REShow: Scott Miller - Hour 1

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Upgrade today by calling 877-ASK-DELL to save up to 48% on our latest technology. The Rich Eisen Show with guest host, Dan Schwartzman. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Dan Schwartzman. Awesome to be back here in the big chair filling in for Rich Eisen on this Friday, The Rich Eisen Show.

So much to get into, it's like where do you start? Baseball Aaron Judge here on the East Coast having his arbitration hearing. Pay the man any amount of money he wants.

He's literally that good right now. Get into some golf. This live series is really a threat to the PGA, no question about it.

And boy, oh boy, the Washington commanders troubles continue. But before we get into all that, of course, the NBA draft occurring last night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. By the way, a great venue for basketball. I've gone to a basketball game there.

I've been to a bunch of boxing matches there. It's a terrible venue for hockey, by the way. The Islanders played there for a few years and then finally shipped themselves back east, I guess, to the island. Because they just couldn't stand playing at Barclays Center. Just not a great place for hockey. Awesome place again, though, for basketball.

Oh, our buddy Art Martinez on the other side of the glass. Good morning, good afternoon. And I'll tell you, good afternoon, good morning, whatever it is. Good evening to those out in Europe somewhere, where it's like 6 o'clock in England, which means people have been drinking all day.

Or Australia. Well, it's the next day there in Tokyo. It's about 2 a.m. right now, so either you're coming home from the bars or you're, you know... You're heading out to the bars.

You're heading out to the bars. Tokyo never sleeps, let me tell you that. I know from experience. But the NBA draft yesterday, Art, always fun.

I do enjoy watching it. And I always love that question, well, who's the winner of the draft? How the hell do I know? I mean, these guys haven't played a minute in the NBA yet. They haven't signed their rookie contracts yet. How am I supposed to tell you who's a winner, who's a loser? Oh yeah, Orlando won because they took Paulo Bancaro from Duke No. 1 overall. Alright, in a couple years we might say that they won.

Or we might say that it's a bust, but let me tell you something interesting here. Paulo Bancaro has big shoes to fill because the Orlando Magic have literally never failed with the No. 1 pick in a draft.

Are you ready for this? 1992, they take a pretty good player out of LSU named Shaquille O'Neal first overall. The next year they take a kid out of Michigan called Chris Webber. Now they deal him for Anthony Hardaway, but couldn't go wrong with either Penny or Chris Webber, right?

So, pretty good there. Shaq and Chris Webber both first overall picks. Then you have to go from 1993 all the way to 2004. And they took a high schooler from Atlanta named Dwight Howard, okay? So they've taken three big men. I mean, obviously Webber's not as big as Howard and Shaq.

He's more a power forward than a center. But you're looking at literally hitting on all three of your picks. I mean, that is incredible odds, right? That's an impressive trio of basketball players. I love the history lesson. You like that, right?

You listen to this show, you get yourself a nice history lesson. But you're talking three studs. Shaq Hall of Famer, Chris Webber's right up there. Dwight Howard in his prime was a dominant force, right? A 20 and 14 type of player.

And now you bring in, you know, Paolo Bancaro from Duke. And again, I don't know if he's going to be any good. We really don't know. We won't know for a little while yet. But I'll tell you who is clearly the winner from last night's draft at the Barclays Center.

This is an obvious answer. It's the Duke Blue Devils, right? It's not an actual NBA team.

It's not a player, although I do have one player that I think did fare well in this draft. It's the fact that Duke had four players picked in the first 26 picks. And they had five players total chosen in the two rounds of the draft when you throw in Trevor Keels who went to the New York Knicks in the second round.

Was there anybody else close? In terms of number of picks like that, I don't believe so. Kentucky had two players in the first round. Kansas had, I believe, two players in the first round as well. And I think that's it for schools with multiple first round picks in this draft. There may have been another school or two, but Duke had four guys. I mean, you look at Paolo Bancaro going one. Then you have the back-to-back players at 15, Mark Williams at 16, A.J.

Griffin. And then at 26, you had Wendell Moore Jr. Four guys in the top 26. Here's why they win. Because half the game in college basketball or college athletics in general is recruiting, right? You have to bring in talented players if you want to vie for a national championship. It's one thing to go get the guy.

It's another thing to then, obviously, nurture them and get the most out of them. Well, isn't it easier now with the transfer portal? Well, yeah, it is. Listen, the transfer portal is an absolute mess. And at some point, they're going to have to close some of the loopholes, I guess, in this transfer portal because it's become the Wild West out there, right? I'm not happy with my playing time. I'm going to transfer and I get to play next year. I don't even have to sit out anymore, right? But if you're Duke... And by the way, Duke loses players to the transfer portal because they're too good. And some of these guys just can't break into a lineup and you see why, right? When you have five guys drafted, four in the top 26, you might be a five-star kid or a high four-star kid coming out of high school.

