Rich Eisen Show with Brian Webber Filling In Hr 2

It's another big hour of the program. We move quickly whenever I'm in the chair and we are live. We will do it live on a holiday, but I'm always open to carving out time for interaction.

844-204-7424 is the number to call. Keep the Twitter activity flowing. BW Weber, Weber with two B's, powered our way through the first hour of the show with no contributions from a guest. We will rectify that coming up in 40 minutes.

It's been a little bit of real estate in hour number one. Telling you why, if you have moved away from baseball, and I fully understand how you arrived at that conclusion, what you're missing with the revamped game with the rule changes. 40 minutes from now, we will say hello to Scott Miller. He's been covering MLB for years. You hear him on Sirius XM Radio.

You read his work in the New York Times. We're going to tip off hour number two the way we did the start of the program. Getting you fully lined up for game seven tonight in Boston feels inevitable, strangely. Even though we've never seen a team in the history of the NBA playoffs come all the way back from a 3-0 deficit, this is not your typical scenario for a lot of pretty straightforward reasons and variables. So Vegas with a great deal of confidence. And remember, the spread also reflects where the money's at. And got a lot of passionate Boston fans moving that line by the last check.

And I'm not a tout, but I'm aware of what's going on because it's a good gauge of public interest. Boston, eight-point favorites heading into game seven tonight, having at least done the unthinkable. If we go back to where we were and I was with you last Tuesday when Rich and the guys were making their way back from New York City in another outstanding honor to be Emmy nominated for the second consecutive year, it felt like in addition to a daunting 3-0 challenge, Boston looked like they quit, flat out quit in game three. And now this is a fundamentally different series. We'll get into what has changed. And if Miami is going to suddenly hit the reset button, what's going to lead to that massive departure? And here's a hint, playoff Jimmy will be heavily involved. I'm going to be a little bit more time-conscious here than my in-depth.

We'll put it that way. I had the same clock management issues as Joe Mazzullo to start the program. I want to make sure we have time for detailed, comprehensive thoughts of what is going on with the Raiders. A lot of uncertainty about Jimmy Garoppolo's foot, we knew was injured. 49ers said, apparently based on their medical staff, no procedure was going to be needed. Well, that changed. Jimmy went under the knife in March.

The contract has been radically altered and now and now just about every sports platform, and I'll tell you why you can deduce this as well. I'm Brian Weber, InfraRich Eisen. Hop aboard on Twitter, B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's. Tom Brady, if you even just throw out his name, I just did. Tom Brady, some reaction is going to be elicited. So the notion that Brady could play again and the fact that Garoppolo is involved, coupled that with the official confirmation of a story that had been floating around for a couple weeks and it was nailed down at the last NFL owners meeting a week ago, Mark Davis said, yeah, I have reached an agreement with Tom Brady to become a minority investor in the club, pending league approval. Well, what would that mean if Brady wants to play again?

I will lean heavily on a good friend of the program, Mike Florio, of Allways. He has spelled it out in granular detail. Remember, Mike is an attorney by trade. So we'll talk about all of these different scenarios in Vegas.

It really does feel like succession. And since I mentioned Jimmy G in San Francisco, I have not communicated with Rich. I greatly respect that he gives me autonomy on the program.

It doesn't say, hey, fill in guy, here's how you should do the program. There's a degree of trust. I'm not going to destroy the brand that he's worked so hard to build, but I'm sure Rich is aware of some Twitter activity and a former talk show host in San Francisco who now has his own program, as many people do, because unfortunately our business keeps contracting. Larry Krueger, with the opinion that somehow because Rich noted on the show last week, and I think this was conventional wisdom, that as Trey Lance shows that he's fully healthy, and that's the only purpose of OTAs, coupled with promising signs that Brock Purdy is coming back from the elbow procedure, now's the time for San Francisco to shop Trey Lance, because clearly they're all in with Purdy.

And if they have to go with Sam Darnold, the newcomer, who's just bouncing around the league as the temporary measure, it seems fairly clear from a distance they're ready to part waves with Trey Lance, although, you know, they went all in, traded up to get him. Rich had that view. And then there was the notion somehow Rich had a pipeline inside the Niner organization.

I'm just relating what is out there in social media. I know Rich will take a moment or two, I'm sure, when he's back with the fellows tomorrow to address that speculation. Back to the NBA, and I told you I would get you another perspective on a game that seems to be, although history tells us it shouldn't have this conventional spectrum of opinion all aligning with Boston. There's got to be a camp out there saying, well, what about the Heat, loud guy?

