REShow: Hour 1 (7-7-2023)

Taste some of this. This OMG is the Rich Eisen Show. No other way to put it. With guest host, Brian Weber.

Oh my gosh. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. I'm not talking to you. I talk to anybody out there. Haters. Rich Eisen.

I talk to the haters right now. And now, sitting in for Rich, here's Brian Weber. Welcome to the program.

Always tremendous to have a chance to sit in for Rich and make sure the brand he has worked so hard to build does not get destroyed while he enjoys the vacation. I would say we made it to a Friday. However, I know many of you haven't worked at all this week and I'm all for that.

The man takes advantage of all of us. So if you've had an easy week, I'm glad that's the case. Plus, since I'm a fill-in guy, I live for times like this. Even if I have my own full-time show and the industry has spoken and the audience is never wrong.

There have been several versions of the Brian Weber Show that have been cancelled. But even if you had to deal with me Monday through Friday on some platform, I would never say Happy Friday. In fact, those people should be deported. Happy Friday people are the worst. And with that positive sentiment, I welcome you to the show. If you've caught any of this dog and pony show this week, or me, previously, you probably have gotten the vibe I don't build the program around phone calls. In fact, if I want to be precise, I usually give you the disclaimer.

Phone calls taken selectively. But since it's my last day in for Rich in this fill-in cycle, and it's a Friday, I'm open to having that conversation with you. Still, that's it. That's balanced by the fact I've had content accumulating all week long that I have not had a chance to get to. In part because a big chunk of the program yesterday was hijacked by the kerfuffle on a big word Friday between Britney Spears and a member of the Spurs security staff.

As allegedly, she was looking to take a picture with Victor Wembunyana. And now we've become your Britney Wembyshow of records. So coming up, we've got the fallout. We'll hear from the number one overall pick in advance of his highly anticipated Summer League debut tonight. Plenty of football on the agenda. We're just 19 days away from the start of training camp and getting closer to that July 17th deadline for players like Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs who led the NFL in rushing last year for the Raiders to either get a long-term deal ironed out with their clubs or they're playing on the tag. And I have done my best to sneak in just enough baseball to justify my strong opinion that the grand old game is back to a degree.

It's never going to be 1988 as much as I would love that to be the case when I had hair reminiscent of Ronald McDonald with the waves that Ted Koppel would have been jealous of. But still, if you're even paying marginal attention, the game is so much more watchable because of the pitch clock. There's a ton of star power to get to with the headliner being Shohei Ohtani. With Mike Trout now having undergone the surgery to fix the broken bone in his hand is a real possibility. The Angels could continue their freefall. Remember, they got swept by the Padres getting set to take on the Dodgers.

Halo is just one and seven in their last eight games. Is there a chance they're going to deal Ohtani before we get to the trade deadline coming up on August 1st? We'll cover that in the final block of the program. Just two guests along the way because I'm just that fascinating and I got a lot of ground I want to cover. But if we're going to reach out to somebody, they're going to have strong opinions and well-crafted insights. 2.40 Eastern Time, we talked baseball with Scott Miller, contributed to New York Times.

You hear him on Sirius XM Radio. Our number two of the program, 1.40 Eastern Time. We'll talk NBA in addition to everything that I'm going to jump into in a moment when we bring in Mike Vorkanov of The Athletic. If you've been with me every step of the way, hopefully my goal of handling the Damian Lillard saga in a responsible and creative fashion has been achieved. There's actually news to talk about in a story that we all now I think have hit the wall to a degree in rehashing and dissecting.

But since there are some developments, we'll get there coming up. Yesterday, I was intending to tip off the show talking about the latest surrounding Damian Lillard and five minutes prior to the start of this Emmy Award nominated simulcast on the Roku channel, one of the best audio experiences you can find, five minutes before I hit that button right in front of me to start the show, I made the mistake of looking on Twitter, not for The Venom being directed in my direction to B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's, but just scrolling through to make sure I hadn't missed anything. And I saw three retweets from TMZ, and then the show changed dramatically. Yes.