It doesn't mean squat because you can't get on the court at Duke. You might as well go somewhere else and play. But the other end of that coin is you just wait because they're all going to get drafted. Yeah, but you don't want to wait.

But you don't want to wait, though, because guys want to leave after the first... They're not there for a degree, Art. We know that. So what do you do?

What do you do? You've got to leave. So if your dream is to be one and done or max go two years, and you get to Duke and you realize you're not going to play that first year, maybe it's time to look around, shop yourself around, have a big sophomore year, because the problem is this, right? Because in year two, it's not as if Duke's not bringing in four more five-star guys, right? Every year they're bringing in a plethora of five-star prospects. And there's no guarantee that just because you sat there on the bench for a year and you practiced with the team for a year that you're guaranteed that starting spot year two because the guy ahead of you goes in the NBA draft because they may bring in the number one recruit in the nation that happens to play your position.

And guess what? They're probably going to start over you. And the longer you stay in college, the more people look at you as if you have three eyes and they say, what's wrong with you? Why are you still in college? I remember Kentucky would have like three freshmen and two juniors, and you're going to yourself, those juniors must not be very good because why are they still there?

Right? I mean, that's the irony of this is, yeah, I commend you for being there and hopefully getting your degree and whatever it is, but you must not be that good because you haven't left after your first or second year. So the older you get, it ain't like a fine wine here, Art, where the better you are, you know? The longer you stay, the more question marks there are as to why you're staying and you haven't left yet. Because we know academics is probably not going to be the answer. So you have a mess of guys, obviously, in the transfer portal.

Now, sometimes it's numbers. Look, look at the NFL draft. Jameson Williams out of Alabama, the wide receiver that went, what, 12th to 13th. The only reason why he even played at Alabama last year is because he couldn't get on the field at Ohio State because there was Garrett Wilson, there was Chris Olave, two first round picks, a couple of five star prospects as well. So he said, look, I can get out right now. I don't have to sit out.

Let me go somewhere else, showcase my talent. One year being a first team All-American at Alabama, and regardless of tearing an ACL in the national championship game against Georgia, he's a first round pick, a high first round pick. So it opens doors like that. I think a place like Duke, if you're a kid coming out of high school, right? Every kid who is good enough to be featured with ESPN or Rivals or Scout or all these other recruiting services, they think they're going to be good enough to go pro, right? They think they're going to end up in the NFL, the NBA, whatever it might be. And they look at a Duke and they say, okay, yeah, it's a tough academic school, but again, I'm only going to be there a year or two, so I'm not going to really care that much about the grades. And the reality is, when Duke can show you and say, we just had four guys drafted in the first round, you say to yourself, they're doing something right.

So why not go to Duke and then get myself into the NBA, get that first round guaranteed contract, play well and get myself that max extension for four years and 170 million ridiculous dollars, right? So obviously there's the belief that Duke gets you to the NBA the way that in college football, the belief is Alabama gets you to the NFL and the numbers don't lie. But the thing about Duke is obviously you go from Mike Krzyzewski, who is as great as any coach in the history of any sport, to John Shire, who's now the coach there, and he hasn't missed a beat, by the way, in recruiting.

The question now is, is he going to be as good at developing the players as Krzyzewski was? But interestingly enough, Art, don't forget, for years the knock on Duke players were great college player, bad NBA player. For years that was the knock, until really Grant Hill, right? Christian Laitner was a legendary college player. In fact, he was on the dream team as the college player on the dream team at the, what, 92 Barcelona Olympics, I think it was. And yet he was an okay pro, wasn't a great pro, right? Christian Laitner wasn't some spectacular NBA player. In fact, he'd probably say he didn't live up to the expectations he had coming out of Duke, where he, again, he was a star. He was one of the greatest college players.

But now it's kind of shifted, right? You look at the guys coming out of Duke and you say to yourself, all right, they're developing talented players. R.J. Barrett's number two at the Knicks right now. I mean, Kyrie Irving's, you know, a little woo-hoo, but tremendous player, although he only played like 19 games at Duke. There is a track record now of successful players coming out of Duke. So the big winner in yesterday's NBA draft is Duke, to showcase to high school players why you want to go play for the Blue Devils.

There you have it. We produce NBA talent. Dan Schwartzman in for Rich Eisen, the Rich Eisen show here on a Friday. The other winner to me is Chet Holmgren. Now, I think Chet Holmgren was the best player overall in this draft period, okay? I think he is the most talented player in this draft, the highest upside of any player in this draft. The guy that if I am starting a team, he's the guy that I want.