All right, how about this? Motivation 101, Pat Riley, after all, still runs that organization. Only in hockey is it an organization. The Heat, this according to FAA records, and now it's all over Twitter. The Heat have a flight scheduled to Denver, not Miami, after the game tonight. Now, as we've learned on all these TV shows, especially Succession, and I won't give away what happened last night, I did watch and that's why I'm on zero sleep. I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich Eisen, hit me up on Twitter, B.W.

Weber, Weber with two Bs. Flight plans can be altered. So just because the schedule says, we're going to Denver, when Miami loses tonight, if I'm wrong tomorrow, I won't be here to be held accountable, but you can do it on social media, I have a feeling that plane is going to wind up in South Beach. So what has gone wrong for Miami? As much as I think we should be talking about what has come together brilliantly for Boston, or more to the point, and I'm not great with numbers, but I stayed awake in statistics, you are what you consistently do.

It's regression to the mean. And this is the kind of basketball we saw for much of the regular season from the Heat. There's a reason why they wound up in the plane gimmick, taking nothing away from a sensational run in the postseason, although context is also significant. Remember, Giannis went down with a back injury early on, a Milwaukee team that a lot of people never had coaching faith in because Mike Buitenholzler seemed overmatched and I realized they won the title just a couple years ago, but it should tell you about the organizational view that they whacked him that quickly. Then you got Miami against the Knicks, Knicks a nice story, but they don't have a transcended star, nice that they got Jalen Brunson to return to the New York tri-state area, but they are a legitimate star away and in some ways ahead of schedule, getting to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in a decade, also Cleveland underachieve, I'll put it that way.

Spider, Spider Mitchell coming up small in a high leverage situation. And then the Heat took advantage of every Boston lapse, and if it sounds like I am not giving Miami their flowers, that's not what I'm trying to do. Miami was the better team early in the series, but if we're just talking about overall roster composition, Boston's the better club. And Boston finally is moving in a direction away from all of the unforced errors and the mental lapses.

I have detailed notes I can barely read, but because I was here last Monday and Tuesday, I was following this series even more closely than I normally would, but I'm just looking at my notes right now. Game one, Tatum didn't take a shot in the fourth quarter. Heat explode for 46 against the team, supposedly all about defense in addition to the one-two punch of Tatum and Brown. Moving along, how about when you had those lapses from Tatum who had repeated traveling calls in fourth quarter situations in the follow-up game. It's a situation that Boston could not get out of their own way.

How about Grant Williams with the trash talking directed at Jimmy Butler. How did that work out? Well, I can tell you Celtics led 96-87, six minutes to go. Heat put together a 24-9 run. You know the rest of the story. So, two things can be equally true.

That's how we are able to coexist with our conflicting thoughts and still have lives that have meaning. Miami was locked in. Boston was underachieving in part because Miami was sensational. Miami has fallen back to where they were over the course of the regular season.

That said, it was all in front of them. If they box out and Derek White doesn't get the magical tip in, they're already in Denver. They don't have to worry about the flight plan after the game in Boston. And it is a Celtic team.

While they've given us a lot of reasons to slam this team, I wouldn't go so far as to say bury them because if we did they're the undertaker and they're back up and ready to move on to the NBA Finals. But it's a team that has finally gotten their defensive cohesion back. Things as simple as Joe Mazzulla calling timeouts.

That's happened. So, those adjustments we always hear about. When I was a younger broadcaster, being a sideline reporter was a major opportunity for me.

Plus, I like to work. I don't say no to much. So, when I had a chance to be the sideline reporter for Bay Area games that the NFL and Fox was carrying, I would ask the question that you've heard a thousand times. Hey, John Gruden, you're down 21. What adjustments do you make at halftime?

The other staple, what message did you deliver to your team? But we've seen the adjustments. And it really felt like, and I'm not just harping on one play, but the image is so iconic and phenomenal to see in slow motion, even just a still photo. How did Derek White get open? What's the thing we've heard from Hubie Brown since I heard him calling Nick games when I was a kid growing up in New York City? And I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eyes. And we'll get to the NFL in less than 12 minutes. The Raiders have a lot of problems. Is Tom Brady going to be the answer to all of them? You can give me a call.

