REShow: Michael Kay - Hour 1

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Try Dove Men Plus Care Dry Spray goes on dry clean feel all day. This is the Rich Eisen Show. You would not last very long playing pickleball. I'll be you. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Terrific, let's do it. I do not want Mike as a partner. Let's do it.

He's better than me, I can't do anything. Honestly, you choose who you want, I'll choose who I want, let's go. And then you will come on the air and recount your ass kicking. Today's guests, Yes Network Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay, Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton, plus from the Apple Plus drama Severance, actor Adam Scott. And now it's Rich Eisen. I like the pickleball noises. I'm not gonna lie, it's fantastic. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show.

We're back at it here in the last week of June in 2022. I'm your humble host sitting here on the NBC Sports on Peacock set or the set right here on the Rich Eisen Show on NBC Sports on Peacock on NBC Sports Audio Sirius XM channel 85. This terrestrial radio outfit, Odyssey app, the podcast listeners who listen to us whenever you're darn well pleased. Thank you for downloading this podcast and hit that subscribe button so you're part of our RSS feed. Be part of the now over 433,000 subscribers to our YouTube page and growing every single day. Good to see you over there, Christopher Brockman. Hey Rich, how's it going, man? DJ Mikey D, fresh off his USFL outing in Canton, Ohio.

It was actually a really cool thing because I did two games on two different networks in one day, which is pretty bad. Look at that, there's not enough airwaves to contain the talent that is Mike DelTufem. Light the candle, TJ Jefferson. What's going on over there? Hey, it's a happy CM Punk Pipe Bomb Day. And if you know, you know, it's a good thing. All right, very good.

Right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Glad that we're all here convened after a three day weekend for us. Took off Friday.

It was my birthday, but dropping three kids off at camp across the country. So I'm in a mood. No, a sad mood because you left the kids? I'm tired. I'm overtired. I'm emotionally frayed.

All that and the biscuit. So be careful is all I'm saying. Thank you very much.

Appreciate that. So first item up for bids here on this last week of June. It is right before the new league year of the National Basketball Association. Comes pretty fast and furious once they hand out the Larry O'B, then comes the draft, now comes free agency. And the question is, number one, what is going to happen with Kyrie Irving?

Yes, indeed. I know we're all focused on the Los Angeles Lakers just down the road here from the Rich Eisen Show studio and what's going to happen with Russell Westbrook and, you know, I've even heard Bradley Beal's name thrown out quite a bit that Bradley Beal is potentially in play from the Washington Wizards and who wouldn't want to add him and get his remarkable playing ability into your locker room and on your court. Why not? But it really is all about what the Brooklyn Nets are going to do with Kyrie Irving because that affects the future potentially for Kevin Durant. And if that thing gets blown up in Brooklyn, look out. And the New York Daily News, is that is that the most New York you can get, Mike? Is that what that is?

Yes. Okay, I forget growing up what the New York Daily News phrase was. The New York Daily News, Christian Winfield, writing for the New York Daily News covers the Nets, says that the Nets have agreed to allow Kyrie Irving to seek a sign and trade away from the Brooklyn Nets. Now he has a player option for about 37 million dollars. And according to Winfield, last week the Nets and Kyrie talking about his future there, Kyrie I imagine wants a max contract and the Nets are not keen on giving him that. And the first offer, according to Winfield, was you sign your option, you opt in and then we'll talk next July. Which is, yeah there's no negotiations. You take what's currently on the table and then we'll talk. And not surprisingly, Woj came on the ESPN airs over the last couple days, said things have turned acrimonious between the Nets and Kyrie Irving. And I profit to say it's just like the old judge smells negotiation tactic. You'll get nothing and like it.

How about you just, how about you just pick up, how about you just opt back in and we'll see how it goes. And then, you know, other reports say that they they figured out, we'll give you, we'll give you another year, two years, 80 some odd million bucks and we'll just, we'll just double what your player option is and add a little bit of something on top of it. And I guess Kyrie wants out. And according to Winfield, I wrote down this paragraph, the Nets, they do not believe Irving is committed to doing what it takes to be on the floor every game for his teammates.

Not with his teammates, for his teammates. What gave that away? Well, him playing only 103 regular season games in his first three years as a Brooklyn Net. First year was a shoulder injury that kind of knocked him for a loop.

Year two, you remember the personal reasons? Remember he missed two weeks and nobody knew why he had missed two weeks? And word was back and forth that that the insurrection at the Capitol helped kind of spark a funk for Kyrie Irving and didn't want to play, didn't feel like playing, missed two weeks. And then he had another personal absence that was approved by the team that was a three game roadie.