And I will use a dumb word that has been used many times, and I think it is a dumb word, but I'm going to use it anyway. If you want to ask who is the unicorn of this draft, it is Chet Holmgren. He is the unicorn. He's like 7 foot 1. He's a buck 85, which means a stiff wind would knock him over. But what I love about Chet Holmgren is he plays a lot tougher than he actually looks, right? You can put him in an NBA weight room, give him NBA nutritionists, and Chet Holmgren can put on 30 pounds, and it probably would not affect his abilities on the court. But Chet Holmgren also plays tenacious defense, and that's what I love about the guy. He's a guy that plays on both sides of the court, and I find that increasingly rare in today's NBA because you're not paid to play defense per se, right?

You want to get that max contract. It's all about playing offense. People look at your scoring averages. They look at assists. I mean, Luka Doncic is a great player, but it's not as if he plays spectacular defense.

In fact, I would say he doesn't really play much defense. Maybe they should take Mr. Holmgren out for some Oklahoma barbecue. That'll fill him up. Listen, I'll join him for that. Absolutely.

Or just a big steakhouse. Was that in the great outdoors? The legendary 96er? Remember that? Oh, man. Absolutely.

Doncic, he has to eat that big steak, and at the end he can't finish the gristle. Remember that? Yeah. Oh, man.

Yeah, the 86er I think it was, or something like that. But that's what he needs. He needs, you know... Two or three of those. Yeah, he needs a high-calorie diet, some protein, get him in that weight room a little bit. But what's interesting is people look at Chet Holmgren and they say, yeah, well, you know, he didn't score a lot his freshman year at Gonzaga, right? What did he average?

Like 14 points a game. They didn't center the offense around him. I think that was a problem with Mark Few. And they did have, obviously, you know, tough players. I mean, Drew Timm is a great college player. Nambard, Andrew Nambard, very good player as well. He was drafted in this draft, I believe, in the second round.

They didn't really feature Chet Holmgren offensively, and I understand that. But I think when you throw him in the NBA, he's going to put up points. He's going to be a 20-10 guy, three blocks, great defense, all-NBA defensive team type of player.

Good situation, not much pressure at OKC. They know how to develop a kid like him. Kevin Durant is a guy that they comp him to. He, of course, got his start one year at the Sonics, then, of course, the Thunder. Great situation for Chet Holmgren to me.

He is a winner with where he's drafted and where he is going. Don't forget, Callaway didn't just create their longest irons ever with the new Rogue ST. They made their longest irons ever perform at the highest level for every player. Rogue ST irons come in four different offerings, each model using artificial intelligence on high-strength 450 steel.

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Find your Rogue ST irons at CallawayGolf.com slash go Rogue. All right, Major League Baseball, a lot going on. I want to talk Ohtani, also Aaron Judge, Scott Miller, Sirius XM MLB Network radio analyst and author will be joining us next. Man, who doesn't love talking some baseball on a Friday. We are just underway. I'm in for Rich Eisen.

That's right, Dan Schwartzman right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Does your antiperspirant keep you dry all day? Dove Men PlusCare Dry Spray goes on instantly dry for a cleaner feel and offers 48 hours sweat and odor protection.

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Goes on dry, clean feel all day. Back on the Rich Eisen Show, Dan Schwartzman in for Rich. Major League Baseball season rolling along, Yankees 52 and 18, like the third best start to a season through 70 games since 1930. Yes, coming back from a 6-3 deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning, putting up a fourth spot, knocking off the Houston Astros.

They continue to absolutely roll. Today, literally about 20 minutes ago, Aaron Judge's arbitration hearing began. Yankees had made a last-ditch midway point offer of $19 million. They offered 17. He wants 21. They offered 19.

He rejected that. A lot going on with baseball. Scott Miller, Sirius XM MLB network radio analyst, also author joining us here. And Scott, are the Yankees playing with fire here?

I mean, you don't want to just obviously write a blank check to a guy, but when he's a year away from being able to hit free agency and you have a guy named Steve Cohen across town with the Mets and the Giants, of course, near his hometown, should the Yankees try to keep him as happy as possible when you talk about Aaron Judge? All right, do we have Scott? All right, don't hear Scott. You got me now? Ah, there you are, buddy.

All right, Scott, I didn't have you there for a second. Are the Yankees playing with fire with Aaron Judge here? You know, it's like they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. You know, they made it clear, and we saw it last winter. People thought they should go after Carlos Correa, and, you know, they didn't. They didn't go after him. They didn't go after Corey Seeger.