Unintentionally, we became your Brittany Wenby show of record. By now you've heard the salacious allegations and details. And what do you know? I realize I can be too caught up in semantics and maybe I'm just still following the notion of my late father.

I should have gone to law school. But if I'm going to go down a road that has hazy details, I'm always going to leave myself latitude with disclaimers like reportedly, allegedly. So when I read you the copy from TMZ, I kept couching it in those terms. And the headline yesterday was that through some misunderstanding involving Britney Spears wanting to take a photo with Victor Lembyana.

What do you know of all the gin joints in all the world? They went to the same restaurant in Las Vegas at the same time. And with Brit Brit tapping him on the shoulder, although we'll get to some clarification of that point of debate coming up. The response was made by the head of team security by the Spurs back handing the pop sensation, jarring her glasses off of her face.

And the first report was Britney fell down in the process. Well, that never happened. Still, contact was made.

That is not disputed. And of course, when Victor Lembyana arrived to practice yesterday in Las Vegas, getting set to make his summer league debut tonight, he was asked by reporters what he knew about the incident and provided this overview. Something did happen a little bit when I was walking with some security of the team to some restaurant. We were in a hall there was a lot of people. So people calling me obviously. And there was one person one person who was who's calling me but we talked before with the security don't stop because it's going to make it's going to make a crowd.

So I couldn't stop. So that person's coming. And that person grabbed me from behind. So I didn't see, I didn't see what happened because I was walking straight and we told don't stop, but that person grabbed me from behind, not on my shoulder she grabbed me from behind. So I just know that the security push her away. I don't know with how with how much force though but a security push her away. And I didn't I didn't stop to look so I kept walking and enjoy the nice dinner.

Well, at least when we had a nice dinner. I refuse to break down the audio, like it's the subruder film but the word that jumped out to me, I even jotted it down, grab the allegation of somebody grabbed him from behind. Well reporters had plenty of follow ups for Victor Wambayana among them. Did he know that it was Britney Spears tapping him or grabbing him from behind. So, actually, I didn't know for a couple hours, but when we, when I came back to the hotel. I'm like, I forgot about this event, but I didn't forget about it but I thought it was no big deal. And, and the security of this person was a big experience so I was first I was like, No, you're joking. But I didn't know because I didn't see her.

I never saw her face. And now you know the rest of the story. As I stole yesterday from some internet meme. If it's Britney being involved with a basketball story hoops, she did it again I'm Brian Weber yes stealing from the internet in for rich as and your voice can be heard 844-204-7424, but Twitter is always your best way to get involved BW Weber Weber with two B's in 15 minutes we make the move to the NFL, the running back free agent market remains very interesting with the headliner being Dalvin cook.

What if he goes to Miami, how much would that not only alter the balance of power and the rugged AFC East with Aaron Rodgers clearly upgrading the entire division, going to the Jets, but where would it put Miami on the shortlist of legitimate Super Bowl contenders will get there coming up. So the footnote to all of the histrionics and all of the drama that played out in real time yesterday comes down to this. Did Britney Spears grab Victor when banana from behind, we'll never know.

There is videotape but it's apparently grainy because it's not of the quality that we expect when we watch a CSI program. Secondly, Brittany is not happy, and I'm not going to read you her long statements that she delivered on Twitter, but it had many paragraphs. Couple key phrases stood out quote she was not prepared for what happened. She called it a quote traumatic experience. She denies any grabbing. She said she was just looking to approach him and quote congratulate him on a success saying she quote tap Tim, tap tap tap on the shoulder.

And then the most zealous director of team security got involved. Do I know what happened? No. Do I think lawyers will be involved?

Yes. And I hope Brittany gets every dollar she can if she shakes down the spurs, and I defend her in this instance. Now I understand the director of team security claiming he did his job.

There was the initial report. He actually went over to her table, apologized profusely, probably thinking not only lawsuit, there might be a potential charge of battery, although the police showed up issued a police report, but nothing has happened on the legal front. Brittany in her statement yesterday says she's yet to receive an apology from Victor, his security or the spurs organization.