844-204-7424. Tweets are accumulating. I'll check them coming up. BW Weber. Weber with two Bs. And then it's on to the baseball in 30 minutes when we bring in Scott Miller, Sirius XM radio contributor to New York Times.

What have we heard throughout our lifetimes? Or even if you just messed around and played YMCA ball? Who's the most dangerous person on an inbounds play?

The inbounder. Nobody had White. And now Boston has a chance to not only validate what they did defensively in game six, 5-0 in this postseason facing elimination. And they are the first team ever in position as we've had that small sample size. Just a handful of teams have ever even come back from being down 3-0 in hoops to force a game seven. In fact, none since the 2003 Blazers. But none of them in the past have had game seven at home. So I expect Boston to win, although Boston doesn't make anything easy other than dismantling Philadelphia in the second half of that game seven. And if we're just being candid, aren't the Sixers a better team? Or were Harden's going to take his talents back to Houston?

It seems like all sides pointing to that outcome. Miami just does not have enough firepower. And the fact that they have made it this far is a reflection of playoff Jimmy. Now I should whisper, because I don't want Jimmy getting on that plane when it's available postgame, finding me and tracking my ass down.

Because I'm not going to be as braggadacious on a big word holiday edition of the program as Grant Williams. You'd have to be a fool to doubt Jimmy Butler. But if you watched the game, he labored in game six. Give him all the credit for making those free throws in the in the final minute. But he was just 5 of 21 floor.

It would be understandable if he is spent because he has carried this team again. I can't think of the comp. In fact, I'll throw it out to you since I'm crowdsourcing this program. I'll look at your tweets coming up. BW Weber, Weber with two B's. Give me the historical predecessor to Jimmy Butler, a player who is solid, a player who is an all-star in the regular season, but transforms into a Hall of Famer in the playoffs.

And I get paid to come up with these straw man comparisons. And if I have any strength that's knowing sports history, I can't give you the comp. I can't think of something that aligns directly with Butler because he's one of one. So when Miami hits the wall tonight and Boston finally completes a series victory that should have been more straightforward because they're the better team who had home court advantage, taking nothing away from Miami's brilliant run and understanding what they did head-to-head against the Celtics last year. When Miami had home court as the top seed, it came down to the final minute of game seven.

Celtics won and had the 2-1 series lead in the NBA Finals. But when this all ends, a similar conversation needs to be had about Miami that I threw out there one year ago because I was sitting in this very chair developing a sciatica. Incidentally, I should check out. I don't have the same chair. I was in agony for two months after that fill-in shift, but of course had nothing to do with being in for rich.

That is always a joy. But I spent a good portion of that show one year ago today saying, why can't the Heat get Jimmy Butler more help? And I realize it's about finding guys like undrafted Gabe Vincent and Max Struce. That's what the Heat do. And I understand that Jimmy Butler wears people out and you don't want to be a Scottie Pippen and Scottie just can't let it go with Jordan. I won't even dignify his ridiculous comments late last week.

They should have been consumed by the long holiday weekend. But I hope you get the point I'm making. Miami still has a flawed roster. And yeah, we've seen Bam Adebayo come a long way offensively with the spinorama in this series, putting Jalen Brown on his keister. Miami just does not have enough talent in my view. Although they made the Finals in the bubble, they're back to the Eastern Finals for the third time in four years. They don't have that next reliable option beyond the extraordinary play of playoff Jimmy to make him a team that you should have confidence in in a Game 7 scenario on the road. That said, Boston's been very shaky at home.

Still, a better team typically wins. And I think at this point with the history made to even be in this position coming back from 3-0 down. And remember, the three-point shot has changed everything. And if you're looking for cause and effect, why is Boston now back on level terms? They have stepped their defense up playing like a team that was the second best defensive team throughout the postseason last year on their way to the NBA Finals.

And they're making their threes. We can talk about it if you want to weigh in. 8-4-4, 2-0-4, 7-4-2-4. I'll check the tweets in a moment. B.W. Weber, Weber with two Bs.

Just over 20 minutes from now. Takeaways on Memorial Day when we look at the landscape of baseball. I told you why it's a much better watch. That's not an opinion.

The numbers back it up in terms of pace play in the first hour. Whoa, take it round the bigs when we say hello to Scott Miller, contributor to the New York Times. That is on the way.

