REShow: Hour 3

What's Right with Nick Wright is a rapidly growing podcast from the Fox Sports Podcast Network. You may know Nick Wright from co-hosting FS1's First Things First. This podcast gives Nick a chance to develop, deep dive, and defend his sharpest opinions. During the show, Nick faces off against a ticking clock, a team of producers, and even his own family to try and get his points across.

New episodes drop Monday, Thursday, and Friday wherever you get your podcasts. Three of the Rich Eyes in Toronto Wednesday. Dance sportsmen in for Rich. Always fun sitting in the big boy chair. Big hour coming up. We'll get to some major league baseball in about 20 minutes or so. Bob Nightingale, USA Today Sports Major League Baseball columnist will join us. But the Tua Tagovailoa situation, the Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel talking today to the media. In regards to that, we now know that Tua is in the concussion protocol, not expected to play obviously against the Patriots this weekend. Some wonder what this means for his career. The second time he will be out with a concussion.

And by the way, the second time that he was concussed in the game and he was continued, he was allowed to continue playing. The Dolphins not looking good. You wonder what this means for the NFL as well. Will they have to revamp their concussion protocol?

And look, they've tried. They got a spotter, right? A spotter can take a guy out of a game. And I remember by the way, the last time when the Jets played the Dolphins earlier this year, Sauce Gardner went in when the Dolphins were at like their one yard line. Gardner blitzed and he hit Teddy Bridgewater like the first play of the game, whatever it was. And the spotter made Bridgewater come out of the game because he thought he was concussed. The Jets got a safety out of it. That's right. I had a spot pick on Bridgewater that week and got me no points.

Yeah. Cause he was out after one play because the spotter pulled him out of the game. It killed me on my fantasy league.

So where was the spotter here? Because on social media, people kept playing that play over a game during the game saying, wow, Teddy, you know, because Teddy Brin, excuse me, two attack of Aloha was playing good football until he took that hit. His head bounced off the turf. And then he threw three interceptions after that. Coincidence?

I think not. So people on social media could see it. And yet somehow at the stadium itself, no one saw it. Sounds criminal to me, but Mike McDaniel talked to the media today about two attack of Aloha. Take a listen. He's a better, better than yesterday. You know, he's, he's, you know, beyond that, I feel, I feel like it's a kind of weird to, to extrapolate beyond good, which is what he tells me.

He did. Do we know what stage of the protocol he's in right now? No, I'm not even really, really worried about any of that. Again, it is like, you know, you lean on, in moments like this, you lean on medical professionals. And I, I stopped even thinking about anything, but each day and when it was clear and obvious that is the best thing for him.

So stage, all that stuff, it's just a day at a time. So there's Mike McDaniel, head coach of Miami Dolphins, talking about Tua. They admit that he, of course, was concussed.

No surprise there. You can tell he was very uncomfortable talking about it and taking that question. And probably because he has to really watch what he says, because this is far from over. This will be looked at by the league.

Legally, you wonder if Tua and his family will look at this. So I think if you're Mike McDaniel, you are treading lightly. This is a guy that usually, you know, is a good talker. I mean, when he's mic'd up or other press conferences, when the topic is in concussions in his quarterback, he's usually a happy-go-lucky and a much better talker than what you heard there. So clearly he is picking and choosing his words carefully, answering those questions from reporters when it comes to Tua.

And I'm going to put it to you simple. Right now he's listed as day-to-day, most likely out Sunday against the Patriots. It's a crucial game. Dolphins will make the playoffs for the first time in, what, five years if they win out the last two games, or they win one of the next two, and some other teams help them along. But the reality is, I don't understand how Tua is just not listed as out for the remainder of this season, okay? I mean, to me, that's the obvious play here. If I'm the NFL league office, I'm making a call to the Dolphins, and I am saying flat out, hey, guys, or call Stephen Ross, the owner, and say, Stephen, Tua's done for the year. It's not going to look good for the league if we let him come back in a week. I mean, two concussions in a year? Why is it that in the NHL when guys get concussed, some of these guys are out for a year, right? I mean, I remember Sidney Crosby got concussed.

He was out months, okay? A Boston Bruin player, I don't remember his name, literally was never the same after taking a concussion. I think Mark Stahl, the New York Rangers, was out months after being concussed. How is it that we're going to let Tua Tagovailoa come back in a matter of weeks? In the NFL, somehow these guys come back in weeks, while in other sports, they're out a long time.

The New York Yankees had an outfielder a few years back who's no longer with them. He was concussed, and guess what? He wasn't the same for a long time, literally a long time. It's time for somebody to tell the Dolphins, look, this guy's done for this year. Let's see how he does this off season, but for 2022, I don't care if you get to the Super Bowl, and we're talking five weeks from now, dude's not playing.

He's out. Well, if Tua is officially out for this game against the Patriots, Teddy Bridgewater will get the start. Here's coach Mike McDaniel of the Dolphins on Bridgewater.