And we all know what happened this year with the vaccine mandate in New York City, way back when most of us acknowledged COVID still existed. And there you have it. Now, there apparently is one teammate who has no problem believing that Kyrie is in fact committed to doing what it takes. And that could be Kevin Durant. And all eyes on Kevin Durant. Because I'll tell you what, there are many people rooting for somebody to accept Kyrie Irving in a sign and trade, because apparently that's what it's going to take, not only for the team to fit him under the cap when they acquire him, but for the Nets to make this deal and not have it totally screw them with the cap. And the Lakers, apparently, according to Woj, are one of the only teams with mutual interest in Kyrie Irving. And that might be LeBron James saying, what's up?

Let's get Batman and Robin back together again, even though Robin told Batman I'm out to go to Boston, where he had an acrimonious stay there. Damian Lillard, right? He IG'd out a little...

Put this on his story over the weekend. And it's not Kyrie's face he put on a jersey. It's Durant's face and body that he put into a Portland jersey.

I just got chills looking at that picture. That's what this is about. Everybody's rooting for somebody to take Kyrie off the Nets because they feel that will trigger Durant saying, I'm out of here. I'm not sticking with Ben Simmons figuring out how he can be, let me use the phrase of the New York Daily News, maybe he might not be committed to doing what it takes to be on the floor every game for his teammates. He has a history causing people to wonder if he has that.

It might resemble that remark. This is what it's about. Durant. Because Durant is one of the greatest players of all time. He still is at the top of his game.

Let's not forget. And who wouldn't want him right here and right now. And apparently the entire league is making preparations to see if the Nets are going to let Kyrie go in a sign and trade. And Durant, according to the New York Daily News, has not had any contact with the front office of the Nets.

He's kind of radio silent right now too. If the Nets break up, it would be one of the most spectacular failures we've seen in the NBA in quite some time. And a remarkable turnaround from 2019 when we were all saying, look out when Durant comes back from his Achilles. He and Kyrie are going to be lethal. And then they added Harden to the mix. And even with all that, by the end of this playing season, by the new league year of 2022, just three years later, the Nets could be completely blown up. And the Warriors are the ones who watched Durant go in 2019. And they're the current champions of the basketball world.

What a turn of events. I wouldn't give Kyrie Irving two cents longer than what he has already on a piece of paper. I don't blame the Nets to do what they are doing at all.

And I say that knowing how incredibly talented he is. But I don't think you see too many people sending out the memes right now of Kyrie Irving in their team's uniform, do you? I don't see that at all.

And for him to be, you never see it in the articles exactly what's going on. There is an iceberg, and we see the tip in Brooklyn. And for the Nets to basically say after the Celtics did the same thing, you are incredibly talented. You are one of the best at your position of your generation. We know it.

The entire basketball world knows it. But get out. We don't want you here anymore. We're done.

We're not going to give you a penny over what we currently already have. And apparently, Sean Marks and Joe Tsai, the owner of the Nets, are lockstep in this negotiating tactic with Irving, who famously after the Nets got bounced in the playoffs, unceremoniously I might add, he went up to the podium and basically said, I'm ready to co-run this franchise with everybody. I'll help make the decisions. We'll get some people here. And then the Nets are like, yeah, no, no. We're good.

No. The flow chart's pretty good as it is. And you want to opt in and talk next year? Let's see how it goes. And he wants a sign and trade. And the teams are the Lakers, Clippers, Knicks. Oh, please, Knicks, make that move.

Because again, he's closer to New Jersey home. Philadelphia, Dallas, and Miami. And you know Miami's itching to make the big move. And you know what Miami's move might be?

A move you wouldn't have made? No, Miami's move might be. Let Kyrie just say, I'm out.

Right? And they snag him. And then Durant says, I want out too.

And he goes to Miami and they bring the two of them together to Miami. How's that going to work? I don't know.

It hasn't worked before. Give it to Coach Spoe. You figure it out. Give it to Coach Spoe.

You figure it out. I wouldn't take that chance, man. No way. You don't think Riley would do that in a heartbeat? You don't think Riley wants to make a big move like that? I think the big move is Durant. Durant and Jimmy Butler together. And Kyrie instead of Kyle Lowry? What do you think?

No. Let Hiro be the kind of the big three with those two guys. But Miami is no doubt sitting in wait to root for a sign and trade that would trigger Durant's anger and thus exit from Brooklyn.

That's what's afoot as we currently talk, I believe. And we were talking about this last week on the basketball pod. If Kyrie ends up on the Clippers, how about that for a big three of Kawhi, Paul George, and Kyrie Irving? Those three guys' games all fit together, TJ.

And I think that would be kind of a lethal trio. Yeah. And like we said before, Ty Lue already led Kyrie to the promised land. Yes, he does. He knows anyone who kind of understands and speaks Kyrie would assume it's Ty Lue. He's fluent.

He's fluent in Kyrie. I don't know who the hell is, man. You know, maybe.