Well, that's got to change in a moment, but I'm on team Brittany here understanding women had nothing to do with this. Here's a seven foot three, four or five. The measurements keep changing because he's a unicorn. Here's a big dude with a crowd of people making his way into an upscale restaurant in Vegas. Somebody let's just go with the word makes contact from behind.

Security gets involved. I bet they told when be keep moving because it wasn't like he got jostled. It wasn't like there was a tackle involved.

I'll use a basketball term. It was incidental contact. He kept shuffling along, went to dinner and probably I'll take him at his word based on what we just heard him say at practice yesterday, had no idea this was Brittany Spears. And if we're going to do the tale of the tape, Brittany's what, five, two, five, three.

So if she's reaching up to tap his shoulder, she's not even in his line of sight if he turns around. So to me, as we're going to put a period on the sentence, finally, I did not think I'd be spending this much time on Brittany v. Wimby. This is a grand misunderstanding straight out of threes company. Oh, my goodness. Mr. Roper overheard something and he misunderstood it.

Still, if you put your hands on anybody without justification, lawyers couldn't get involved. And secondly, this is Brittany Spears. So to connect it to the basketball context that we strive for, what does it say about the global popularity of Victor Wambunyana prior to playing even his first minute of summer league? Well, let me just say a reminder. Exhibition basketball, although every seat has already been sold at the Thomas and Mack Center where Jono V plays their basketball, can have the same buzz as Larry Johnson, Stacey Augman, and Greg Adley back in the day with the running reps for Tark in the early 1990s. According to reports, tickets being scalped for upwards of $600 for an exhibition against summer league dudes, 90% of these cats that are going to be playing tonight are just trying to get their work in or make their way onto an NBA roster. So I'm aware there's going to be breathless analysis tonight after the game and the Spurs are scheduled to play again on Sunday.

We'll find out if Wimby actually plays twice in the span of 72 hours. But remember, this is summer league. What he does tonight is not important. If he balls out, he should because it's summer league. If he has some issues, that's okay because it doesn't matter.

We're in the summer. He's had a whirlwind last month, but the Britney incident to me is telling because it speaks to the avalanche of attention a 19-year-old guy is currently dealing with and we've been hearing about Wimbyana for years. If you follow recruiting, and I know that's unseemly with the AAU world, but if you're just looking on the horizon, we've heard the name Victor Wimbyana for at least the last four years because he was a sensation at the age of 13 because he was already 6'9", 6'10", kept on growing and because of the skill set. If you haven't seen him play, check him out tonight. He's not going to be hard to miss.

Every time the Spurs have an opportunity to be put on national TV, it's going to be maximized. But he's better than seven feet tall. He can handle beautifully. He's got a real skill dribble. He can knock down threes. He's got to work on the precision there as now I'm breaking it down in granular detail and he is your prototypical rim protector and shot blocker.

That, I think, should be the most intriguing element. Does he pile up like Chet Holmgren did, making his return from the foot injury that wiped out all of last year for the number two overall pick? Chet put on a block party.

Does Wimby assert himself quickly in the paint and wow the crowd by swatting stuff out of the lane repeatedly? I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. You can be a part of the show.

844-204-7424. Hit me up on Twitter. B.W. Weber.

Weber with two B's. You've heard the comp, presumably, that Victor Wambunyana is a taller Kevin Durant. He can do most of the things Durant can do and he's going to grow into his body. Remember, Durant famously, when he came into the NBA after he had the cameo at Texas, failed the bench press test at the NBA combine, which somehow doesn't get the same level of attention as the NFL combine. But he couldn't even throw up 185 pounds more than five or six times because he was still developing.