Straight ahead, if I was more eloquent. In fact, Rich and the gang will probably do this tomorrow. There are some parallels between the final episode of Succession we saw last night, if you can find it because HBO Max doesn't exist anymore, to what's going on with the Raiders. I'll give you the latest on Jimmy Garoppolo's contract, how it's changed based on the foot surgery he needed in March, and what does it all mean for Tom Brady? That's coming up. I appreciate you spending part of your holiday with us. We're live on this Memorial Day. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich.

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You need Indeed. It is a Memorial Day edition of the Rich Eisen Show. I'm Brian Weber, always thrilled to be in for Rich and the fellas. If you're enjoying my approach, I'll be back with you for a full week in July. And because it's a holiday, if you're looking for me, I'm usually here in for Rich on the Rich Eisen Show radio network sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk, furnished by Grainger with supplies and solution for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickrainger.com or just stop by in 15 minutes. We talk baseball and what's been going on between the lines. Raised with that historic start. Grainger's a big surprise. Hope in Baltimore. Pittsburgh is relevant.

But I got to play the hits. Got to gravitate towards the big markets. Yankees and Dodger talk all on the docket when we bring in Scott Miller. You read his work in New York Times. You hear him on Sirius XM radio, author of the fine baseball book, 90% Mental. And then we'll wrap up the program with one more guest, 2.40 Eastern Time. In addition to what I'm trying to do, the goal is to be expansive but creative as I'm mining game seven. Coming up tonight in Boston, half a look ahead to game one of the NBA Finals looming on Thursday with Denver getting plenty of rest.

Too much rest potentially. We'll cover it all when we say hello to Mike Vorkanov who covers the NBA for the athletic. I have to be mindful as a guest host to make sure that I'm setting the stage for what the A-team is going to address tomorrow. So I keep hammering succession because I'm one of those old guys who loves quote-unquote prestige television on HBO. So should I do five minutes of soprano hot takes and theories and tell you where I was when it went to black? Succession has a lot of meaning in our era but I know everyone hasn't watched it and there is a sports connection and I gotta tread lightly here.

But a key character apparently was named after an obscure baseball player who did something that has a link to how the show is playing out. Is that vague enough? You probably have no idea what I'm talking about. I have a feeling Rich will get you all the details you know tomorrow. But if we're thinking about the NFL's version of succession and the notion is you have to have the plan in place especially in business if you have a larger than life founder. That's my favorite term. Do people still have business cards?

I guess if you're a founder or disruptor that's even better you wouldn't be old school handing out business cards out of a brass holder in your wallet. But you need a plan and for years the notion in New England was well Garoppolo is waiting. That's why they invested a much higher traffic and Jimmy G coming out of eastern Illinois than they did or was it northern Illinois? Correct me if I'm wrong.

I know it was directional and it was Illinois. A fact check coming up. Garoppolo waited and waited and waited and finally wound up in San Francisco where if you just look at and I don't think it is a quarterback stat but if you look at wins and losses Jimmy G has been extraordinary.

The problem as you know is unfortunately he's made of glass. So interesting developments started trickling out of Raider land towards the end of last week that heightened over the weekend thanks to real journalism done by a good friend of the program Mike Florio who runs his own media empire profootballtalk.com but it all started with the catalyst that we learned based on a report and then confirmation from the Raiders. Jimmy Garoppolo had foot surgery in March. Well that's interesting because that would put his availability for the start of training camp in jeopardy and immediately your next thought is okay who are the backups?

I happen to have them in front of me. Brian Hoyer because of the New England thread that runs through the Raiders now with Josh McDaniels in charge. Aidan O'Connell and the immortal Chase Garbers. How's that grab you? So that was the first quick knee-jerk reaction all right what if Jimmy G's not healthy? Who's available out there if we're surveying the league? Anybody want Carson Wentz unfortunately at this stage of his career?