At this point, is Teddy Bridgewater the starter for Sunday? You know, the whole idea of taking day-to-day is kind of rough on coaches who have to plan for a bunch of people, so the approach that I'm unequivocally taking today, you know, I was on the phone. I met with him yesterday. I met with Teddy yesterday. I was exchanging ideas and talking through some stuff all the way until like 10-15 last night, and then it was his bedtime, and so moving forward today and the whole team's approach is Teddy Bridgewater is the starter. This is why we thought it so vital to go after him in free agency. This is why he's done such a diligent job during the course of the season with his own injuries and such to be prepared for this opportunity, and I know the team's very excited, feel very fortunate to have him and him to get his opportunity that he's totally prepared for.

Why is this so tough to answer? Mike McDaniel is really struggling to answer these questions. You notice that? It's unbelievable. I know. It's like, I spit it out already. Spit it out? Like, yeah, Teddy's my starter.

Of course he's my starter. Tua ain't hitting the field. This isn't rocket science. Come on. I'm just so stunned by this. Like, what is it the hard-headed nature of the NFL? No pun intended, by the way, with hard-headed, but what is this hard-headed nature of the NFL where it's like you're a he-man and you can get concussions, but you still should play? Like, what is going on here? Like, this is ridiculous.

It's stupid. The guy is hurt. The guy is hurt. His brain's been taking hits this year.

He should not play. This should not be complicated. Why is this so complicated? This is what it should—it's Wednesday already. You're playing this weekend.

It's simple. Yeah, Teddy's the starter. Tua's out indefinitely.

There, I worded it correctly for Miami. It is this stubbornness of this league and probably the tacit approval of this league that allows for these teams to play in that gray area, and that's exactly what it is, Art. It's a gray area where they want to kind of keep hope alive when, frankly, there should be no hope.

I'll give you the bottom line. It's all about the money. It's all about gambling. It's all about the point spread. It's all about the over-under. It's all about that. That is true.

You're absolutely correct. It is all about the money, and it is all about, you know, Tua plays better odds. Yeah, the odds change with Bridgewater.

Yeah, because chances of winning are much less with Teddy Bridgewater than they are with Tua Tagovailoa. Simple enough. But that's why the league has to step in, and that's why the league has to say, all right, this is what it is.

Look, it's like this. The players themselves will do whatever it takes to get on the field, right? That's just the NFL way. Players themselves will do whatever it takes.

No one wants to sit out, okay? Players will lie about their health. They do it in every sport. I remember in baseball, Chase Utley, when I was in Philadelphia covering the Phillies, Chase Utley was hurt, and it was obvious, but they kept playing him because he kept saying he's okay, and then it turns out later he wasn't okay, and then years later, you know, I think it was he said that he should have just not played. It hurt the team. These guys want to play.

They don't want to sit. That's all they know how to do is play the sport they're in. If you talk to an ex-NFL player and you ask him, what did you do the first year out of retirement? You know what they say? Nothing.

I didn't know what to do. I've been playing a sport all my life. It's been regimented. I am pretty much told when to eat, when to show up at a facility, when to go home, right? That's the same with us. It's the same. When we retire from radio, what are we going to do? Exactly.

It's the same. What do we do? Exactly. That's why we don't retire. We stay in this.

We can't get out. Exactly. But it's like the military, too, to a point, right?

I mean, Art, people that do 20 years in the military. Oh my gosh. Yeah.

Transitioning into civilian life. Yeah. It's very, very tough. Very tough. Like, what do you do? You know, you've been told what to do, right?

Lights out at this time. Chow at that time. And then somehow you have to, you know, try to live outside of that. And that's why a lot of people who get out of the military kind of live them. They kind of keep it going, right? Their schedule. They go to bed early, they get up late. Or excuse me, they go to bed early, they get up early. Art, how many years after you got out did you still get up early?

Oh man, it was a couple years at least. Right? Yeah, absolutely.

You go through your routine, you get up, you make your bed, you know, hospital corner, hospital corners. Yeah, you make it perfectly, you bounce quarters off of it, right? Absolutely. Tight. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah. It's because that's all you've been doing for these years. Like, why would you stop?

You shine your shoes, you shine your boots, absolutely. Unbelievable, right? You just, you don't know how to stop because you don't know what else to do because that's all you've been doing. It's that, it's honestly that simple. You've been doing it for that long, you're just like, okay, I'll keep doing it because that's, that's what you do.

I, I'm just always dumbfounded by it and, but I understand it. It's the same thing again with like the NFL where, you know, guys play in the league, the ones who are lucky enough to play a long time and then they leave. I had a friend who retired after 13 years in the NFL, didn't have an outlet for, you know, his, you know, his competitiveness. He actually went to yoga every single day for 365 days.