They made a trade with Minnesota. They brought in Isaiah Kiner-Felefa at short, and basically that's indicative. The Yankees are trying to, you know, not just buy everything, but with Judge, he's a home-grown guy, and two things. One, Judge has an injury history. You know, he's a big body guy.

He's gotten hurt a lot. Is it wise to make a long-term investment in a guy that has shown that he's, you know, this year at least, he's stayed off the injured list, but historically he hasn't. Yet, if they don't make that investment, then certainly PR-wise, it's going to be a pretty big hit for the Yankees because, obviously, the kind of ear Judge is having, you know, he's leading them. The Yankees are compiling and producing what looks like could be a historic season. And, you know, Judge is right there in the middle of it, and needless to say, the people of New York love him. But, you know, Judge by his actions has indicated, you know, he's going to take the biggest contract he can get if and when he hits the free agent market, you know, whether that's the Yankees or somebody else.

Scott, do you think Legacy needs to play somewhat of a role? He is beloved by the fan base. He, of course, has gotten the baton straight from Derek Jeter. He will be the next captain of the Yankees. There will be a spot in Monument Park for him.

Heck, he may even have, you know, definitely a plaque, maybe a retired number and possibly a monument, the way that his career has gone. Do you think that matters at all, or you think literally it's a couple more million bucks here and I'm signing wherever? You mean does it matter to him or to the Yankees? To him? Yeah, to him more.

I mean, Yankees, obviously, they'll play that game. Right. Yeah, to him, I don't know, you know, it's a good question. You would think it would matter. But question is, as I said, he's showing a willingness to, you know, play that game of chicken with the Yankees and go elsewhere.

And he hasn't tipped his hand a lot. You know, he's from California and he's a little bit of a different sort of guy. I would think, yes, to answer your question. I would think that legacy, potential, captaincy, Monument Park, all that stuff, and it's a little bit early in his career to, you know, say all of this is a given. But from his perspective, with a chance at that, you would think it would matter. Yeah, I would think.

You would hope. I mean, you know, people care about baseball history and things like that, although the younger players don't seem to know as much about that. Our buddy Scott Miller, Sirius XM, MLB Network radio analyst and author, joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show, Dan Schwartzman, in for Rich.

The Yankees are 52-18, and I watch his team fairly regularly, pretty much nightly. And you kind of always wonder, is there going to be a shoe that drops? But through 70 games, are they what they are? Are they really this good, or should there be some pause for, you know, cause for pause at some point here? Because right now they're the best team in baseball, but we've seen in the past that they always have a weakness. Is there a weakness right now on this team?

No, not right now. I mean, yeah, it's incredible what they're doing. And no, that's one reason they're so good. You could point to weaknesses in the past, and I've said the past several years, you know, I thought their lineup was not constructed well. They were too one-dimensional, too much power, too many, but that came with too many strikeouts.

The brilliance of this year's team is acquiring Anthony Rizzo last year, and then I mentioned the Conner-Feletha trade, bringing in Josh Donaldson from Minnesota. They still have, you know, strikeouts in their lineup, but it's a much better balanced lineup. These guys, they've got some on-base percentage guys now that make the lineup move. They've got pretty good base running, smart base runners. Defensively, they're good. Pitching, rotation, and bullpen is very good. So, I mean, you look at all aspects of the game, and right now, no. I mean, no weaknesses, and they're just bludgeoning everybody. The thing that could turn into weakness is, you know, and this is true for everybody, is injuries, and Stanton went on the IL briefly, but he's back, and so far, Judge and Stanton, who you always have to kind of be concerned with, staying in the lineup, so far both of those guys have had pretty much relatively injury-free seasons, other than, like I say, Stanton going on the IL once, but they've been healthy. So right now, they've got it all.

Health, pitching, starting pitching, relief pitching, power, on-base percentage, base running. I mean, you don't want to play the Yankees right now. No. Scott, last question for you. I know you're obviously a Shoei Ohtani guy. I read you on Twitter.

I am as well, by the way. I think he's the best player in baseball. No offense to Mike Trout, but Trout may be a better hitter, but no one's better overall. He's going to have to get paid soon. What kind of, and I've read guys like Buster only talking about this, but Scott, when the time comes in the next year or two to pay Shoei Ohtani, what are we talking about for a guy who is legitimately a number one ace, and legitimately a top hitter in any lineup you put him in, what's his value out there, because we've never seen this before?

No, we haven't. I mean, you look at his teammate. You mentioned Mike Trout as, what, a $426 million deal. Ohtani can beat you in more ways, no offense like you said to Mike Trout, but Ohtani can beat you in any number of ways, more ways than Trout, because Trout doesn't start every sixth day for the Angels. So, you know, again, it comes down to health, but you wonder if he could be the first half a billion dollar guy, first $500 million contract.