Not only damaged goods but the confidence has waned. Teddy Bridgewater could be had. These are not exactly names that are going to move the needle for Raider nation but it got more interesting with Florio's report on Saturday that the foot procedure was part of Garoppolo failing his physical with the Raiders and leading to demonstrable and major change to his contractual status that Garoppolo originally had a signing bonus just over 11 mil. Well that's moved to the salary and the whole salary now is contingent on Garoppolo being healthy enough to play if he's not Raiders can cut him with no financial penalty. That is worthy of discussion and if that happens where do the Raiders go from here? Because the triumvirate on a big word holiday edition of the program I'm Brian Weber and for Rich Eisen Memorial Day installment of the Rich Eisen show Rich and the fellas back with you tomorrow of Hoyer O'Connell and Garbers ain't gonna cut it. Well parallel to this we have been talking and I laid it out on Tuesday because if there's a Tom Brady factual story not rumor innuendo and speculation of course I'm going to talk about it because he's still the biggest name in football and because we've already seen him like Sugar Ray Leonard back in the day on retired. So we were thinking aloud as members of the sports media if Tom had the notion to come back one more time well what about San Francisco that would have a nice circle of life essence to it coming back to the Bay Area where he grew up just south of the city and question marks as we talked about Trey Lance coming back from a surgery and injury Brock Purdy coming back from the elbow issue that almost had it removed from his very arm and that unfortunate Grizzly incident in the FC title game you want Sam you want Sam Darnell you want Tom Brady but is Tom Brady available isn't he retired and what about Brady being part of the management structure for the Raiders because last week it became official at least out of the mouth of Mark Davis that he and Tom Brady had reached a degree of agreement and they had gotten to the terms in principle that Brady was going to buy into the Raiders become a minority equity investor all pending league approval and that's not just because Brady wants to follow the cliche of being a divorced guy to go to Vegas he and Davis have the relationship they're co-owners Davis the principal owner but Brady owns a small piece of the WNBA franchise as well more minutia than you need so what do we do if Garoppolo isn't ready to go a lot of what ifs here but that's what we do in the month of May still nobody foresaw any of this happening because the notion when the Raiders signed Garoppolo was he was going to be good to go because he did not need the procedure on his foot that according to the medical staff of the 49ers well there are a few more nuances in play want to give credit to a fine journalist a former radio co-host of mine in Southern California Vinnie Bonsignor of the Las Vegas Review Journal he unearthed that Brady according to his sources might have to agree to never play again if he's going to be approved by the NFL's other owners to buy into the Raiders well that's interesting and I'll let you head over to profootballtalk.com because Florio has four other what if scenarios for example if Brady is part of the front office is he unofficially the 54th man on the roster while he's in the building could he pop his head into meetings could he if he decides to play again based on the need take a for example nominal one dollar and I'm going over the top here but you get hopefully the logic a very small salary because he doesn't need the dough and he would offer the team much more cap flexibility than they would have even if they have to go outside and pick up Wens or Bridgewater they won't play for free so there's a lot to unpack here as we say too often and I just think it's fascinating because it really does point out wherever the Raiders play be it back in the original home of Oakland or Southern California or back to the East Bay in Northern California or Nevada or on Mars don't the Raiders always find a way to step in it isn't this the most Raider-esque outcome of all time and we don't have finality but just the fact that and we know the motivation to get Garoppolo that was a straight-up reunion between McDaniel's and his former backup quarterback who had some fill-in duty for Brady when Tom couldn't play due to the flake gate but that was derived from the familiar working relationship of all the quarterbacks they pick he's the one made of glass and now there are real question marks because as Florio points out the contract language wouldn't be changing this way if there were not concerns is Garoppolo ever going to take a snap for the Raiders are they just going to straight out cut them because he's not physically available if they do is it the obvious connect the dots to the return of Tom Brady on behalf of all content creators although I'm just the part-time fill-in host thank you to the Las Vegas Raiders I want to appreciate your commitment to excellence quote unquote I want to give you high marks for handing so many shows so much potential content and let me write it down because I'm looking forward to my next fill-in opportunity coming up the week of July 4th I have a feeling we're going to be talking about this because at that point the question will crystallize into what's the update on Jimmy G is he moving in the right direction is Brady unretired by then what happened to the ownership proposal a lot to get to thank you from the bottom of my content creating heart Las Vegas Raiders I'm Brian Weber Infra Rich Eisen I've got to pick up the tempo I got a lot more to get to see the report that Will Ferrell is in line to play a football icon I'll give you the details in case you actually had a life over the holiday weekend or still are maximizing your time off that's coming up in the last hour of the show in our immediate future what takeaway should we lay out from a big series in