He went to yoga literally every single day because he had nothing else to do and just didn't know what to do. And I was like, well, why don't you like get a job? He's like, well, you know what, like what? I, I caught a football for 13 years. Like what, what skill has that helped me in the real world? You know? Hey, what did you do? I caught a football for 13 years.

Okay. What does that mean? Does that help you in the business world? He had a degree to fall back on, which he did, but still, you know, like we think it's cool. Hey, you're playing the NFL for a long time. You did this or that, but in the end, when you try to find a job, you say, I caught a football for 13 years.

That doesn't exactly make you a hot commodity at times, because it doesn't mean you can do anything else in life except catch a football. Well, that's why these guys go into coaching as well as to keep it going. They keep it going. It's all they can do because that's all they've ever done. And that makes perfect sense.

By the way, it makes absolutely perfect sense. But with that said, it also makes it difficult because you're trying to figure out what you do in life. And it's a very hard question to answer because of the fact that you have done nothing else in life except play that sport. To the point it's sad, right? And some guys can't adapt and you hear the horror stories of, you know, athletes falling off, going bankrupt.

They don't know how to kind of assimilate back into like normal society from, you know, being in the media, being a celebrity, you know, people wanting your autograph. Sunday, you strap on the pads, you become He-Man, you know, and you leave all that. I think that's honestly, I think that's one of the reasons why Tom Brady hasn't called it quits yet. Yeah, cost him his marriage. Yeah, we think so.

We think that's the reason. But yeah, I think the whole point is that for Tom Brady, like this is all he's done for 20 plus years. Like what else is he going to do? He won't quit either. Am I still a better Raider fan?

No, no, you're not. But that's, you know, his father kind of brought that up recently. Um, that, that's his big worry that like, his son just can't quit. And I don't think he can quit because what does Tom Brady do tomorrow when he wakes up if there's no football?

He tried that for like 40 some odd days and it didn't work out, right? Like he didn't seem to enjoy what life was without football and he unretired within a couple of months. And that's just because he doesn't have anything else to do. And he's afraid of life after football.

I believe, I truly believe that's what it is. He's got a family. It's like spend it with your family.

No, it cost him his marriage. But you know what though? Honestly, like I have two kids, right? And I like spending time with my kids, but I also like spending time alone. You know, sometimes you kind of want to be away with the kids because they're, you know, it's not easy, right? It's not easy with a young, you know, a couple of young kids around.

You always have to be kind of alert. And I think for Tom Brady, you know, raising kids has been somewhat of a part-time job, right? Oh yeah, absolutely. So I think it's always nice to kind of have your freedom as well as still having the family. And football to me kind of affords him time with his buddies and time away from the family. And I don't know if he's ever been used to being around the family all the time. And that's a tough transition to go from being somewhat there with the family to always being there with the family. And it's not always a good transition. So, you know, I think maybe he realized, hey, getting up morning tonight, being around the family isn't, yeah, it's great. I love my kids and stuff and I love my wife, but this is hard. It's not what I want to do. I kind of want to keep playing football because it gives me purpose in life more so than raising the family.

That's just my theory on the whole situation. Not a good one, but that's what it is. Find the latest and greatest audio entertainment on Audible. It's got everything you want to hear, including The Rich Eisen Show. Along with podcasts, you'll also find audio books and exclusive originals. We're talking comedy, sports stories, deep dives with athletes and entertainers, business, and anything else you're into. With Audible, you get access to thousands of included titles with more at it every week. Listen on the road, at the gym, or anywhere you want to fuel up your imagination.

Join and get 30 days free at the home of storytelling, audible.com. Major League Baseball off-season rolls along the Boston Red Sox with another bargain signing, Corey Klueber this time heading to Fenway Park. Why are they acting like a small market team and the Dodgers as well? Big spenders?

Not so much this year. USA Today Sports Major League Baseball Conference Bob Nightingale will be joining us next. Dan Schwartzman in for Rich on way Wednesday, right here on The Rich Eisen Show. What's Right with Nick Wright is a rapidly growing podcast from the Fox Sports Podcast Network. You may know Nick Wright from co-hosting FS1's First Things First. This podcast gives Nick a chance to develop, deep dive, and defend his sharpest opinions. During the show, Nick faces off against a ticking clock, a team of producers, and even his own family to try and get his points across.

New episodes drop Monday, Thursday, and Friday wherever you get your podcasts. Did you know that driving high is considered driving under the influence? That's right. Driving under the influence of marijuana is against the law in every state, even in states where marijuana is legal. That means driving high could get you a DUI. And if you think law enforcement officers can't tell when you're driving high, you're wrong. Your friends can tell. Your co-workers can tell. Even your parents can tell.

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So remember, drive high, get a DUI. Paid for by NHTSA. A Wednesday edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Dave Schwartzman, Infra-Rich, leading up to New Year's coming up this weekend.