I mean, I just yearned for the Uncle Drew days where he was just making fun pop culture. And I know he's talking about important things in the world, but for him to let it affect his availability like he did in year two, apparently, and then year three, everything with the vaccine, there's always something up. Yeah. Smudging the TD Garden after he says he wants to be a Celtic for life. And all you're going to do, seriously, all you're going to do is look at the Celtics now. And if I'm the next, I'm like, look at what happened the last time a team let him go. And everyone was wondering, are you a drift?

Are you not? Then you call up Durant and say, what do you, what do you, what do you need? What do you think you need? What do you say?

844-204-RICH, number to dial if you want to have a chat with us today. Michael Kay is first up. He's got a sports talk radio show in New York City.

I'm sure Kyrie Irving will be burning up the phone lines. He's also the voice of the New York Yankees, who put me through the ringer this weekend. Told you the Astros were the team I was concerned about the most. Astros had him dead to rights in game one. Yankees came back in the ninth inning. Then game two, Astros got the best of the Yankees. Game three, no hit him. Game four, no hit him through the first six innings. I'm thinking to myself, ever since I dropped my kids off at camp, the Yankees haven't gotten a hit.

Maybe it's that. Go get them. Time to come home. You imagine I tell Susie we're changing our entire summer plans, the Yankees haven't gotten a hit since we dropped them off.

Do you understand what's at stake? I know there are 30 games above 500, but this is the matchup that we're going to most likely see in October with it's all on the line. And then the Yankees come back and Aaron Judge walks it off with his second three-run home run walk-off of the year. First Yankee I believe to ever do that in a single regular season. That's the Bronx Bombers organization. The Mets are performing very well. A great series between the Dodgers and the Freddie Freeman's homecoming in Atlanta. And then the Angels and the Mariners don't like each other. They're throwing haymakers. Anthony Rendon is throwing a cast, a casted fist at Jesse Winker who's screaming at Phil Nevin and then what Iglesias comes out and he's throwing sunflower seeds at everybody and there's just four umpires there saying break it up. Okay.

He did use the non-casted hand. And congratulations to the Colorado Avalanche who win the Stanley Cup. I know we don't talk a lot of pucks around here, but I do want to say congrats to that hockey loving state and fan-based third cup in the history of the Avalanche. And first since 2001. Stan Kroenke's Colorado Avalanche adding a cup to Stan Kroenke's Los Angeles Rams. Stan can finally catch a break. How about a Lombardi and a Stanley Cup in the same year? In the same year man. Yes sir. Wow. I mean that's literally the rich getting richer like literally right?

He's got the right people and he delegates. And of course I'm sure there's a... I mean he's literally going to get richer. Premier League fans saying what about Arsenal?

What are we talking about Arsenal? But at any rate, lots to talk about with Michael Kay coming up. In hour number two we check in with Kyle Hamilton, the rookie of the Baltimore Ravens who Daniel Jeremiah last week pegged as the potential defensive rookie of the year.

I like that. All right Hamilton. Some people had him as a top five pick and he lasted damn near to the second half of the first round. But the Ravens snapped him up. We'll be talking to him. And Adam Scott is in studio, the actor from Severance, a phenomenal show on Apple Plus. And he is going to be here in studio talking about that. He was at the Big Slick that you and Sarah were at over the weekend with our friends Rudd and Keckner and Stonestreet and Riggle. Phenomenal weekend. And raised over three and a half million dollars from Mercy Hospital getting sick kids better, which you know we're all about all the time around here. So congrats to our friends in KC. He was there. You were there. Maybe you can share a story together. Perhaps.

Celebrity True or False is coming up there. TJ Jefferson has the top players in the history of every single team in the AFC North. Be careful.

You need to be able to go home to the East Coast again. I know. I know Pittsburgh is watching because I know I know that I know the Cleveland Brown right now and I know the Baltimore Raven right now. I'm keen to know who the Cincinnati Bengal is in your mind.

I think I know who it is, too. But the Pittsburgh Steeler. Oh, boy. And, you know, just to answer a question I got on YouTube, Rich, like I separate the Titans and the Oilers and someone's like, well, I'm going to be watching to see if he does that with the Ravens and the Browns. No, I'll write down my judgment and we'll move forward. We'll not be doing that. It will be great when we hear the name Bubby Brister out of TJ Jefferson's mouth.

Oh, I'm sorry. Barry Foster. Louis Lips, man.

Louis Lips. Joe Flacco's the Raven, right? Joe Flacco is not the Raven.

No. I mean, he's on the short list, though. Not the Raven. He's a Super Bowl champion.

Not the Raven. Not a lead, apparently. So we've got a lot of, a lot on the mind. 844204, Rich, is the number to dial. Let's take a break. Michael K, Voice of the Yankees, as well as the Michael K Show in New York and the K-Rod broadcast on ESPN2. Coming up. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show.