terms of the standings also a World Series rematch from the bubble of 2020 Rays and Dodgers and if you're paying attention the AL East is loaded are the Yankees really just the third best team in that sensational division looking forward to our latest conversation with Scott Miller of the New York Times and Sirius XM radio a lot more to get to I look forward to your interaction hit me up on Twitter BW Weber Weber with two B's I'm Brian Weber Infra Rich Eisen it's the Rich Eisen Show I'm Brian Weber Infra Rich Eisen 844-204-7424 the number to call you can always get a hold of me on Twitter BW Weber Weber with two B's closing in on the final hour of the program head back to the NBA considering how gut-wrenching a loss it was for Miami in game six had to feel like they were one box out away from wrapping up a trip to the NBA Finals and blowing a 3-0 series lead if in fact Boston comes all the way back tonight how painful and historic of a collapse would it be for the Heat what context that's on the way but because I am a veteran of handling holiday shifts and I was a baseball quote-unquote journalist broadcaster close enough at heart started my career I love talking baseball on Memorial Day and it's been a while since I've had a chance to check in with one of the best in the business Scott Miller you hear him on Sirius XM you read his fine work in the New York Times author of the book 90% Mental Scott it's been a while how are you I'm good Brian I hope you're enjoying the Memorial Day weekend that it is it's traditionally the first kind of checkpoint of the baseball season where I think you know the beginning of summer people begin to look and see what the heck's going on great chance to put the season in perspective and even casuals quote-unquote had to be aware of what Tampa Bay was doing at the start of the year that historic surge to begin the year they kept it going with a 709 winning percentage had the quote-unquote showdown series although the connection to the 2020 World Series Dodgers and Rays meeting up again Tampa Bay took two of three what were your takeaways again regular season but anything really stand out to you about both clubs having the opportunity to watch them play head to head yeah I mean the thing that's so impressive about Tampa Bay I mean aside from the obvious that they're winning 70% of their games but they're doing it in a way that suggests that they're not I don't know that they're gonna they're not gonna win 70% the rest of the year but they're doing it in a way that tells you they're gonna keep winning they're so well-rounded they lead the major leagues in home runs uh leading stolen bases you know they run they they pitch well they have hit for power and and they just beat you in so many ways um you know the lineup so impressive and guys like that just just fill the roles and play together so well and they're so deep um Dodgers it's so funny you know they people thought the Dodgers were going to step back this year just because they cut their payroll by about 50 million instead of being baseball's most expensive payroll now they rank fifth and people took that to mean they were you know stepping back and I think a lot of people were ready to crown the Padres in that division after last October and the Dodgers are showing the thing they do is they know how to win and they're in a tough spot right now because they're pitching you know the rotations down Dustin May losing him that was big you know Arias has been on the injured list with a hamstring pull they do expect him back but um you know they're patching that rotation together right now with rookies and they still lead the nationally west. Talking baseball with Scott Miller you can read his fine work in the New York Times you hear him on Sirius XM Radio Scott you have followed the Padres for a long time and you laid out what's going on in that division well from a national perspective on a platform like this San Diego had that sensational postseason run last year they had Xander Bogarts in the offseason so the level of expectations surrounding the team certainly were heightened what do you think's been the biggest obstacle so far as they check in five games under 500 on Memorial Day? You know it's the lineup that everybody looked at and thought Brian this lineup is going to crush teams it's been the opposite they have had trouble scoring runs especially there's there are indications that too many people are trying to take too much on their own individual shoulders and the reason I say that is the Padres are the worst in major league baseball worst average with runners in scoring position they get runners in scoring position doesn't matter who it is that's up next whether it's the big names like Manny Machado or Juan Soto or whether it's the you know the bottom of the lineup guys like Ha Sung Kim Trent Grisham they are leaving runners on base and as such worst running back worst batting average with runners in scoring position because of that effect is they have such little margin for error and their pitching hasn't been as good as last year they started with Joe Musgrove dropped a weight on his big toe during spring training broke it that's a baseball injury right Scott how come that only happens in baseball right well you know the old school people say yeah remember but like back in about 1960 weightlifting was frowned on well I'm talking about Clint Barmus and the deer meat right we could do a whole litany of weird baseball injuries but go on I jumped in there just because you got my attention with that oddity absolutely so Musgrove didn't rejoin the rotation until late April you know he missed the first three four weeks of the season Hugh Darvish pitched for team Japan in the world baseball classic but he didn't he didn't get as much work as they thought he was going to get during the spring so he wasn't quite ready to go opening day so the starting rotation for the first three weeks four weeks of the season it wasn't quite what they thought it would be and again the