Amazing how quickly 2023 is upon us. Major League Baseball for agencies, some good names still available, others signing. Corey Cooper now a member of the Boston Red Sox. Carlos Correa still kind of twirling in the wind there. Hasn't officially signed with the Mets either due to the physicals.

What's the latest there? Buddy Bob Nightingale, USA Today Sports Major League Baseball, commonest joining us. Bob, happy holidays and happy new year to you and your family, first of all. Yeah, you too. Thank you, man. Thank you, Bob.

Appreciate it. Look, Carlos Correa apparently fails a physical at the San Francisco Giants. I don't know if he's officially failed the physical at the Mets, but there's concerns coming out of his physical at the Mets to where he hasn't signed that 12-year deal for $315 million.

What is the latest and why are teams still pursuing a guy that seemingly can't pass physicals for two teams? Well, now you're seeing if you can get him a discount price. I mean, the Twins offered, you know, 10 years at about $280, $285, and, you know, they sell you back in.

You got to raise your price. They said no, and we're not even sure that, you know, we will do a deal, you know, because of the physicals. And even though they had him playing, obviously both the Giants and Mets thought something, though our number also would have been deal with the Giants in the first place. You know, Bob, with that said, though, look, I mean, Carlos Correa is a pretty good player.

There's no question about it. And from what we understand, and this is not information that's coming directly from the team, so I'm not sure, but this is based on an injury he had about eight years ago while playing in the minor leagues that has not affected him all these years. Is this considered something that potentially long-term like an arthritic type of condition where, you know, you give a guy a 10-year contract, 12-year contract, this will flare up at some point?

I guess that has to be the worry, correct? Yeah, I mean, there's a, it sounds like there's a plate in that right ankle. He was quoted late in the season. Someone slid into him. He goes, oh, that kind of stung for a while.

It hit the plate. And, you know, I was a little worried, you know, to kind of freeze up. So, yeah, obviously there's some concern there. You know, there's a lot of concern. You know, the thing if you're Correa, though, is like, you know, man, just had two deals. I lost $35 million from the first one.

What happens here? My gut guess is because the Mets won them so bad and, you know, they've already, you know, publicly said, at least the owner has said, hey, we'll get a deal. You know, because usually it's just, you know, the agents that leak that out, you know, never the teams because of the physical. But my guess is they'll just restructure it like, okay, if you miss significant amount of time because of the lower right leg injury, then we're going to shape some years off that contract.

Yeah, kind of the J.D. Martinez situation at the Boston Red Sox, I guess, when they brought him in, kind of give themselves some out clauses in it due to health reasons. You know, they never had to use it, obviously, but that was a much shorter contract than what Carlos Correa is going to get. Now, that said, though, look, I love baseball, Bob. And, you know, Manny Machado to me is a tremendous player. You know, I think, you know, when you look at where the short stops went this offseason, Swanson goes to Chicago. You know, the Phillies, of course, get in there as well with Trey Turner, who I think is phenomenal. Is, you know, Correa has had, you know, some health issues offensively.

Look, you look at the numbers. He's pretty good. I'm not sure he's great. Is he a guy that maybe is being overrated to a point?

Am I wrong to think that? Because I don't think he's as good as Machado. I don't think he's going to Trey Turner.

I'm with you on that. I mean, he's a very good player. You know, he was a great teammate in Minnesota, certainly with the Houston Astros.

Remember, the Astros originally offered, you know, five years at about 150, and he turned it down, you know, before he departed. So, you know, I think you're paying for the whole thing, you know, just his charisma, you know, a sharp guy. He reminds you of Alex Rodriguez in a sense. I'm not saying he's got Rodriguez's talent, but just that kind of charisma, you know, you know, the reporters flock to him, you know, before and after games, you know, that sort of thing.

All right, so it's not just me saying that. I'm glad that you agree about, because I'm always like, he's good. I just don't think he's in that upper echelon that he's seemingly getting paid for. Now, the New York Mets, we brought them up, and obviously if they lock up Correa for whatever amount of money with the luxury taxes involved, their payroll as a whole will be approaching $500 plus million, which could be in fact $200 million more than the Yankees, and literally doubled the third place team, which I believe is the Phillies. Good for baseball, bad for baseball, Bob. Well, I think, you know, it's great for the Mets. I think it's bad for baseball in the sense that, you know, you and I, Dan, can right now, you know, 12 playoff teams, we can, I'm sure, pick at least 10 or 11 of the teams that will be in the playoffs.

You know, we know who's going to be in, just because of the payroll. And when you have the largest disparity among all the sports, you know, something's wrong. You know, people say, oh, the other owners should spend more.

