and Payton says he should miss two weeks, who's going to win that argument? Are they going to have some contract written out where Sean Payton ultimately has the final say? Is Belichick going to agree to that? To me, this is idiotic on Payton's part.
'Cause it makes no sense for Peyton. Because he's allowing a guy to take his job that potentially wouldn't want to give it up and probably isn't going to agree to all the terms in terms of power structure. Just one of the wackiest stories you can ever think you will hear. In an NFL offseason that has been relatively quiet to this point. Except for some off-the-field issues with guys, it has been relatively quiet of an off-season, and now you have this craziness coming out.
Thank you for Adam Schefter. Getting this story out. All right. Jalen Brown, member of the Sixers, Jokic, the Extension. That's next.
Dan Schwarzman in for Rich, The Rich Eisen Show on ESPN Radio. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Yeah. MLB.tv on ESPN is your home for every auto-market game, live or on demand. Catch your favorite teams and players, plus MLB network and ESPN app features like multi-view, syncing your stats.
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Mm.