I don't see why not. It's going to be really interesting when, by the way, he's a free agent after the 2023 season. So, Ohtani, he and the Angels, this upcoming winter, he'll be eligible for arbitration, and then next year, you know, is where the rubber hits the road, he'll be in his free agent season in 2023.

And, you know, he's interesting with him. You know, I said a little bit ago, Judge has made it clear, he's going to sign, if and when he hits free agent market, he's made it clear it's going to go to the top contract offer. Ohtani, end of last year, made it clear he wants to win. And that's where it becomes really interesting with the Angels, because he's a guy they have to resign. But Anthony Rendon being there, that seven-year, $345 million contract, he's going to make it really complicated for the Angels to fit Trout, Rendon, and Ohtani. And if the Angels, you know, they hit the skids again this year, if they don't win, Ohtani definitely could be looking elsewhere.

It's unbelievable what he has done, I mean, in terms of, as you said, you know, he beats you any which way, pitching and hitting. Scott Miller, Sirius XM MLB Network radio analyst, author, just a great dude. Scott, always appreciate you hopping on the show, man. Have a great weekend. Dan, you too. My pleasure.

Thank you, and take care. Awesome stuff there from Scott Miller. I mean, that's the thing, though, and Art, you're a Southern Cal guy, and I know you're a Dodger fan, but as a baseball fan, you know, I don't care what uniform this guy wears, and I know you hate the Angels being a Dodger fan the way that, as a Yankee fan, I hate the Mets. But if Shohei Ohtani was wearing the Mets color of, I call it puke orange and blue, the reality is I would stop and watch. He's one of those rare guys that you stop and watch, either when he's at the plate or when he's on the mound, because he is literally one of the top 10 players in both. It's unbelievable. Art, you're a baseball fan.

I've never seen this before. When you have to go back to Babe Ruth, and by the way, Babe Ruth really never did both in the same year. When he started hitting, they made him stop pitching. He didn't have a career where he did both for multiple years the way that Ohtani's doing right now. I mean, he's worth $50 million, right?

Oh, absolutely, yes. I mean, you can admit it as a Dodger fan. I mean, you've got to admire what the guy does regardless of being an angel. When the Dodgers aren't playing, I love to watch the Angels. Trout and Ohtani, oh my gosh. Rendon is always hurt. I mean, I don't know what they're going to do with that guy, but Trout and Ohtani, oh man. You know what they're going to do with Rendon? Nothing, because they can't get rid of the contract. Yeah, exactly. What a terrible contract, by the way.

That's going to be an albatross hanging. The way that the Josh Hamilton contract, the way that the Albert Pujols contract, the way that the, remember that pitcher Wilson, right? C.J. Wilson, whatever his name was?

C.J. Wilson, yeah. That contract, all these contracts that poor Artie Moreno signed, he spends money, but he always gives it to the wrong guys, apparently. Wrong guys, and he's got bad luck.

Bad luck? Although everybody knew Pujols' contract was just idiotic. The Cardinals knew smartly, let's not give Pujols that kind of money because they realized, A, it whispers about the age, but also you can't give a guy that's like 30, 31 at the time a 10-year contract and Artie gave it to him and got burned. But Shohei Ohtani will be 28 years old in a couple of weeks, which means he will be 29 when he hits free agency at the end of next year.

Prime, he's in his prime. That's an eight-year contract there, right? Eight years, 400 million? Wow. Is that what we're looking at here? 10 years, 500 million?

Because I mentioned a name before. You don't think a guy like Steve Cohen with the Mets, who doesn't care how much money it takes to win, right? And the Mets are winning, by the way. Second best record in baseball behind the Yankees because he hired the right manager in Buck Showalter, a great baseball mind, by the way, and he spent money.

He brought in players. He's got a pitching staff. And by the way, they're winning without, you know, Scherzer's missed half the season. DeGrom hasn't pitched yet for the Mets, and yet they got the best record in the National League. So look, you know, if you're Steve Cohen and you're worth $14 billion, whatever it is, Shohei Ohtani hits free agency at the end of 2023, and you heard Scott Miller say to him, it's all about winning, why not write him a check for half a billion dollars? And now that you have the DH in the National League, you have the DH in the National League, he can do both. He can do both.

Pitch him every six days, and then you let him DH, play a little outfield here and there. I mean, that three-run home run he hit to win that, or to send that game into extra innings a couple of days ago. I mean, unbelievable.

This guy's unbelievable. It's honestly, it's mind-blowing what we're watching, and unfortunately not enough people are watching for a couple of reasons. One, because the youth of today isn't really into baseball, sadly. It's a great sport. I love baseball. But the youth of today isn't into baseball. Everything's about I need instant gratification now.