844204, Rich, number to dial. We're one big happy family on Peacock, Sirius XM, and our terrestrial radio outfit. And I love this guy. He is so much fun to watch and listen to on the Yankee broadcast. He also has his own show every single day. New York City metropolitan area, the Michael K Show.

The K-Rod broadcast that runs concurrent with Sunday night baseball has been a lot of fun to take in on ESPN2 every single Sunday night. He is our friend on the Mercedes-Benz Vans phone line, Michael K. How are you, sir? I'm great, Rich. How are you? Hanging in there.

Hanging in there. So we led with the Kyrie News. How is New York City handling the Kyrie Irving saga in the next couple days here, do you think? It's weird because it's obviously a huge story.

And every time we talk about it on the show, it gets reaction. But the Nets are not nearly as important as the Knicks. So in order to really make it an important story for New York City, you have to weave the Knicks in somehow. He's put them on the list, but I don't think the Knicks want any part of them. They didn't even want him if it was to get Kevin Durant. So I think that was floated by Kyrie Irving's camp just to put some pressure on the Nets. But I think this one time, Rich, the Nets are not going to succumb to the pressure. They want to have a contract that they have a little leverage themselves that Kyrie actually has to play to earn the money. And Kyrie wants a fully guaranteed max contract.

And I think therein lies the rub, as they say. Well, the rub essentially might be is the leverage that Kyrie has, the best leverage that Kyrie has, is that if the Nets do let him walk or agree to a sign and trade, as the New York Daily News reported this very morning, his leverage is that Durant might get pissed. That might be his best leverage.

And then they got nothing left, right? That's that's his only leverage. And because because I have a lot of respect for Sean Marks, and he's pretty smart guy, right?

Joe sighs pretty bright. Don't you think they probably talked this through Durant because Durant hasn't said anything publicly about this. So if Durant tells them, listen, if you get rid of this guy, I'm going, well, then they have to give in to Kyrie, because then they would be starting from square one all over again, they would be a bad team, because there's no way that they would get equal talent for either of those guys. Now, they probably could get a decent deal for Durant who signed that extension, and he doesn't have that much leverage himself. They could trade him wherever they want to the best deal. So he doesn't get to say, I want to go to the Lakers, or I want to go to this team or that team they've got, he's got to go where they send them. So he has to be careful as well. So they hold a little leverage there.

But I don't think that's going to frighten them all that much because the leverage that a player like Durant holds is he can say, well, I'm not playing, I'm taking my ball and walking away. So it's interesting. It is really interesting. And I'm sure the Nets are probably sorry they ever got themselves into this because, Rich, you watched the way they were building their team up. They were fun. Atkinson was putting together a gutty, gritty team. And all of a sudden, they opened up these two max cap spaces and they got them, which is what any team would do. But who knew the drama that would come with it? I mean, we thought the only drama was going to be, okay, Durant's going to be out for a year as he rehabs the Achilles. But we didn't think that the real drama was going to be Kyrie. Well, I guess Celtics fans didn't make their voices heard then, or Cavs fans, right? Because they'll tell you that Kyrie was occasionally not worth the trouble. I mean, Cavs fans maybe not because they got the championship and they were kind of stunned.

And they were kind of stunned. You remember when we were stunned that Kyrie wanted to leave LeBron and we're like, what's up with that? And we were all sort of looking at it's LeBron's fault that he was just too controlling. Now I think we learn the other side of the coin. It's Kyrie, what are you hearing?

I guess I know we're entering the scuttlebutt front here, but it just seems to me that there's an iceberg in Brooklyn and we're seeing just the tip of it. I mean, is there something up behind the scenes more than we know with Kyrie? I just think that Kyrie Rich is a man of his own convictions and he certainly marches to the beat of his own drum. He's different than other people. He's different than other players. And one of the things that makes me laugh when they say, well, he wants to go to the Lakers, but the most they can give him is six or $7 million. This is a guy who gladly gave up $17 million since he didn't want to get the shot.

And then the year before that, he couldn't find it within himself to play during the social unrest in the country. I'm sure all of us felt it and we all went to work, but Kyrie didn't. And that's just Kyrie.

Kyrie just thinks differently. So you could actually apply some admiration toward it, or you could say, that's just not right. Because when you're part of a team, you can make that stand and you're affecting more than yourself.

You're affecting 14 other guys in the whole organization. I think that's what finally got to the net. The vaccination thing, I mean, that is so third rail in this country right now. So you don't even talk whether or not he should have gotten it or not. But the year before, I think is what really scares the nets. It just wasn't the mindset to play and just walked away.

I mean, that's pretty big stuff. You just walk away and you leave your team high and dry. So Kyrie's beliefs and his belief system, that might be something that costs the next two possible championships. Really, if you think about it, if he had played all year this year, they would have been a much better team. And although the Celtics still might have beaten them, they might not have played the Celtics in that round. And they sure as heck would not have gotten swept.