That's going to be an issue for Wambunyana as well. But to me the comp is, I'll go way old school with a couple names. In terms of the hype, especially because of our fascination with big men, understanding the league has become dominated by three-point shooting, but the bigs can do it now with amazing dexterity. Just look at Nicole Jokic or Joao Mbide. But if I'm thinking about a guy who was this heralded at that age, I'm going to go before my time, but my monkey trick years ago when I got into the business was I was a sports historian. Very exciting. People wanted to talk to me at parties. The legend of Lew Alcindor was enormous all the way back to his high school days at Power Memorial in New York City. He's profiled in national magazines, then he goes to UCLA, then he goes to the pros, and you know how it all coalesced. So there is a comp for a young guy that had been charted back to 13-14 delivering on the hype. The more recent point of reference would be Lebron, and Lebron somehow exceeded unbelievably high expectations.

Do I expect the same for Wojtmanjana? Yes, if he can stay healthy. That's always going to be the caveat, especially with big men. Think about Bill Walton with the lingering foot problems starting early on in Portland and making him a sixth man with the Celtics. Think about Sam Bowie.

I realize he's become the punchline to every joke. If you watch the movie Heir, there's a couple throwaway lines about Sam Bowie. Well, Sam Bowie was a hell of a player at Kentucky. There's a reason why he went number one overall in addition to everything else that was going on as Portland decided to pass on Jordan for reasons that made sense. Greg Oden.

There was a debate that I think was substantial, not just hot take Larry kind of stuff. Who would you rather have, Oden or Durant? Because Oden was just that much of a difference maker at Ohio State. Unfortunately, he was brittle and never had a long career.

So barring that kind of situation, the outlook for Wojtmanjana is magnificent. He also seems to have the right temperament, personality. He gets why people want to be around him, are clamoring for his attention. Why one of the biggest names in pop music apparently wanted to take a picture with him. And he's got the right approach to leaning into all of this.

Put the nonsense with Britney aside. This is another example of why the NBA is so popular with you kids out there. And I get it. Because you feel like you know these guys on social media. They want to be open to you.

They let you into their worlds. And for lack of a better term, Victor Wojtmanjana just seems like a good dude. So I'll be watching tonight.

I'm not working on Monday here. But I just want to see how he looks in this setting. Understanding it's summer league. And we should tampen our expectations to a degree while also being mindful this guy should live up to the hype as exceptional as it is.

I'm Brian Weber, Infrared Jazz at 8442047424. I filibustered a bit there by design because I'm going to hit pause on the Damian Lillard conversation. We'll use that to tip off our number two. The preview is his agent Aaron Goodwin effectively confirmed the report from Adrian Wojtramowski at ESPN. That Lillard's agent, Goodwin, has been cautioning prospective teams from trading for Lillard because he only will be happy in Miami. I'll tell you what the agent had to say and why I defend those comments. That's coming up. Plus, more Wembley thoughts. Draymond Green is weighed in saying, quote, I think people are setting him up for a failure.

I'll tell you why that's Draymond's latest attempt to dominate the podcast space as much as he's dominated punching teammates in the face. Hit me up on Twitter. B.W.

Weber, Weber with 2B, straight ahead. We'll focus on the NFL. Training camp's now merely 19 days away. The running back free agent market remains fascinating.

If Dalvin Cook takes his talents to South Beach and plays for the Dolphins, where would the Dolphins then belong on the short list of teams with a legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl? Feeling good on a Friday. I appreciate the company just getting warmed up with a lot more to get you.

Brian Weber in for rich here on the Rich Eisen Show. Are you currently enjoying the show on the Stitcher app? Then you need to know Stitcher is going away on August 29th.

Yep. Going away as in Kaput gone dead. Rest in peace, Stitcher. And thanks for 15 years of service to the podcast community. So switch to another podcast app and follow this show there.

Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show radio network. I'm Brian Weber. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you. Call clickrainger.com or just stop by.

844-204-7424 is our phone number. You can hammer away. Bonk, bonk, bonk on Twitter. B.W.

Weber, Weber with two B's in 15 minutes. We'll talk baseball briefly in an entertaining fashion. I always have to make sure if I'm forward promoting MLB that I give you my game plan up front. I'm not reading box scores. We're not doing data driven analysis.