I need to watch the NFL, the NBA, whatever it is. Baseball's too slow is what they say. I disagree, but that's what they say. Two, he plays out there on the West Coast, and the vast majority of America's population is more on the East Coast, and when games are starting at 10, 1030 at night, people on the East Coast, especially kids, can't watch because they're sleeping, and you can't watch greatness in Shoei Ohtani, who is the best player in baseball.

We'll get to that in a minute. And he plays for the Angels, which is the B team in Los Angeles. In fact, they're not even in Los Angeles.

I've been to the big A. That ain't Los Angeles. No, it's Orange County.

Orange County. There was a lawsuit about calling themselves Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim because the Dodgers sued him. Ultimately, Dodgers lost.

Angels can use Los Angeles, but they're not really an L.A. team. So you have all these strikes against baseball in showcasing literally something we've never seen. In football, it would be like Tom Brady is also your star middle linebacker or pass rusher. Tom Brady's throwing for 5,000 yards and 40 touchdowns and accumulating 15 sacks as your defensive end.

That's the equivalent, right? I mean, that's what you're looking at. It's not like Shoei Ohtani is some novelty item, right, where he's a hell of a hitter and he's an okay pitcher or he's a hell of a pitcher and he's an okay hitter, okay? Like CeCe Sabathia, right? CeCe Sabathia, of course, a Cy Young pitcher who was one of the better hitting pitchers of his generation. Dwight Gooden was the same way. But these weren't guys that could hit 260 with 40 home runs, 45 home runs in 500 at bats in a year.

They weren't like that. Shoei Ohtani is that. If Shoei Ohtani's arm were to fall off, remember a couple of years ago when he had to have Tommy John surgery, he kept hitting because he could hit. He just couldn't throw.

It's honestly mind-blowing that we're watching history and so few people get to watch this. And the argument as to who's the best player in baseball, it's a dumb argument and here's why. Mike Trout is not the best player in baseball. Yes, Mike Trout is phenomenal and if I had to start a team based purely on offense, I would draft Mike Trout number one overall.

But that's not how this works. There's two aspects, three aspects to baseball really, hitting, pitching, fielding. And Shoei Ohtani does three of those things. Mike Trout does two of those things. I mean, Shoei Ohtani is an ace. He's 6-4 at the 2-9 ERA and he averages well above a strikeout per inning, okay? That's him on the mound right now.

Him at the plate, and by the way, he's not as great as he was last year at the plate, but this is a guy that in 69 games has 15 home runs, 45 RBIs, hitting.260 with an OPS of.822. I mean, think about that. Hey, Dan.

Yeah, go ahead. We've got a caller on the line who wants to counter the Ohtani argument. Rick in California. All right, let's talk to Rick in California, all right? Let's get Rick up here.

Rick in California, you're on the Rich Eisen Show with Dan Schwartzman. What's up, buddy? Hey, how you doing? Hey, listen.

Good, man. I'm hearing you talk about Ohtani and maybe going to the match. That's not going to happen because he handpicked the Angels. He had his choice of Seattle, the Dodgers, the Angels, both New York teams, and I believe there's another team back on the East Coast that we're all bidding for his services.

I think Texas. He chose the Angels specifically because of the lifestyle. No, you're right.

Listen, listen, you're right. He handpicked the Angels. He could have gone anywhere in baseball because, remember, he was really cheap. The fact is you had to pay a posting fee of $20 million to a Japanese team, but his contract was going to be nothing because it wasn't as if he was hitting free agency here early on. He was getting paid nothing his first couple of years.

But here's the problem. They're not winning anything right now at the Angels, right? This is a team that, as great as you have Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, they're not a 500 team. So at some point, you get tired of losing, right? Shohei Ohtani's not going to stick around in a spot because he likes it because they're not winning any games. At some point, the guy wants to win.

He's a competitor. If the Angels aren't offering him a path to winning a championship, he's not going to stick around there. That's the problem that you have if you're an Angels fan. Okay, then what's your argument for Trout? Because Trout just signed a $10 million deal. So you're telling me Trout's not a competitor? No, Trout got paid the biggest contract in baseball history.

$42.5 million a year or something. Shohei, look at that also. There's no way that Artie, as many mistakes as Artie's made, he will not let Shohei walk.

There's just no way. Yeah, but Artie stuck with Anthony Rendon's, yeah, but he stuck with Anthony Rendon's ridiculous contract, and Rendon never plays because he's always hurt, right? That's $36 million a year going down the toilet.

Here's the other problem. The Mets aren't owned by the penny-pinching Wilpon family anymore. The Mets are owned by literally the richest owner in baseball by a mile. Steve Cohen is the richest owner in the sport by a mile. Money doesn't mean anything to him. He's printing money because they're now winning games, and the guy is worth $14 billion. I understand it completely, but what I'm saying is Artie needs, first, they haven't won anything since that guy took over.