Michael Kay here on the Rich Eisen Show. Before we move on to baseball, you mentioned the Knicks before. What the hell were they doing on draft night? I've been scouring the internet for 72 straight hours trying to, what were they attempting? Are they clearing the decks just in case Durant does want to bolt because Kyrie's bolting and he wants to stay in New York City?

What is happening with them? I think that they're clearing the decks for Brunson. I mean, they've got to clear about $25 million. So they got rid of the first round draft pick because that's guaranteed money that they don't have to put on the cap now. And then they applied another draft pick to Kemba. And if you think that's all clever in them doing this, they got Kemba.

They made that mistake. But here's the weird part, Rich. Leon Rose has taken over this team and never, ever, ever, ever talks to the media. The only person that he has spoken to is Mike Breen. That's it on an MSG interview.

That's it. He does not take questions. It's amazing. It's amazing that he's allowed to get away with it. I don't think that any baseball GM would be allowed to get away with it. And when we bring it up on the show, people automatically always hate the media. The media is always wrong.

The media is always wrong. But what people don't get, he's not telling you what he's doing. The paying fan, the person that pays for MSG Network, the person that comes to Madison Square Garden, he's choosing not to tell you what he's doing.

I just find it, you know, you're asking me what they're doing. We don't know, other than the small statement that he sent out, he does not tip his hand. And I give him credit, he doesn't leak stuff to people either.

And I think the only place that he can get away with that is at the Garden, because Jim Dolan, who I have a decent relationship with, really doesn't care about the media. But he brought that binder that read talking points to your studio a couple years ago, Michael. You know what, I should have kept it when he left. Oh, he didn't leave it behind like Costanza to make sure he comes back to your show, there was no leave behind. No, no, he took it with him. I guess Dave Chekut's not walking through that door anymore, man. You know what I mean?

Like, when the Garden was all about an image and projecting winning and first class, high class, first rate communication with New York City fans, those days are done, man. They're a long guy. But here's the weird part, Rich. The Rangers are run perfectly. Well, it's because Dolan leaves it alone though, right? Because Dolan doesn't care about hockey, right? No, Dolan loves hockey way more than basketball, way more, and actually knows way more hockey than basketball. And what he's done is he entrusted that whole organization to Sather who kind of knows what he's doing, but Dolan's very involved.

These are all the games. He loves the Rangers. Where's he set? He doesn't set, he doesn't set, you know, ringside, does he? Where is he? He's up in a suite.

What's he doing? Well, there's suites you can go to, and then there's like, around the ice there's underground bunkers, which costs a million dollars a year. Truly, they are. Are you serious? Come on, man. I swear to God.

Really? Like, there's about, I think there's 15 of them, and they, obviously you could come out the bunker and sit in seats at the ice or the court, or you could watch the game in this beautiful living room with kitchens and everything and big, big screen TVs. Michael Kay here on The Rich Eisen Show. Again, the Michael Kay Show every day on ESPN's local affiliate in New York City, and the K-Rod broadcast on ESPN2 in conjunction with Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. Also the voice of the New York Yankees. Let's get to it. Did we just see an American League Championship Series preview this four-game set in the Bronx this weekend?

What do you think? I think they're the two best teams. Whether or not they get through the other, you know, the other round to get to be the ALCS representatives, I would like to see it.

I think it would be amazing. They're really evenly matched. I don't think they're teams that are alike at all, but they're very evenly matched, and I think there's some dislike there, which is always interesting when you have that kind of series. The Yankees still are not sure exactly what happened in 2019. I know it's been disproven by my friend Jeff Pashin about a buzzer, but you can't convince a lot of the Yankee people that there was no buzzer there.

We know about the banging of the garbage cans. The Yankees really feel that they have been wronged in this case. And Judge does too, because Judge should have won the MVP in 2017, if in fact all that stuff was rigged. So it was some series, Rich. I mean, two pitches one way or the other, either team could have swept too. The Yankees were probably closer to being swept than the Astros were because, you know, an amazing ninth inning rally on Thursday, and then, you know, what happened yesterday, they got no hit for six innings. So it was a really highly charged atmosphere. It was hot weather.

It was great. Other than the hot weather, it did feel like October. Well, I mean, no buzzer, I don't think, can keep Judge from the MVP this year if he stays healthy and continues even remotely close to the current pace. And that's all due respect to Jose Ramirez and Cleveland Otani, what he did last week with a two home run game, eight RBIs, one night, next night, 13 strikeouts of eight innings of work. He's unbelievable, but Judge is on a team that's 30 plus games over 500, and we're not even in July yet. And he also left the bag on the table, which you know, Michael, will chew up and spit out most human beings who do that in New York City.