Big picture themes. Teams you know about and don't look now. I'm not defending the Mets.

That would be hyperbole 101. They have been abysmal. But the Mets have actually won five straight games. Won their first series in a month over the weekend over the Giants.

Are they really going to be sellers heading into the trade deadline? We'll talk about that. We'll talk about the Angels outlook as they get set to take on the Dodgers and the renewal of the quote unquote rivalry in the free weight series. Dodgers scuffling with a variety of issues in the rotation with Clayton Kershaw on the injured list and Dustin May now requiring a second elbow procedure.

We'll talk some baseball coming up. Getting closer to the start of NFL training camps. Less than three weeks away and at that point it's not just the rookies and the vets wanting to show up to get the work in.

Everybody's going to be on the field and then it moves rapidly right to the Hall of Fame ceremony in the Hall of Fame game now on a Thursday because the NFL demands that we also give them Thursday night in addition to all day Sunday and Monday and occasionally when they want to Tuesdays and Wednesdays. So as we get closer to actual dudes wearing actual pads on actual fields we're going to get more clarity for a few big name free agents still out there. And there's no rush for example for the Andre Hopkins to sign and according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN it's down to the two teams he visited most recently.

Either the Titans or the Patriots. As long as he's there for the start of training camp everything is going to be straightforward from the point of view of learning the nuances of a new offense. Question for Hopkins comes down to where is he at this stage of his career.

Production has been declining. Now he's only a few years removed from being a top three top five wide out in all of football. Plus remember last year didn't get on the field as much because of the PED suspension.

The running back position is highly intriguing and the message is don't get old. Now unfortunately that applies to everybody. That's why I mostly now do audio so I can say hello fellow kids. I was just at the Britney Spears Victor Wimbunyana concert. The world has gotten tougher.

You young people you want it you want it now on TikTok. Running backs used to have the threshold of hitting 30 and then they became radioactive. Teams don't want to touch them for understandable reasons primarily because of all the wear and tear. But now we're talking about guys like Dalvin Cook who are 27. He's going to turn 28 next month. 27 is still the prime for a running back who's had four consecutive thousand yard seasons who tore off that brilliant run and maybe the wildest regular season game I've ever seen. Between the Bills and Vikings just phenomenal performance by both teams as we think about all of the twists and turns.

I can recap that game for the rest of the show probably be more interesting than all the content I have crafted. But if you're not tracking, I don't blame you, you should be enjoying this week, the whereabouts of some names you know. For example Ezekiel Elliott still unemployed, probably goes back to Dallas at a big discount. No need for GoFundMe because he got overpaid in the major way with that second deal.

That's why he's looking for work now. Melvin Gordon in the twilight of his career but he's had a good run. Leonard Ford, Net, Kareem Hunt you know all these names. Cook though leading the way. So it's less clear unlike Hopkins unless that's just a smokescreen thrown out there. Feels like Hopkins winds up in either Tennessee or New England. Cook has been linked to just about every contending team out there and many of them, no surprise, getting ready to compete inside the AFC East.

So Cook has been mentioned with the Jets and if you're Woody Johnson why not spend more money? What do you do when you've already gone all in? You just pick up the table and throw it at your competitors? I don't gamble that much so I should have thought about that metaphor better. Whatever the more severe degree of going all in would be. How about doubling down?

Thank you as I'm working my way through the slot machines coming up. The Jets once they decided they would do whatever it takes to get Aaron Rodgers. At this point why not spend even more money and there's always ways of massaging the cap to bring in Dalvin Cook. Now the pushback would be they invested a high draft pick in Breece Hall.

He was banged up last year but I don't think I have to go through an exhaustive exercise of who would you rather have, Hall or Cook? If the goal is to start with winning the division because the Jets haven't done that in 20 years. Then we can have the conversation about an AFC Championship game or dare I say a Super Bowl with visions of Joe Willy Namath running off the field at the Orange Bowl in Super Bowl 3 dancing in my mind. But how about Cook to the Dolphins?