trickle-down effect going back to what I just said about the lack of hitting with runners and scoring position there's no margin for error so the starting pitching wasn't locked down like it had been at times last year so you add everything up and and the potteries have been they've been completely yeah the biggest especially given their payroll only the two New York teams are out spending them the Mets and the Yankees and the I mean you have to say the biggest disappointment in baseball so far now again it's just memorial day there's a long way to go and the potteries you know they have plenty of time to turn it around but um you know the lineup as well the bottom third of the order once you get past the big boys like Soto Bogart's Machado is out right now he's expected back later this week probably has the bottom third of the lineup has been a black hole too I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen we are spotlighting MLB on Memorial Day with Scott Miller the New York Times and Sirius XM you got me where I was heading in the first place talking about the mega payroll teams Mets and Yankees and the Mets now have seemingly unlimited resources with Steve Cohen spending a lot of his billions but probably we should have known it might be a funky year for the Mets when Edwin Diaz got hurt celebrating in the world baseball classic Mets hovering around 500 at this stage of the season do they look like a playoff team to you you know they've had the first three weeks of the season they did and then they went through a bad three-week stretch in which the answer was absolutely not they do not now Buck Showalter has them back and headed back in the right direction again and there are nights they do look like a playoff team and there are nights that they don't you know fascinating thing with them it is that I mean our resources and and you know Steve Cohen uh is doing everything he can to try to buy a winner but um the the fascinating thing Justin Justin Verlander Max Scherzer topped the rotation right I mean the big signing of Verlander over the winner and we all knew going into the year if this was 2013 or 14 they would just be dominant but the question with Verlander being 40 and Scherzer 38 going into the year the question was always how do we get into the season and the question was always are these guys going to be able to stay healthy and will they be able to continue to elude father time and the jury's still out on that right I mean in terms of staying healthy Scherzer's missed a couple starts he was suspended Verlander was out he didn't pitch in April you know it took him a while to come back so is Verlander back for good with will that 40-year-old body be able to withstand the next four months of the season or will he be back on the IL you know it's it you can't it's you can't count on the Mets in terms of of you know being the team on paper that they purported to be because guys are in guys are out and and they're older and you just you're not quite sure I don't think anybody knows for sure including the Mets themselves what you're going to get from them Scott great information as always I greatly appreciate you taking the time to join us on a holiday I'm back in for Rich the entire week of July 4th I hope we can reconnect then talk more baseball until then hope things are good for you Scott Brian I look forward to it take care thank you Scott Miller not only does he have wonderful insights because I'm a part-time radio guy but I'm caught up on delivery as a side we have no standards anymore now look when I was allowed to be on the air at the age of 21 I sounded 13 however I was very eager enthusiasm I hear some voices that's just driving me insane but now I'm baring my soul Scott has a mellifluous I don't know why I'm shouting I woke up there Scott has a smooth sounds like a baseball broadcaster I want to hear Scott next time say here's the 2-2 pitch well Scott knows our medium you hear him on Sirius XM expansive analysis and read him in the New York Times he always offers cerebral thoughts on MLB we are heading into the final hour of the program do I need to wave my hands well you can't see me it's good thing no simulcast on the Roku channel do I need to get more fired up than I already have I'm highly caffeinated thank goodness there are things called sleeping pills that's in my future but I gotta doctor prescribed I got a big hour of the show on the way we get back to Miami versus Boston and I've been telling you all the reasons why it seems self-evident in concurrence with the view from Vegas Boston's gonna win tonight probably win big so what would this mean for Miami moving forward how about the ignominy of a 3-0 choke job all the more heightened because it was right in front of them in game six but for the missed box out that's coming up gonna talk about Denver I've been promising and I'm not just talking straight up Joker and Murray I'm going deep on the roster Aaron Gordon KCP Michael Portier Jr. Bruce Brown getting love on this show because once we get past whatever happens tonight it's on to the NBA Finals Thursday and game one set for Denver Rich and the fellas when they're back tomorrow we'll have all of the details you need get you lined up for the championship series in the NBA so a lot more hoops coming up a Will Ferrell update he's a great friend of the program I better tread lightly again because based on a report in the trades as we say in show business here in La La Land Will could have a role as a dominant sports figure that seems like a stretch even with his range of ability plus we'll get you fully lined up for Boston and Miami when we say hello to our second and final guest that's Mike Vorkanov of the athletic last call for phone calls I'll still read the number because I'm a radio guy 844-204-7424 this is your best bet in all candy to slide in more of your tweets on the way that is BW Weber Weber with 2B one more large hour straight ahead always fun to be in for rich I'm brian weber it's the rich eisen show you