Yeah, I mean, they should, but they're not doing that. So I just think it's a, you know, it can lead to some bad results, you know, when you have a team that's going to have $500 million in payroll on taxes, you know, play against a team that's got a $60 million payroll. But, but, but, but here's the problem though, Bob, you know, the San Diego Padres are playing in the 27th largest media market in America, and they have a payroll that's about $250 million. Should we be more mad at the New York Mets for spending money? I know they're in obviously a bigger market and they have SNY and they get revenue from that. Or should we be more mad at teams like the Marlins or the Rays or the Pirates or the Royals, teams that just don't seem to want to spend money instead, they just want to pocket all these profits. And we're talking probably significant profits. Should we be more mad, you know, mad at the teams, Bob, that don't want to spend any money when clearly they can spend more than they're actually spending?

Yeah, I mean, you make more, you know, once you sell that team, that's when you really do it. I mean, everybody in baseball, you know, is talking about the San Diego Padres. Yeah, I'm sure you're right. I mean, 27th largest market is not going to grow any.

You know, you got LA to the north, Mexico to the south, Pacific Ocean, you know, west, then the desert to the east. They're trapped in there. But they have an owner, Peter Shidler, who doesn't care about losing money. And a lot of these teams say, wait a minute now, I got this to, it's a fun thing, but to make money, it's a good business. But Peter Shidler is the one saying, you know what, I don't care. I want to leave a World Series championship as far as my legacy. So they're really more of an outlier than anybody. USA Today Sports Major League Baseball columnist Bob Nightingale joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show.

Dan Schwartzman, Infra-Rich on this Wednesday. What are the Red Sox doing? That's a big market. You know, they have Nesson. I mean, they can spend money, yet they seem to be, you know, shopping the bargain basement aisle this offseason and letting Xander Bogarts walk the second homegrown superstar they let walk in recent memory along with Mookie Betts.

What's going on there? Yeah, I mean, it's almost like, you know, when you said, you know, people in Kansas City, Cleveland, the least place you should be upset. No, nobody should be upset more in Boston because that's a major market thing.

They have tons of resources there with their TV network and the price of the tickets, you know, sell out a lot of times. I think what's happened with them is that they get tired of seeing Tampa win year after year to be competitive. Why can't we be like Tampa? We just hired the RGM was from Tampa.

Let's see if we can do it by bargain basement shopping and playing with them. So, I mean, I don't see Rafael Dever staying there. I mean, they're going to pay for Mookie Betts in Bogart when they're going to do it for him for. No, that's a great point. Absolutely. You're right. Is he going to stick around?

Probably not. There's another homegrown guy that will most likely be playing elsewhere. And the Dodgers also this offseason, they've been kind of, you know, they haven't made the big splash that you kind of come to expect from them.

Is that a case where they're tired of paying the luxury tax and trying to reset that number? Yeah, man, think of all the 30 teams. And I think that's the most fascinating or intriguing one to watch, just because they're doing the old school things. You know what? We're going to win with homegrown guys. Now they can, you know, whenever they want, they can trade some of those guys. Certainly they have, you know, more financial resources than, you know, probably any team in baseball with a TV contract and the attendance and all. But I think they're saying, you know what, let's see if we can win this way.

I think the fastest, if they can pull it off and if they get to a world series that win the world series, you know, I think we won the best baseball stories in quite a while. I mean, you've got star players, but to watch everybody spend more money than you and just kind of sit back, uh, as passing, you know, granted they're doing it. They do want to get an electric tax number, uh, just like the Yankees did a couple of years ago. And they're saying, you know, hey, we're going to save that money for Shohei Ohtani, but how confident you be to get Ohtani when you get the potteries willing to do the same thing and the Mets won't do the same thing. I'm glad you brought up Ohtani because Aaron Judge gets $40 million a year and he's a tremendous hitter and just set an American league record with 62 home runs deserving of the nine years, $360 million. Now Ohtani may not be quite the hitter, but he's not far behind and he is a top 10 pitcher in baseball as well.

And he's incredibly marketable, not just here, but also in Asia. So if Judge is worth $40 million a year, Bob next year, when Shohei Ohtani probably does hit free agency, what are we talking here? Like, I mean, what kind of numbers?

It's got to be something similar to Judge. I mean, obviously ages, you know, catch up a little bit Ohtani. He say, uh, you know, how long can he keep doing this as far as pitching and hitting? But that being said, I think the Angels make $20 million a year off him with merchandising and, uh, licensing and everything else, not to mention, you know, ticket sales every time he pitches. So, you know, maybe, maybe just like a shorter term bill, like a five-year deal, but maybe that pays them, you know, $50 million a year, $60 million a year, something like that.

I just don't, you know, people don't know how long he can stay healthy doing, doing both things, but you still one of them. I mean, that's, that's where it's a, uh, probably $30 million just, just by itself. What's interesting to me is though, when people say they're not, they're not sure how long he can keep doing it, but the thing is, if he was strictly a pitcher hitting free agency, what are we talking?