I think that's more realistic. Certainly they could use him. If you're familiar with the career trajectory of Raheem Mostert, you know about what he did in San Francisco and his relationship with Mike McDaniel who was on the offensive staff for Kyle Shanahan in the Bay Area. And now, in my opinion, the coolest head coach in all of football. He's having a good time.

He's got swagger and I love how aggressive he is with the play calling. And guys want to go to Miami not only for all the things you hear about the nightlife and that is part of it and invariably someone's going to bring up no state income tax and I'm here in California. I get it.

That's a nice chunk of change. But the primary motivation is to win and we saw the instant impact made by Tyreek Hill. So you plug in Dalvin Cook now on an offense that contingent on the health of Tua Tonga-Vialoa and that's a huge contingency because I don't know, you don't know, the Dolphins don't know, unfortunately Tua doesn't know.

And none of this is his quote-unquote fault. Players don't try to get injured but he was banged up early in the career before having unfortunately the bad run of head injuries. And at some point it's fair to have a conversation about what the future looks like for Tua.

Now he has done all of the hard work. He's been upfront with reporters talking about working with trainers on how to slide better, working with teachers in the art of jujitsu to be more elusive. But every time he gets hit, I now hold my breath based on what we saw last year with the sequence of events going from the Buffalo game that inexplicably he was allowed to come back onto the field in. Four days later on a Thursday night in Cincinnati he goes down in front of the whole nation and he got concussed again in the Green Bay Packer game so it's starting to feel like he's one hit away from a real conversation about does he have a future in the NFL.

And again I'm not trying to be over the top but let's just hope for the best because I'm a Tua fan and I root for good stories. A healthy Tua changes everything clearly in Miami although don't forget because Teddy Bridgewater got hurt, they were down to Skylar Thompson in that playoff game against the Bills and they hung around deep into the fourth quarter. So if they could do that on the road against a team that was the preseason favorite to win the Super Bowl with their third string quarterback, you give me a healthy Tua, maybe Miami wins the division, with that you get the right to host the playoff game, plus Tyreek Hill, plus now Dalvin Cook and a defense that's better than you think. I realize the Jets defense carried them last year despite hideous quarterback play from Zach Wilson who remember he's going to make life quote unquote hell for Aaron Rodgers, that was his pledge, when he got demoted he was going to work his tail off and I'm sure that's all been going fine hanging out with the senior citizens that he apparently likes to canoodle with. But to me when the dominoes start falling, whatever the sequence is, Hopkins going to New England, okay now the Patriots have a chance not to be locked into finishing fourth in that division, I still would slot them number four in terms of overall talent but Dalvin Cook's decision could change everything.

Chief's still clearly the favorites to win it all again, but if you have Cook on the Jets, if you have Cook on Miami, I think the Super Bowl conversation gets a lot more interesting. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen, you can give us a call, 844-204-7424, conversation never stops on Twitter, B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's an hour from now, we'll bring in our first guest, we're talking NBA, getting you set for the summer league debut of Victor Wimbunyana tonight in Vegas when we check in with Mike Workanoff of the Athletic, 25 minutes from now. All-Star hour number two with the Damian Lillard update, what did his agent say on the record and what does it mean about potential landing spots. Coming up, we'll focus on baseball heading into the All-Star game coming up on Tuesday, good chance to take a step back and gauge where teams really are at.

Unquestionably, the Mets have been the biggest debacle in all of MLB this season, but they've won five straight and for other reasons, should they double down, yeah here I go with the right Vegas terminology, should they double down and be buyers coming up at the trade deadline which is looming at the end of the month. We continue on a jam-packed Friday, Weber in for Eisen, here on the Rich Eisen Show. Brian Weber back with you in for Rich Eisen, wrapping up another rewarding week with a lot more on the agenda, but always a great time to interact with you, 844-204-7424 is the phone number. Tweet at me during or after the program, no threads yet and I ain't threatening, I'm barely tweeting these days, but I got to draw the line someplace.