They won a company playoff series. He has no idea what he's doing. He signs these guys, Rendon had two years of productivity in Washington.

He has the bank at him. At least with Shohei, we see what the guy can do. There's no way that they don't pay that guy what he's worth. You know, we're just up and off the books now, thank God. I think we lose another Albatross contract next year that Artie's okayed in the past, so they're going to have the money for him. I mean, they don't spend any money on pitching, unfortunately, which is another problem. We can have another discussion on that.

Absolutely. Artie has made decision after decision. Let me remind you also that this guy vetoed a trade to the Dodgers.

The Dodgers were offering salary dumps on Peterson and Stripling, and the only thing the Angels had to get back was Louis Spring Gifo, and Artie Marino vetoed that trade. So you're hoping that that guy who obviously has no baseball sense, and by the way, thank you for the phone call, the guy who has no baseball sense except writes checks to the wrong guys can handle keeping Shohei Ohtani in an Angels uniform. I don't think I would trust him to do that, because at some point the conversation isn't going to be money, right? Shohei Ohtani's going to get paid somewhere, okay? He's going to get his money somewhere. Yeah, but he wants to win. Right.

That's the point. The argument that he's going to have when he sits down with other teams at free agency isn't going to be, how much are you going to pay me? The money's there. The argument is, what is your game plan to win? And what is the Angels' game plan to win? Artie doesn't hire the right guys, Artie writes checks but doesn't bring in the right players, and the caller made a great point. They don't spend anything on pitching, which has been a real problem. If you're Steve Coney, say, look, look at the team before I took over and look at the team now, okay? Look what they went from. Look, he overpaid for Max Scherzer, but he did it.

Why? Because A, Scherzer's great, and B, he wanted to make a splash to show, look, this is a different ownership group. Last year he brings in Lindor, this year he brings in, of course, Scherzer. The path to winning with the Mets or even the Yankees or even the Giants or the Dodgers is much clearer than what the Angels can offer Shohei Ohtani, because that's going to be the conversation that has to be had. Not 10 years, 400 million, that's going to be there anywhere. It is, how are you going to win?

Show me your blueprint, because I want to win something here. The Angels are not going to win that discussion over other teams. They're just not. We can keep going on this.

8-4-4, 2-0-4, Rich, 8-4-4, 2-0-4, 7-4-2-4. That's the bottom line, and by the way, again, Shohei Ohtani's the best player in baseball, period. If you don't think so, I don't think you're understanding what you're watching.

Plenty more to come next. Dan Schwartzman filling in for Rich here on a Friday. It's the Rich Eisen Show. Just as an injury history, you know, he's a big body guy. He's gotten hurt a lot, so is it wise to make a long-term investment in a guy that has shown that he's, you know, this year at least, he's stayed off the injured list, but historically he hasn't.

Yet, if they don't make that investment, then certainly PR-wise, it's going to be a pretty big hit. Scott Miller, Sirius XM MLB network radio analyst and author, joining us earlier on the Rich Eisen Show. Dan Schwartzman in for Rich on this Friday. Aaron Judge, 46 minutes into their arbitration hearing right now.

It's supposed to take four or five hours. He is asking for 21 million. The Yankees offered 17, which, by the way, is a $7 million raise in last year, and then before the hearing began, the Yankees upped it to 19 million, meeting him halfway. Judge declined that, thanks but no thanks. He's going for that 21 mil.

What's interesting is if he wins his arbitration case at 21 million, the Yankees will actually have to come and check for 1.65 million in back pay for the first 70 games of the season, because they're paying him at the $17 million clip right now. Look, so you understand the ground rules of this. Whatever he's doing this year with the 27 home runs, crushing it, he's the MVP of baseball right now, that supposedly has no bearing on this hearing.

The three-judge panel are not supposed to look at what he's doing this year. Hard not to, though, right? But you're not supposed to look at that. The Yankees have a real...

Wait a minute. It's based on everything up to this year. But they have eyes and they can see the sports center and everything?

Of course. But they're not supposed to take this year's statistics. They're just like a jury, then. A jury in like a murder trial or something. Yeah, but I don't think they lie and claim they don't know anything about the trial, like a lot of jurors do, you know?

Yeah, exactly. What trial? The trial of this entry? Never heard of this, you know? Some people actually like sitting on juries. Not me, but some people do.