35 mill a year, right? I mean, if he's just a hitter strictly hitting free agency, we're probably talking what 35 mill a year, right? So if he can't pitch anymore and he just has to DH, we know he can hit 40 home runs and drive in a hundred runs. If it's not going to be hitting and he's a pitcher, maybe he becomes a relief pitcher. He's got great stuff to probably do that as well. The reality is because he can do so much, Bob, isn't he actually a decent investment because of the fact that he can adapt because he does everything.

Oh, he does. I mean, uh, yeah, Mookie Bess has gained 365 million over 12 years, just, you know, struggling as an outfielder. Uh, you know, certainly Otani should, should get the same thing too. I mean, uh, when, you know, once Otani gives up pitching and you know, that day does happen, you know, he's a tremendous outfielder, great arm, great speed, uh, you know, a fabulous, obviously athlete. So, I mean, he could be like center field right now, very easily for the, for the angels, uh, if they weren't worrying about the pitching and, and give them some rest that way.

So, yeah, I mean, I, I would think he gets at least, you know, $350 million, you know, no matter what, cause he'd be that good of a pitcher, you know, at least a, uh, you know, 35 to $40 million range. And, uh, you know, the same thing as a position player over 38, 38 year for sure. I'm not going to date you here cause you're a young guy, Bob, but you've been around this game, you know, long enough and followed this game. Is he the best baseball player you've ever seen in your lifetime? No, I mean, most intriguing for sure.

Don't both ways. I mean, uh, you know, you say what you want about the PD era, but you know, Barry bonds is the best player I've ever seen. I don't think I'll see anything like that again. Uh, you know, I was, I was coming to a lot of Barry bonds, uh, games that you're hit 73. If he had pitches to hit, he would have hit 95 to 100 home runs. And I never seen a guy just dominate like, like he did. And I saw, you know, a lot of Aaron judged on the stretch, but judge, you know, he would get some pitches to hit, you know, bones would get maybe one pitch a game. And every time he got, it was a home run. So now he's, he's the best I've ever seen.

That was fun too. Uh, but obviously Oh, Tony's a different league. No, that's a great point. You're right. Bonds walked by 242 times that year.

I think it was in a hundred times or something intentionally. What if he was able to hit some of these pitches, how many more home runs would he hit now? You know, he played for the San Francisco giants. They had a lot of money to spend this off season. And frankly, no one seemed to want to take their money.

Judge didn't Carlos Rodon didn't as well. Why didn't people want to go to San Fran? Well, they wrote down whatever, but if the money was close to being the same, uh, I think with this, with the sluggers, they used to want to go to that ballpark. And, uh, you know, we saw that when, you know, John Carlos Stanton had, that was, that was a trait that was done, but he turned it down and, you know, Bryce Harper would have got about the same amount of money, uh, from San Francisco.

He turned it down. I just think people think, you know what, let me go out East. Uh, there's so much more star power, you know, at the end, the giants said, uh, I'm sorry, the Yankees told judge, Hey, do you want to be a Yankee for life? That this marquee attraction to be the captain, or do you want to go to San Francisco and be forgotten about in their case and point with Buster Posey, you know, Posey, you know, great catcher won three world series titles, but imagine how big of a star he would have been if he was doing the same thing for the Yankees.

Is that still a thing? You know, I'm out in New York and people always say, well, the Knicks, they play in the world's most famous arena and, you know, to do it in New York is something else yet, you know, they haven't gotten that star player to want to come play in New York. Kobe didn't, LeBron didn't, there are opportunities to get these guys.

None of them wanted to. Is being a Yankee still have some sort of an aura to it with these younger players today, Bob? Yeah, it's still there. I mean, it's still, you know, by the most iconic, you know, franchise in, in team sports. Uh, you know, you look at what happened at the end of the season with it, with those home run balls, upper pools ball, when he hit the seven of her home run, they said that was going to be worth about 95 to $100,000. Uh, and Aaron judges ball was going to be about $3 million. You know, the guy didn't get $3 million, be a $3 million offer. But you know, to me, I would rather have the 700 home run ball by, by, by pools.

Uh, but just, and I asked some collectors, I said, why the huge difference? They said, just because of being a Yankee and being that market, I think it's somebody else that hit, they have judges playing for, you know, I don't care Cubs or whoever in, you know, broke, you know, broke the record or I've, I was American league team. Uh, you know, you got 62 home runs. They wouldn't have been nearly the same as a Yankee breaking the Yankee record.

Yeah. The guy still got a million dollars. The guy still got a million five. I mean, I don't know how you leave, you know, 3 million on the table, but he still got a million five for that judge home run ball. Last thing, Bob, the Texas Rangers have thrown around a ton of money last off season. What, half a billion dollars this off season, hundreds upon hundreds of millions as well.

Are they that much better? I mean, you know, the Grom hasn't stayed healthy the last couple of years when healthy may be the best pitcher in baseball. They gave him a contract that many look at and say, man, for a guy with the injury concerns, that's a lot of years, a lot of money. Uh, did they spend wisely in your mind the last couple of years with all those hundreds of millions? Yeah, Ray Ray. I mean, I'm with you on the Grom.