Hit me up on Twitter, B.W. Weber, Weber with two B's in just over 15 minutes, we'll start the second hour of the show with a Damian Lillard update, there's actual news to explore and with the thought process now evolving and I spent a good portion of yesterday's program. Wondering aloud why Jaylen Brown had yet to sign his supermax deal that if in fact it hits the upper threshold, could be worth $295 million over five years in Boston, would Boston be interested potentially in jumping into the Lillard sweepstakes, that was knocked down by a couple of reports yesterday, most notably from the Boston Globe.

So if Lillard does not wind up in Miami, what are plausible other destinations? We'll get there coming up and we'll talk more NFL in the next hour of the program too. Feels like we should be discussing the 49ers quarterback situation in much more granular detail. Brock Purdy with the most unpredictable rise we have seen and this in some ways was even more of something straight out of a Hollywood script than Tom Brady.

In one year to go from Mr. Irrelevant to the FC title game, unfortunately it didn't last long, while Purdy tried to come back from that elbow injury, you still have Trey Lance hanging around, is Lance really the third string option behind Sam Darnold, we'll talk about San Francisco and the Niners upcoming season in the next hour of the show. Heading into All-Star break in baseball, home run derbies Monday, the game itself is Tuesday, unfortunately with Shohei Ohtani suffering the blister, the last time he got the ball the other day in San Diego, doesn't look like he's even going to mess around with being eligible to pitch, I understand, we'll see if he's able to make sure whatever's going on with his fingers doesn't slow him down entirely, doesn't keep him down. Doesn't keep him out of being a hitter in that game because I hope you're aware of what he's doing at the plate. He's the best slugger in all of baseball right now, 31 home runs, same general pace as the one achieved last year by Aaron Judge to get him to 62 in that new American League record. Ohtani also top 3 in RBI, top 3 pitcher in terms of strikeouts, however you frame what he's doing is exceptional, it is unique, it's historic. But he's on an Angels team that was just hovering around the outer edges of wildcard contention as of late because they had run into more challenging opponents and because they got the bad news even though Mike Trout is having a sluggish year from his Hall of Fame standards, only hitting 263 but did have the 18 home runs.

Well, Trout needed the surgery to address the broken bone, suffered in his hand earlier this week when he fouled off a pitch in San Diego, he's gone 4-8 weeks. So what did the Angels do with Ohtani, and remember this is a little bit minutia driven but used to be the non-waiver trade deadline, you could sneak players to a new team if they cleared waivers in the old days, now it's all one deadline. Last year we had the blockbuster Soto move to San Diego, will Ohtani top that? Will the Angels at some point if they continue to have major problems winning games, coming up taking on the Dodgers this weekend, then the reigning champs from Houston, then the Yankees, if things don't go their way and they fall even further out of contention, would they deal Ohtani? Now, I'm going to ask a baseball journalist, I respect immensely in the final out of the program, 240 Eastern Time, Scott Miller of New York Times for his considered opinion, objectively the Angels should move Ohtani, that would be the right business move to get something of value for him.

The problem comes down to a couple important components. What are you really getting in return, because whomever is going to take out Ohtani for the last two months of the regular season and the playoffs, because only a playoff team would want his services beyond the box office implications, but if you're getting Ohtani, you're doing it to have a much better chance of winning it all. Remember, it's a rental, because he's going to make free agent history with astronomical dollars being sent his way, whether he signs with the Dodgers, the Yankees, or even the Mets for that matter. So, would the Angels even get that much back in return if they dealt Ohtani prior to August 1? Secondly, if they believe, I think it's delusional, but you got to believe, if they believe they have a realistic chance of getting him to re-sign because he likes the situation, he likes his teammates, he also realizes he has absolutely no pressure in Anaheim. I come to you from our studios in Southern California at the Regal Rich Eisen Show Desk, furnished by Grainger.

I've lived here for 19 years. I've met 12 Angel fans. Nobody cares even in this region. So, if Ohtani doesn't want to deal with the pressure of New York, or even the Dodgers, where every Dodger's a rock star, I can understand the sensibility that says he stays with the Angels. However, that'd be a huge contradiction of what he said last year.