Well, it's hard to bet on yourself, and he's won already. I mean, other than, God forbid, if he suffers a catastrophic injury and can't play again, he's going to get way more than the Yankees offered. But the one thing that's just not true, that people are putting out there, you know, the Yankees are just agonizing over the fact that he's having such a good season. Rich, they're not agonizing.

They're celebrating. They wanted him to have this season. And if they have to pay more money, I mean, the Yankees could pay more money. But I will tell you this, and Yankee fans don't want to hear this, they will pay up to what they think is reasonable. And if there's one crazy owner who's going to say, OK, he gets $45 million a year for eight years, the Yankees will walk away.

They have the walk away ability. It will anger their fans and all of that, but they want to make a fair deal with him. And if you ask around baseball, Rich, you have a lot of guests on that know this deal. The deal that they offered him before the season started, many baseball thought it was eminently fair, if not more than fair.

And he said no, which is his right, because he wants to be paid more. But the Yankees didn't lowball them. They made him an offer of $30.5 million.

But I keep hearing he wants to be the highest paid position player, which would put him at about $36 million plus. Can I see the Yankees doing that? Yeah, I think they would like to keep it at seven because he's 30 right now. But if it goes to eight, would they go to eight? I think they would swallow hard and go to eight. But if someone goes to 10, like Seattle did with Cano, I don't think they'll go there. No matter how popular he is and how much he's the face of baseball, even if he wins the MVP and leads them to the World Series. I don't think they'll go to 10 because this is a heavily analytic team and just look at the contracts of 10 years and how poorly they've gone.

They don't want to deal with it. Does he have any, because again, I've never met him, never had him on this show. As you know, the Yankees don't usually make a lot of people available nationally. So does he have, Michael Kay here on The Rich Eisen Show, does he have the sense of history that he can, you know, 99 gets retired out beyond the fence and he can have some generational talk about being one of the greatest in the history of this franchise? And also, does he like New York City? I mean, because he seems to wear, he seems to wear it very well. So what's his take on all that, do you think? He's very, very smart.

I think he has really game planned this. And I think that his preference is to stay with the Yankees, but he wants to be treated fairly. I mean, he looks at his team and Garrett Cole gets $36 million a year and he probably thinks, why not me?

Right. So I think that 36 number is probably a really important number. I also think he realizes what the Yankees mean for him as much as the Yankees realize what he means for them.

So I think that there, there is a meeting point. I think that if he had his brothers, he'd want to be really extraordinarily well-paid by the Yankees, but he also is a man of conviction. And if the Yankees say, okay, we're going to stop at 34 million for seven years. And the San Francisco Giants, where he, you know, he grew up in Northern California, if they come and say, we'll give you 40 million a year for eight, I could see him leaving. I could see him leaving.

Others have done it. Now, Derek didn't leave. Brian Cashman told him, go find a better offer. And Derek knew what the Yankees meant. So I think there's still some enmity there between Brian Cashman and Derek Jeter. And, you know, these things never, they're never pretty. The divorces are not pretty. The marriages are beautiful gifts, you know, flowers, great food, but the divorces are ugly.

But I, I, if I had a bet, I wouldn't bet a lot, but I would say that Judge probably ends up back with the Yankees in terms of the guy he is. I took my two kids down to spring training this year. And they were just standing off to the side. And, and he walked by and said, is that your family?

I said, yeah. And my son, Charlie, who's seven years old, just idolizes him. And he, he walked over to him. And I've never seen a player better at this guy than dealing with young children.

Cause he, he kneels down. So he's at their eye level and he really talks to them. And he just made Charlie's day.

And we were driving back to the hotel and Charlie's in the back seat and he says, dad, I got to tell you, I don't think this is too much, but I think this was the greatest day of my life. And I've seen him do that with other kids. I've just seen the way he is with kids. And that's what baseball needs.

A lot of athletes don't realize the impact they have on children. He gets it. He gets it. He, he really does get it. And I think that's important.

I love that, man. Before I let you go, I have to be fair and balanced. Certainly since my guy TJ Jefferson's a diehard Med fan, how great is Buck Showalter? Is that the difference?

Is that essentially the difference? What do you think so far? I think, I think Buck is the greatest manager in baseball. I really do.

Apologies to everybody else. I was screaming on my radio show that the Mets should hire him and they did the right thing, but it can't, I think he would agree with this too. It can't only be him. The guys they brought in are really good and really important and fit exactly what they were doing. But I think the biggest thing that Buck has done is he has involved Lindor and he has made Lindor the centerpiece and he checks things and runs things through Lindor because he realizes he's smart enough at 66 years of age. If you're going to have the clubhouse, you've got to have the star. And he and Lindor are like super, super tight. And if you want to say that that's why they're good, well, okay, I'll sign off on it. But again, give Billy Eppler credit and Sandy Alderson because the four guys they signed as free agents really changed the whole culture.