I mean, you know, I'm stunning at that kind of money for not being healthy. Uh, you know, when Marcus Simeon and Seager went there, you know, they didn't make much of a difference at all. It was still a lousy baseball team. They're in a tough division. I mean, right now you're looking, okay, Houston, still the team to beat the division. Seattle is still the second best team. You know, okay, it's a huge payroll where you're going to finish third at tops.

You know, you'll maybe surprise people. It's nice to have the owner, you know, spend that kind of money, you know, brand new, beautiful ballpark. But, uh, I think we get carried away thinking they're going to challenge for the division title.

And I think Houston is still the team to beat. It's incredible. You're right.

I mean, hundreds of millions of dollars last year, half a billion for that middle infield and literally made no difference in terms of the standings. Bob Nightingale, USA Today sports major league baseball columnist. Bob, happy new year's. Appreciate the time as always. You too. My pleasure. Thank you, Dan. Awesome stuff there from Bob. Yeah.

Great points by Bob. You know, the, the Correa situation, just bizarro, right? Giant schedule press conference the day of, they cancel it because of this concern with his, uh, physical five, six hours later, Scott Boris best agent in all of sports works out a deal with the Mets. Does have to take 35 million less, but, but okay. Still a $315 million deal that hasn't been consummated because of the physical. Yet the Mets are still trying to sign him, probably put in some escape clauses for them. Other teams have kind of still shown some interest in him. I would run away. Like, I just understand why you would want to go get a guy that has such legitimate injury concerns that, you know, he can't pass two physicals.

That's gotta be more than concerning, right? Like, why would you even, you know, these are guaranteed contracts. I just don't understand why you would do it. Like, why would you put yourself in that position?

It makes no sense to me. I don't even think that he's that great of a player. I think Carlos Correa is a very good player. I don't think he's an elite player. And by the way, he hasn't been an elite player in a long time.

I mean, come on. Machado is a much better player than him. Trey Turner is a better player than him.

You know, Carlos Correa, the last couple of years. Okay. You know, Minnesota this year, he had 291, 22 homers, 64 RBIs. Okay. 834 OPS. Not bad. That's good. Year before 279, 26 homers, 92 RBIs. Okay. That's okay.

It's pretty good. Guy hasn't hit over 291 since 2017. He's never hit more than 26 home runs in an entire season. He's never driven in a hundred runs in a year. He's never led the league in any category except sacrifice flies back in 2018. That counts?

That counts. So excuse me for kind of missing the boat on Carlos Correa's greatness here. He's never had a season with 40 doubles. He's never had a season with more than 158 hits. He's had one season in his career with over a hundred runs scored. Andries have been a concern for Carlos Correa over the years, right? I'm baffled. I'm honestly baffled. He doesn't steal bases. Here's an incredible statistic, Art. Carlos Correa hasn't stolen a base since 2019.

No joke. That'll get him paid. Apparently it's worth $300 million.

So somebody wants to overpay, go right ahead. But he is not that great. Josh McDaniel's Raiders head coach had a lot to say today at his press conference. What did he say?

You'll have to wait and hear it next. Dan Schwartzman in for Rich Eisen. It is a Wednesday edition of the Rich Eisen show. Wrapping things up on a Wednesday edition of the Rich Eisen show.

Dan Schwartzman in for Rich. New Year's coming up this weekend. Amazingly college football playoffs. Semi-final matchups.

TCU Michigan, Georgia, Ohio state on Saturday. NFL week 17, excuse me, of the season. A lot of playoff implications. And also an interesting, you know, we know two attacker by law, most likely not playing for the dolphins with concussions, Teddy Bridgewater, most likely the starter.

They haven't officially said that yet out of Miami. We played some Mike McDaniel for you earlier. Speaking of McDaniel, how about Josh McDaniel's with the Raiders in Vegas wondering about Derek Carr.

Is he going to play or not? So here's the thing. If Derek Carr gets hurt the rest of this season, it guarantees money for next year. So that guarantees money and the Raiders don't want to do that. A lot of people believe that the Raiders are going to move on from Derek Carr at the end of this year. And maybe that is the case. So that brings this up. Okay.

What do they do? Are they officially going to bench him? Well, Josh McDaniel's talked about that today in his press conference. Here's the Raiders head coach.

A couple of things to update everybody on. We put Denzel and Chandler on IR. So they will, they'll be out the remaining couple of weeks this season. And had a good conversation with the quarterbacks this morning. And so we're going to go ahead and start Jarrett the last couple of games of the season here.

You know, none of us is happy with where we're at. But we think it's an opportunity to, you know, evaluate a younger player who hasn't had much time to play. You know, talking to Derek, who was great. You know, he understands the scenario that we're in and the situation. And very supportive of the two young guys. Those three guys obviously have worked together hand in hand all year.