No, not me either. People have nothing else to do, I guess. But the problem is, look, Aaron Judge... Yeah, he wants to get paid as much as possible, and he looks smart now for turning down the seven years, $213 million the Yankees offered him this offseason. And the Yankees now will have to cough up more money, but he's going to have suitors. Look, if you're the Boston Red Sox and you can steal Aaron Judge away from the Yankees, why not? If you're Steve Cohen in the Mets and you can steal Aaron Judge from your crosstown rivals, why not? If you're the San Francisco Giants and you bring a guy home, he's from Linden, California, which is near Sacramento.

He went to Fresno State University. If you can bring a guy like that relatively close to home, why not? But if you're Judge, does legacy matter? If the Yankees are offering you a boatload of money right up there with every other team, does the fact that you're the next Derek Jeter within the organization, homegrown, superstar player, beloved by the fan base, you'll probably have a plaque in potentially a monument, your number retired, number 99 going up there on the wall, does that mean anything to you?

Should it mean anything to you if the money is relatively equal? You know, look, you go to the Mets, you're still paying high taxes. It's New York. If you go to the Giants or Dodgers, you're paying high taxes anyway. I don't think Boston's taxes are cheap, right? So in terms of what's the best environment, in terms of making sure I get every penny, unless he wants to go to a black hole like the Texas Rangers, okay, fine.

By all means, go. Or one of these Florida teams no one goes to watch, fine. I don't see that happening. But any of the teams that you think can afford Aaron Judge, many of them are playing in states where there are going to be high taxes.

So I don't think that's going to determine where he decides to play. But you kind of hope legacy means something. And I don't say that as a Yankee fan, I say that as a sports fan. You want the younger generation of athletes to understand what came before them, right? With Aaron Judge, he has a unique opportunity to be the next great Yankee.

And I forgot who it was. Was it Joe DiMaggio who said, thank God he made me a Yankee, I think it was, or some line like that? There's a lineage of greatness there and Judge has the mantle right now. I don't see him going to Boston because I do think legacy matters to him. If you're a Yankee star, you don't go play for the Red Sox, right? If you're a Red Sox, you don't play for the Yankees, unless you want to be a trader like Johnny Damon or Jacoby Ellsbury, you're a trader in their eyes. Do you go play for the Mets, the crosstown rivals? Again, you know, you screw with your legacy a bit if you do that.

He can come to the Dodgers anytime. Yeah, but again, high-tax state, you know? Actually higher than New York, I believe. Yeah, exactly.

Right? Does he want to pay another like 13% of $350 million to the state of California? Probably not. But I do wonder, is it all about the last dollar for Aaron Judge? And maybe it is. But if you're the Yankee organization, see, this is how you have to view it. When George Steinbrenner owned the team, it was a passion. To Hal Steinbrenner, his son, it is a business. And there's a big difference when you are an owner who is passionate with the product or you're an owner who looks at it as a business. When it's a passion, you don't care as much about the spending, right?

But when it's a business, you do care about how much is going out the door compared to how much is coming in the door because you want to show a large profit because to you it's a business. And the Yankee fans are slowly realizing that about Hal Steinbrenner. George Steinbrenner, this probably wouldn't even be an issue, right? Whatever Aaron Judge wants, he'll end up getting if it was George.

Now with Hal, I don't know if that's the case. And that's what worries Yankee fans. Is Aaron Judge a good long-term investment?

Heck no, he's not. He's 30 years old. He doesn't stay healthy. The Yankees already have a guy who's going to be relegated to a full-time DH in the next couple of years in Giancarlo Stanton. So Judge may not be able to just kind of loiter as a DH later in a contract, which is how you can justify big money later on in a deal because you don't want him playing the field and getting hurt.

But sometimes you just have to give a bad contract to a player because of what his legacy and his status is. And I think Aaron Judge is that guy. Robinson Cano was not that guy.

He was not. He was never the face of the Yankees because he played in the Derek Jeter era. And they let him go to Seattle. Ten years, $240 million, Yankees weren't going to match that amount.

And you look back and it was smart for them not to. But Aaron Judge is different. He's a guy that you give that eight-year contract knowing that the last couple of years may not be a good investment for you, but the first five or six might be a really good investment. And the fans are going to love the fact that you spent the money to keep the iconic face of the franchise here. You let him go. You are harming your relationship as an owner with the fan base. That's what happens here. A rock and a hard place for Yankee ownership.

You're either going to overpay for Aaron Judge and get Burns, or you are going to let him walk and be hated by the fan base. All right, next to our Alan Shipnick, author of eight books, including Phil. We talk live golf versus the PGA. Is there a real concern there? That's coming up next. I can't wait to talk about that. That's a big, big topic. Dan Schwartzman on a Friday in for Rich Eisen right here.

It's the Rich Eisen Show. 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 Hulk Hogan was a babyface, 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.