Priority number one is to be on a team that can compete. That's not the Angels. It's going to be really interesting to see what happens. What the Angels should do is probably different than what the Angels will do because that's the Angels and they've been horrendously mismanaged for years. As for the Mets, I can't defend the team of my childhood.

I would be insane if I tried to craft an argument that told you the club with the biggest payroll in the history of Major League Baseball somehow was still a feel-good story. They have been abysmal. They have been embarrassing.

They have been a debacle. However, because the baseball season's so damn long, you can bury a team in June and, a la The Undertaker, they're sitting up and staring in the face in August and September. The Mets are now only five games under.500. Now, forget about the division. Because of how terribly they've played head-to-head against their division opponents and because of the brilliance of Atlanta, if you take the time to watch the All-Star game on Tuesday, eight representatives of the Braves playing.670 ball just a couple years removed from winning the World Series. So I'm not going to bore you with a, what if they came back like the Yankees from 13 back against the Red Sox in 1978.

Forget about that. And it's not even appropriate to have that conversation because of the wildcard. Mets are six and a half back of the Marlins, who have played very well under Skip Schumacher in year one in the dugout for Skip.

Plus, Lisa Rice still flirting with.400. But I could see the Marlins having a regression to the mean. The Mets, if they can get back to.500, there's a conversation to be made. They have a much more legitimate chance of picking up on those wildcards. But for all of the pundits clamoring, this team has to sell prior to the trade deadline.

Okay, I'll buy the premise, but here's my counter. Who are you trading? Now, you would say start with Verlander and Scherzer. Who's taking on those contracts? And while they have been inconsistent, they're not the only problem in New York City. So if you move beyond a pair of Hall of Famers, who do the Mets have to trade? Pete Alonso is going to be a free agent.

Plus, he's the most popular Met of them all. Now, I'll date myself again just to prove I'm 140 years old. I remember when the Mets traded Tom Seaver to the Reds.

What was it, 1977? I remember crying the next day. So the Mets have no problem ripping the hearts out of their fan base. That's a very Mets-y kind of move. But at this stage, with the team scuffling, you need somebody to show up.

And they love the polar bear. And let's go Mets with another letter in there. And I'll let other people say that because I want to come back on Labor Day. So I gave you Verlander, I gave you Scherzer, I just gave you Alonso. Who else are you trading to get anything in return? What do the Mets have on the roster?

And that is the irony, which is misused, but in this case, it is spot on. That's the irony of this roster. It is bloated.

It is gargantuan. The Mets have a collection of dudes that really don't move the needle beyond the headliners. So you want Tommy Pham?

You want Brooks Railey? Who are the Mets trading? And I think based on the aggressive nature of their owner Steve Cohen, the guy who was footing the bill for the most massive payroll we have ever seen, and all that luxury tax money that through revenue sharing, props up a fraud like John Fisher in Oakland, who was a billionaire. But remember, born into an affluent family, John Fisher never made a dime on his own. Much easier to become a multi billionaire when mommy and daddy already have a bill or two. But Cohen is willing to eat all of the luxury tax that he's incurring in the name of a competitive team, because this was the team that he died for as a kid, and he really runs the organization like a fan. I applaud that. If you got the money, spend the money. I don't know that Cohen has the mentality of waving the white flag, so I will not be here.

Mark it down, though. Whoever that loud fill-in guy was. Mets win a few more games? I think they're going to be buyers coming up at the trade deadline. And who could they get?

Very interesting permutations out there. Remember, finances will not slow down Cohen. He's already shown a willingness to spend obscene amounts of money. Closing in on the next hour of the program, we'll tip it off with the latest on Dame Lillard and comments made by his agent that have been framed in one way, but I'm going to give you a different take on how you can view everything happening surrounding Dame. I'm Brian Weber, Aiden for Rich Eisen. Another big hour on the way here on the Rich Eisen Show. Every minute of the day, 83 weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.