And, you know, he'll do anything he can to help him. So, you know, that's what we're going to do. And obviously we're, you know, started into our preparation for what I think probably is the best, you know, football football team top to bottom that we've played in San Francisco. So well coached, you know, extremely highly ranked in every category. Offense, defense, special teams. I'd say probably playing as good as any team that we faced all year at the time that we're playing them.

And excited for the opportunity and looking forward to the challenge of it. So there you have it. Derek Carr will not play. And he will not play obviously the rest of this year for the Oakland Raiders, Las Vegas Raiders. And he probably will never play again for the Raiders. I think it's fairly obvious that they don't want to put him in a position to get hurt, which would then guarantee the remaining years on that contract.

And they don't want to get themselves stuck with that because of the fact he doesn't fit into their plans. There will be a market for Derek Carr. No question about that. There will be a market for Carr. You know, he would have to possibly have to change or restructure his contract.

That makes sense. You look at Derek Carr and I gotta be, look, I gotta be honest with you. Like he's 31 years old now. He's been in this league nine years, nine years.

He's had a nice nine year run. You know, he's not a terrible quarterback. You know, Derek Carr averages, you know, 30, you know, 4,000 yards passing a season. He averages, you know, 25 touchdown passes or so a season. You know, I don't think he always makes the best decisions per se, but Derek Carr is not a terrible quarterback and you put him on a roster like the Jets who have talent at the skill level positions. And I think overall just have a more talented roster than the Raiders.

I think he'd probably play pretty well there. Everything pretty much turned around in 2016 when they made the playoffs. They were 12 and 4 that year.

Yeah. They lost in the wildcard playoffs, but he had gotten hurt a couple weeks earlier, the last week of the season. He had broke his leg, but I mean he had an MVP season that year and never, never was the same.

Never was the same. I mean, you know, he's still been a very good quarterback in this league. I'm not going to be grudge, you know, Derek Carr. I think Derek Carr is going to win some games still.

He's still got years left in this league and he's going to win some games. And they're going to be teams that, what's he making, 20 mill a year or something like that? I think it's more.

I'll look it up. Is it more than that? I mean, whatever he's making, you know, look, if a team's going to go out there and get themselves Derek Carr, either they want to pay him out the last couple of years in that contract because they think it's a good deal. They can fit him into their 40.5, but that's over two years, right? Annual. It's just an annual salary. So he's scheduled to make $40 million per year?

Signed a three-year contract worth 121. That's right. That's right. Yeah. He's gonna have to restructure that contract if he wants to go somewhere else.

There's no question. He's going to have to restructure that contract. He's not going to be able to go anywhere for $40 million. Like teams, teams will want him to restructure that deal.

And he probably would. I don't see why, like, he's still going to make a lot of money. What he can do is he can add years to that deal. You know, Derek Carr can, you know, he's got two years left on that deal. He may have to give up, you know, 10 million bucks a year, whatever it is, but he'll get himself a longer term deal. So he's going to want to bring him in. I saw a story that after the Super Bowl, they had the Raiders have a $5 million out. So they just have to pay him $5 million and he's gone.

Yeah. And there's no question they're going to take that deal. I mean, they're, they're not, they're going to, look, he's never playing again. To bench a guy like that means he's not playing again for you, right? When they say, we want to see what we have with the youth, what they're saying is we clearly want to go in a different direction.

Totally understandable, by the way. I mean, if I'm the Raiders, I'm doing the same thing. I think you don't roll with Derek Carr moving forward, right? I mean, it's, it's over for Derek Carr at the Raiders. He's been a good Raider. He has had a nice run with them. I think people like him there, but the fact is, you know, it's a business and when you're making $40 million a year and you're not winning enough games, it's time for the team to go in a different direction. But here's the problem you're going to have Derek Carr is a good quarterback. He's not great. Do you know how hard it is to find a good quarterback, even in the NFL right now? That's why Jimmy Garoppolo is going to make some money as well this off season.

Because being a good quarterback is good. Yeah. Good luck with that. Enjoy that. Enjoy a guy whose injury concerns will be highlighted even more. I want to thank Mike Pritchard, lead NFL analyst at Vson. Joining us in hour one, David Ubin, National College football writer for the athletic in hour two and moments ago, Bob Nightingale, USA Today Sports Major League Baseball. Again, happy new year to everybody. That is of course coming up this weekend.

Enjoy the unbelievable amounts of sports coming up as well. I'm Dan Schwartzman. Always fun filling in for Rich. You're tuned into the Rich Eisen Show. How wrestling really works and how you get the ratings.

Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson explain on 83 weeks. You're either growing or you're dying. I think it'd be hard to recreate the kind of growth that WCW experienced between 95 and 98. This audience should be growing. The character should be coming more and they're not. Everybody's gradually losing audience. Not that people will say well but AEW is 15% ahead of where they were last year. But there's variables there. Let's see where we're at year from now. 83 weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.