Yeah, Marte's terrific. No doubt about that. And DeGrom hasn't even thrown a pitch yet. What a subway series that would be, you know. I think it would be even a more fair fight than it was in 2000, don't you think? Oh, I agree with you. I think the Mets are a really good team and it would be more of a fair fight if DeGrom and Scherzer are healthy.

Right. And if they're healthy, they could beat anybody. I mean, they could, you know, your number three starter is Chris Baxey, which is pretty darn good. So yeah, I think, I mean, the whole DeGrom, I think whether or not they have a chance to win a World Series does center around DeGrom. I think Scherzer will be back and he's important, but you need two big horses in order to get it done in a postseason series. And DeGrom would tilt the scales in a lot of series.

I would pay to see Cole versus Alonso and then maybe throw Alonso's broken bat at him. Maybe he could do that. What do you think? Yeah, I think that would be a little different than it happened the first time. You think so?

You think so? Yeah, I mean, a lot of people, a lot of Mets that I know from that team thought that Piazza should have charged the mouse. Well, I mean, who would have thought that Clemens would field the bat, by the way, in a perfect hop and then fling it at Piazza, claiming that he thought it was the ball, as if that makes sense to throw the ball at the hitter too. I mean, that was a great athlete. That was a great play.

People take away the fact it was a great play. It's splintering. Oh my goodness. I agree. Hey Michael, as I tell you all the time, whenever I have a chance, you and the rest of the crew on Yes, the Eisen family, we are locked in damn near every night and it's been just a fun ride so far. And I just love you and everything you do, man. So thanks for doing this. Thank you. You know, I was thinking it must be so neat that you watch the Yankee game, right?

All the time. You've done it, seven o'clock. But my kid gets to see the end.

He gets to watch the end. Unbelievable. I know. Unbelievable. I know. Certainly, you know, I can't wait for that when the Yankees play the Red Sox, because those games usually last four and a half hours.

So they get to actually see the end of this. You'll be fine. Michael, take care.

Look for my call again, please, if you don't mind. Thank you. Anytime. Love you.

Right back at you. That's Michael Kay, the one and only here on the Rich Eisen Show. Got to love that. He loves Lindor. You got to love hearing that. He knows what he's doing.

Yeah, I was interested. He knows what he's doing, because Lindor was Mr. With Bias, thumbs down. Yeah, Lindor. Take that thumbs down and turn it upside down. Lindor and Jack McNeil getting into fights and the dugout about whether it's a rat or something. That's all done.

That's gone. And it's the exact opposite. It's a different feeling with this team, man. Like, I spent years like you get down a run and you're like, all right, game's over. Now we can be down five. And I'm sitting there like in the ninth even.

I'm relaxed. I'm like, we got a chance to win this game. It's only five games.

Huh? Weeds down to five games. I know the Braves have come on strong. The Braves have come on strong. And the Braves are playing that well.

And we're still up five. And the Dodgers got a couple off of Kenley Jansen. That was some epic baseball there, man. Kenley Jansen's trying to close out the Dodgers. Freddie Freeman's got tears in his eyes with the Atlanta fans.

Former brave on the Dodgers. I know. It was really, really intense stuff.

But not nearly as intense as what happened with the Angels and the Mariners. I'm going to hit on that. Take your phone calls when we come back here on the Rich Eisen Show. 844-204-Rich number to dial. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show. Oh my gosh.

844-204-Rich number to dial. Kyle Hamilton coming up next hour. So the thing that drives me crazy the most when it comes to baseball, outside of the shift, obviously, right? You know I'm not a big fan of the shift. Outside of that, outside of that, it's the bench clearing brawls that don't really amount to anything. And as it doesn't amount to anything, you see the bullpen doors open up and guys in their starter's jackets, right?

Just slow jogging in, right? Yeah. I'm gonna get there.

You guys, you guys just keep staring at each other and threatening to hit each other. We're almost there. Hold on. Hold on. All right. I'm on the infield dirt now.

What's going on? Okay. I'm sorry. All right. I guess I'll go back to the bullpen now.

All right. Here we go. Let's go back. And the thing I don't understand is when the bench clearing brawls do actually lead to fisticuffs and pushing and shoving, and like what happened yesterday between the Mariners and the Angels, when Anthony Rendon's got a cast on his hand, he was thrown at a Jesse Winker who got hit on his hip, was yelling. By the way, very rare to see the bench clearing brawls started by a hit batsman who doesn't charge the mound, he charges the opposing dugout. That happened yesterday. He went to go see, he went, yeah, right. He went to go, who gave the order?

Yeah. He went, he was pulling a code red on who gave the order, and he went right to Phil Nevin, the interim manager, and you could see him screaming because I saw this little piece, thanks to John Boy. I'm still waiting.

Has he put out his film review, his film session of the brawl? I'm looking forward to that. Apparently he's, it's now gotten to the point where he was responding to people on Twitter saying it's coming, you know, I've got a kid, I'm tired. At the end of the day, the Yankees and Astros probably put him through the wringer too. You know, I'm starting to eat right and get my cardio down straight just in case this happens in October.

I need to be ready for that. Yeah, no update. So the last video was 12 hours ago of him editing the video. Right, and he got to the point where he could lip read Winker telling Nevin we didn't even hit him, meaning the ball that sailed over Trout's head the day before that upset the Angels. We didn't even hit him.

What the eff are you doing? But the thing I don't understand is baseball allowing the bullpen guys to come running in. Okay, it's kind of, I like making fun of that when nothing really happens and these guys just got to show their solidarity to their teammates.

They're bored out there, Rich. Hey, when there are about, what would you say, 20, 25 with coaches, 30 individuals in each dugout. Yeah.

Oh, easily. 60 guys coming at it and there's just four umpires to keep the peace. Just four dudes trying to keep the peace with 60 angry men. Why are you going to say, okay, let's allow 20 more to come in to join the floor. Let's get 40 more.

Let's have an even hundred out there. Right? What are we doing? Why is baseball not say, like what David Stern said years ago, you leave the bench area for a fight. One step, one toe on the floor, Patrick Ewing. You're suspended for a playoff game if your toenail breaches the floor.

Amari Stoudemire. Remember that? That changed everything. Now, baseball could end these bench clearing brawls by having nobody allowed to come out of the dugout. You can't even come out of the dugout to do this, which would kind of leave one versus nine, which is not a fair fight if somebody wants to come and go at the pitcher. But even if baseball just wants to say, all right, we'll still let, it's just like hockey. It's just like, yeah, go ahead and hit each other.

No problem. Obviously the NFL and the NBA have stopped the whole idea of hitting one another, but baseball and hockey still allow, hey, go hit each other. Tire yourself out, then we'll pull you off each other. That's the NHL's approach. And it works. But baseball, it's 60 guys out there and it was bedlam and that's dangerous.

That's Mike Trout. I mean, you've got hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts battling it out. So let's allow everybody to run in 300 feet to join the fray. That you could stop. That you could tell, hey, bullpen guys, I know you want to be supportive of your teammates when they're in a Donnybrook, but too bad. Anybody who leaves the bullpen, you are now suspended.

You know how fast that would stop? Right away. This whole business. I'm coming guys. I'm coming. Hang on.

I'm coming. Keep it going. Keep it going. I'm almost there. And you know, there's probably some like, we got to get music for that.

Something like El Guapo, Rich Garces type guys saying, hold up guys. Come on. Really? I got to run in to be supportive.

Really? Nice El Guapo reference. You know, remember Lee Smith?

It took him forever. Did he ever run in from the pen? I don't understand this. Allowing guys to run in from the pen business. The best would be used to use the bullpen carts. If I'm the umpire union, I'm calling up baseball and just saying, hey, we've got our hands full trying to stop two benches that have just cleared from hitting each other like Braveheart meeting right at the on deck circle. You know, like we're, we're trying to, we're doing our best to stop that. And you're going to allow at least a dozen more people from each side to come running in and join the fray, the Walder fray.

Thank you. You know, you're going to allow that? They found the umpires. I'm like saying, what do you mean they don't care? They should.

That would be the easiest fix in the history of sports is what you're just saying. And this has been going on for a hundred plus years. So they don't care. I'm saying this is, is this a TJ? I mean, I agree with you. Let me just say this.

Let me just say this. And I understand it might sound self-serving, but whatever. Who said the shift's got to change? Who said that? Who said that?

A lot of people, but who's really pounded that pavement. Well, I mean, what's changing? What, what did the, what did baseball essentially say?

We're creating a competition committee to, to change that. Who said major league baseball is heading for a major problem because umpires are not required to tell the fans what they're looking at and what the decision in replay was. They just go out and grunt, save out. I point and throw guy. I, I pointed and go like this. What is baseball now done?

Required umpires to do that. I know what's right. I know what's right. I know that you know, it's right.

I know what's right and what works. I'm telling you, man, just tell the guys in the bullpen, sorry, watch it on TV. I got music for it now. All right, Rich, coming in from the bullpen again, like you did before. And then Del Tufo, you hit the music. I'm producing from the season. Let's see what you got. What is that? You're going to run in like you're like, you just did come from the bullpen.

It's Del Tufo's music for it. Hold on, keep the brawl going guys. I'm almost there.

I'm coming. For the real story behind some of wrestling's biggest moments. It's something to wrestle with Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson too. All-time Hogan opponents, Macho Man's got to be in the conversation. Where's Andre for you? I've always said Andre was number one. Wow. Because even going back before, you know, Hulk Hogan was a baby face, Hulk and Andre were able to go in and headline at the New Orleans Superdome at Shea Stadium in Japan. Wherever they went, that was an attraction. Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.